Youth Crime and Youth Culture in the Inner City offers an interpretive account of juvenile delinquency within the modern inner city, an environment which is characterized by a long history of social deprivation and high rates of crime. A wide range of topics are explored, such as young people's motivation for, frequency of, and attitudes towards, a variety of illegal behaviors, such as street robbery, burglary, theft, drug use, drug selling and violence. Why do young people commit these offences? Who do they commit them against? How do they feel afterwards? This book attempts to answer these important theoretical questions, utilizing ethnographic research collected over a seven year period and based around the London inner city borough of Lambeth.

The first in-depth study of the political, social, and cultural history of juvenile delinquency in modern Japan, "Bad Youth" treats the policing of urban youth as a crucial site for the development of new state structures and new forms of social power. Focusing on the years of rapid industrialization and imperialist expansion (1895 to 1945), David R. Ambaras challenges widely held conceptions of a Japan that did not, until recently, experience delinquency and related youth problems. He vividly reconstructs numerous individual life stories in the worlds of home, school, work, and the streets, and he relates the changes that took place during this time of social transformation to the broader processes of capitalist development, nation-state formation, and imperialism.

Juvenile justice policies have historically been built on a foundation of myths and misconceptions. Fear of young, drug-addled superpredators, concerns about immigrants and gangs, claims of gender biases, and race hostilities have influenced the public's views and, consequently, the evolution of juvenile justice. These myths have repeatedly confused the process of rational policy development for the juvenile justice system. Juvenile Justice: Redeeming Our Children debunks myths about juvenile justice in order to achieve an ideal system that would protect vulnerable children and help build safer communities. Author Barry Krisberg assembles broad and up-to-date research, statistical data, and theories on the U.S. juvenile justice system to encourage effective responses to youth crime. This text gives a historical context to the ongoing quest for the juvenile justice ideal and examines how the current system of laws, policies, and practices came into place. Juvenile Justice reviews the best research-based knowledge on what works and what does not work in the current system. The book also examines failed juvenile justice policies and applies high standards of scientific evidence to seek new resolutions. This text helps students embrace the value of redemptive justice and serves as a springboard for the current generation to implement sounder social policies. Juvenile Justice is an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying juvenile justice in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology. The book is also an excellent supplemental text for juvenile delinquency courses. About the Author Barry Krisberg, PhD has been President of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) since 1983. Dr. Krisberg received both his master's degree in Criminology and his doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaii and has held previous faculty positions at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Krisberg was appointed by the legislature to serve on the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Inmate Population Management. He has several books and articles to his credit, is known nationally for his research and expertise on juvenile justice issues, and is called upon as a resource for professionals and the media.

Internationally, there is now an acceptance of the need to develop new strategies in criminal justice which reflect restorative justice principles. At the same time, theory, research and practice in restorative justice is making rapid advances. This book provides an up to date and critical account of recent developments. It describes the practice of restorative justice with respect to young offenders in a number of jurisdictions - Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States and various continental European countries. Research findings on the three most common formats - conferencing, victims offender education and circles - are presented. Critical issues for the future development of restorative justice are identified. Two main themes run through the collection - the potential of restorative processes to transform criminal justice processes and the potential for aboriginal or indigenous communities to impact on conventional processes. Contributors include active researchers and leading theorists from around the world. '.. provides an up-to-date and critical account of recent developments in the rapidly advancing field of restorative justice..a thought provoking collection of papers from researchers and leading theorists from around the world. It will be of interest to all those who work in the youth justice field.' Childright '...[an] exceptional set of papers...their analyses are excellent.' Howard Journal of Criminal Justice

This work deals with substance abuse among the incarcerated criminal population as well as the street criminal in a criminogenic neighborhood or setting. It is designed to be used by criminal justice professionals particularly those in corrections and intervention programs. Law enforcement program managers will also be able to develop programs based on the paradigm development outlined by Mr. Pitts. Since the author himself underwent imprisonment and substance abuse, the discussion of inmate drug abuser is particularly compelling and important. The success of various methodologies and treatment programs is discussed.

John Woods presents a theoretical approach and practical suggestions for mental health practitioners working therapeutically with young people who have abused. Drawing on his long-standing experience, he has developed an integrated theory that bridges the gap between existing cognitive behavioural and psychoanalytic approaches. He shows how this individual treatment model can be applied in a range of contexts including residential settings, group and family work, as well as in individual work. In-depth case studies throughout the book demonstrate how exploring the individual's whole life-course within a psychoanalytic framework enables connections to be drawn between possible childhood abuse and subsequent abusive behaviour. Guidelines are presented on working with the problems of self-destructiveness, masochism and depression facing the young abused/abuser and the impact of sexual abuse on sexuality, gender identity and sexual orientation. This is an instructive and thought-provoking text for all mental health practitioners and allied professionals working with adolescents who sexually offend.

Written for mental health professionals, this indispensable guide reviews the range of relevant literature covering issues in assessing child molesters. Fully updated, this volume directs the professional to the most current knowledge available on the subject in a compact, accessible form. Readers will learn from this resource which characteristics do and do not distinguish child molesters, which situational factors are related to molestation, which instruments are used in the assessment of child molesters, how assessment information is used to appraise risk and guide treatment, and all of the elements of a useful assessment report.

Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency offers complete description and scholarly analysis of major delinquency prevention and control programs. It links what has been done in the past with what should be done in the future. It therefore concludes with clear recommendations for future prevention and control efforts.

The public perception is that juvenile crime is out-of- hand and that no one can do anything about it. Research, however, shows that a mere 8% of juvenile offenders arrested and sent to juvenile court commit more than half of all repeat juvenile crimes, including violence. And, something is being done about it! The surprising fact is that this "8%" can be picked out at the time of their first arrest. This book represents seven years of research on 6,400 young people having their first brush with the law in Orange County, California. It provides an exemplary state-supported model now used in six other California counties to curb the rise in the arrest of kids.

A practical, commonsense guide, this book focuses on long-term solutions to the problem of serious repeat juvenile crime and offers a proven pathway for improvement. The 8% Solution informs students, policy makers, criminal justice professionals, juvenile courts, probation departments, and parents of how to mount a successful response. Written in narrative style with a liberal use of anecdotal incidents, this is an easy-to-read description of the characteristics of kids who repeatedly get in trouble with the law and more cost-effective ways to correct the problem.

Detailed and comprehensive, Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders presents authoritative discussions by a select group of leading scholars on issues surrounding serious and violent juvenile offenders. This population is responsible for a disproportionate percentage of all crime and poses the greatest challenge to juvenile justice policymakers. Under the skillful editorship of Rolf Loeber and David P. Farrington, this unique volume integrates knowledge about risk and protective factors with information about intervention and prevention programs so that conclusions from each area can inform the other. Current literature on these two areas does not, for the most part, apply directly to serious and violent juvenile offenders. This volume contends that serious and violent juvenile offenders tend to start displaying behavior problems and delinquency early in life, warranting early intervention. It is the contributors? thesis that prevention is never too early. They also maintain, however, that interventions for serious and violent juvenile offenders can never be too late in that effective interventions exist for known serious and violent juvenile offenders.

Augmented by charts, tables, graphs, figures, and an extensive bibliography, Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders is an excellent reference work and a must read for policy and lawmakers, judges, attorneys, law enforcement personnel, education administrators, researchers, academics, social workers, sociologists, as well as graduate students and interns.

In recent years mentally disordered offenders have attracted considerable attention in the media and there has been heated public debate as to the best treatment and prevention of re-offending. Simultaneously there has been a significant increase in the amount of research, specialist courses and training devoted to this particular, high profile area of mental health care. This is as a result of considerable public pressure to develop effective theory and practice for diagnosing and treating this patient group.A Sociology of the Mentally Disordered Offender provides a concise, and most importantly, accessible guide to the main theoretical issues from a sociological perspective as a counterbalance to the predominant medical model. Having established a theoretical framework through the exploration of topics such as the relationship between crime and mental disorder the authors look at the processes by which offenders are referred either to criminal justice or the mental health service system, their subsequent treatment and management, and the problem of re-offending. A final chapter looks at ways in which care and management of these patients may be effectively developed in the future.

Women Accused of Murder in Nineteenth-Century England got bad press. Broadsides, newspapers, and books depicted their stories in gruesome detail, often with illustrations of the crime scene, the courtroom proceedings, and the execution. Unlike murders committed by men, murders by women were sensationalized. The press -- and the public -- were fascinated by these acts 'most unnatural' of the fairer sex.

Judith Knelman contends that this portrayal of the murderess was linked to a broader public agenda, set and controlled by men. Women were supposed to be mothers and wives, giving and sustaining life. If a woman killed her baby or husband, she posed a threat to patriarchal authority. Knelman describes the range and incidence of murder by women in England. She analyzes case histories of different kinds of murder, and explores how press representations of the murderess contributed to the Victorian construction of femininity.

If readers in the nineteenth century shivered at accounts of murder by women, we should get an equal chill up the spine today reading about how these women were perceived. Twisting in the Wind is a book that won't leave any of its readers -- true crime fans, sociologists and criminologists, historians, or researchers in women's studies -- hanging in doubt.

It has been said that the criminal justice system is a system of men, for men. Women certainly are the minorityùboth as offenders and as professionals in the corrections systems. Yet, recently there has been a tremendous increase in the use of imprisonment for female offenders. In Counseling Women in Prison, author Joycelyn M. Pollock focuses on the female offender in prison and raises issues related to counseling female prisoners. She presents an overview of the female offender and womenÆs prisons and then focuses on the clinical approaches. This volume is not intended as a technical guide for counselors or as a textbook in counseling; rather, it touches on some sociological and organizational issues that have relevance to counselors who work with female offenders. It provides the correctional professional or the student who plans to enter the field with some understanding of criminological theory, the nature of the prison environment, some familiarity with selected prison programs, and background characteristics of the female offender. Each chapter concludes with a section titled "Implications for the Counselor," which highlights the relevance of the chapterÆs subject matter to concerns of the counselor. Covering a range of issues through a variety of treatment applications, Counseling Women in Prison is the ideal resource for institutional counselors, correctional officers, psychologists, and psychiatrists who provide either individual or group counseling to female offenders.

Working with Offenders examines the current knowledge, skills and values which are needed by those working as probation officers and social workers for effective and competent practice. As well as looking at areas of practice which are of central importance to the altering roles of practitioners, this original textbook provides a critical appraisal of the policies and requirements which guide those roles. Written in an accessible style by experienced academics and professionals, the book examines: the issues which inform practice - training, skills and competences, antidiscriminatory practice, autonomy and accountability, masculinity and the causes of crime; the contexts in which work with offenders take place - probation committees, boards, pre-sentence reports, community penalties, prison, and the community; and the outcomes of good practice - including partnerships against crime, efficiency, effectiveness and an evaluation of crime prevention and broader methods of intervention.

The experiences of minority youths in the juvenile justice system are strikingly different from those of their white counterparts. In response to the overrepresentation of minority youths in confinement, Congress amended the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act to require states to investigate the imbalance and develop action plans to fix problem situations. In this carefully edited volume, the contributors note the extent and sources of disparate treatment of youths within juvenile justice and identify the need to respond to this bias. Findings from research and provocative analysis of topics such as racial difference in encounters with police, in urban juvenile court, in confinement and punishment, and among groups within juvenile justice awaken the reader to the variety of racial bias in the system. The authors also offer creative and practical policy recommendations and strategies for overcoming racial inequity in the juvenile justice process. Practitioners and researchers in juvenile justice, criminology, corrections, policing, sociology, and ethnic studies will find the cross-section of information in the volume enlightening. The material presented also ideally fits supplementary text needs for coursework dealing with race and crime. "This volume delivers a full and complete view of one of the most critical issues in juvenile justice. Rousing and informative, the book comes highly recommended." --Barry Krisberg, Ph.D., President, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, San Francisco

Women in conflict with the law have their own ideas about why and how they became law breakers. Experts tell us who these women are and why they break the law, usually igonroing of discrediting the opinions of the women themselves.

As a counselling and research intern in a women's medium-security prison, Evelyn K. Sommers heard the stories of dozens of women inmates who came for counselling. Their crimes were related to prostitution, drug abuse, theft, physical abuse, assault, and arson. Most of the women had been imprisoned several times before. Their stories called into question existing theoretical explanations for criminal behaviour as well as the explanations commonly heard in the day-to-day discourse of the prison. Sommers came to the conclusion that attempts to help women in conflict with the law can be effective only if they take into account the women's understanding of what happened to them in the course of their lifetime. She resolved to conduct intensive interviewa with fourteen women and to find the common threads in their stories, threads that might prove useful in furthering our understanding of women's conflicts with the law.

Sommers presents the women's accounts of their actions, thoughts, and feelings, without excusing, condemning them, and without moulding their explanations for their behaviour to some ideological model. Four common reasons or themes emergedfrom the women's accounts: need; disconnection and the influence of others, visible anger; and fear. Further analysis uncovered two implicit underlying themes that were present in all of the women's stories; namely, the centrality of relationships in their lives and their personal quest for empowerment. Voices from Within demonstrates the importance of conducting separate studies of male and female lawbreakers including women as a focus of study; of relying on subjective perspectives to distinguish amd appropriately address differences inherent in the criminal population; and of reconceptualizing of the notion of motivation. Sommers concludes with suggestions for further research, and for practical approaches to working with lawbreakers.

Drawing on the authors' experience of research and practice in probation, the book provides a positive and realistic view of the contribution the probation service can make to the criminal justice system. It covers court work, face-to-face work with offenders, wider work in the community, and probation organisation and management. It is informed both by research on 'what works' and by a commitment to anti-discriminatory practice.

Juvenile crime makes headlines. It is the stock-in-trade of politicians and pundits. But young people are also the victims of crime. They too have demands to make of the police. Drawing upon survey and interview research with 11 to 15 year-olds in Edinburgh, this book examines how crime impacts upon young people's everyday lives. It reveals that young people experience far more serious problems as victims and witnesses of crime, than they cause as offenders. It shows that they report little of their experiences of crime to the police, and are left to find their own ways of managing risk, such as telling cautionary tales about dangerous people and places. The study concludes by examining young people's relations with the police, suggesting they are over-controlled as suspects and under-protected as victims.

Recipient of the 1993 American Society of Criminology's August Vollmer Award for distinguished contribution to the profession of criminology Youth violence continues to rise at an alarming rate in a civilization that is being characterized as the most violent in history. Global economic transformations; weakened family, school, and church structures; and an inefficient juvenile justice system only add to the doomsday projections for troubled youngsters, who see little in the way of preventive advocacy. Reinventing Juvenile Justice presents an honest albeit painful view of the current status of justice for young offenders. Could it be that the celebrated "children's court" has outlived its usefulness? This central question is raised by the authors in exploring whether the juvenile court can or should survive in the years ahead. With no core constituency in the political arena, the pressure to handle more children in adult courts and correctional facilities will only increase and the challenge of needed reform will go unmet. Among some of the other issues discussed are juvenile justice laws and court procedures, influences on probation petition and detention decisions, and the influence of gender and race on taking youth into custody. Students and caring professionals will find the invaluable material in this book of tremendous assistance in addressing a generation of young people on whom our world's future depends. "This book is informative, not least about developments in the U.S.A, and is easy to read." --Youth and Policy "The authors have substantial reputations in the field and are well qualified to make recommendations. This book compares favorably with books offering different assessments and solutions." --Choice "[The book] has great market potential as a juvenile justice text and supplemental text. . . . [It] is very readable and well organized. . . . It will also have a broad appeal in the practitioner community . . . . Youth correction workers, probation officers, juvenile and family court judges, prosecutors, public defenders, child advocates, and youth service workers will find this to be a useful book." --Ira M. Schwartz, Professor and Director, The Center for the Study of Youth Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Published in cooperation with the University of Michigan School of Social Work As a counselor or therapist, wouldn't it be useful to have a resource that clearly presents effective how-to guidelines for rehabilitating juvenile offenders? In Group Counseling with Juvenile Delinquents, Ferrara explores all aspects of counseling this special population, from the first group encounter through evaluating the effectiveness of the group. He examines various components of the group encounter including establishing a safe, helpful environment, replacing delinquent behaviors with prosocial ones, and responding to the specific needs of each juvenile delinquent. Included in this valuable volume are key points for conducting group sessions, a workbook and scenarios to use directly with group members, instructions for training staff, and a posttest for evaluating the effectiveness of the groups. "There is an extensive and useful discussion of intervention in terms of both traditional, guided group interactions and the more contemporary cognitive behavioral strategies. . . . Much effort has been exerted by Ferrara to insure that the program as presented has a strong empirical foundation. To this end, data and caveates are included as appropriate. As Ferrara wisely notes in his Preface, his program is likely to be most effective with those youths who would not have spontaneously self-corrected but are not seriously disturbed, chronic offenders. Among the various components of the group encounter program, the inclusion of a post-test for evaluating effectiveness is particularly encouraging." --Child & Family Behavior Therapy "It is obvious the author is experienced in group counseling of juvenile delinquents, in developing group counseling programs in juvenile correction facilities, and grounded in theories relevant to treating offenders. The book is succinctly and clearly written." -Social Work with Groups

A chilling exploration of the criminal mind--from juvenile delinquency to cold-blooded murder. Drawing on studies of offenders and victims, self-reports and autobiographies, narratve reconstructions of crime scenes, and famous cases, this brilliant and shocking book will forever revolutionize the way we think about crime.

All the world's criminal justice systems need to undertake direct work with people who have come into their care or are under their supervision as a result of criminal offences. Typically, this is organized in penal and correctional services - in custody in prisons, or in the community, supervised by services such as probation. Bringing together international experts, this book is the go-to source for students, researchers, and practitioners in criminal justice, looking for a comprehensive and authoritative summary of available knowledge in the field. Covering a variety of contexts, settings, needs, and approaches, and drawing on theory and practice, this Companion brings together over 90 entries, offering readers concise and definitive overviews of a range of key contemporary issues on working with offenders. The book is split into thematic sections and includes coverage of: Theories and models for working with offenders Policy contexts of offender supervision and rehabilitation Direct work with offenders Control, surveillance, and practice Resettlement Application to specific groups, including female offenders, young offenders, families, and ethnic minorities Application to specific needs and contexts, such as substance misuse, mental health, violence, and risk assessment Practitioner and offender perspectives The development of an evidence base This book is an essential and flexible resource for researchers and practitioners alike and is an authoritative guide for students taking courses on working with offenders, criminal justice policy, probation, prisons, penology, and community corrections.

Fifty years ago, David Matza wrote Delinquency and Drift, challenging the ways people thought about the development of criminals. Today, Delinquency and Drift Revisited reminds criminologists that they ignore Matza's writings at their own intellectual peril. Matza's work shows his insights on a range of core criminological issues, such as: the complex nature of culture and its connection to criminality; the extent to which rule-breakers are truly different from the "rest of us"; the importance of focusing on human agency in understanding the subjective side of offending; the interaction of propensity and peer influences in criminal involvement; the role of the state in signifying individuals as deviant and entrapping them in criminal roles; and the processes that lead offenders to desist from crime. This volume was not written to pay homage to Matza, but to show how his ideas remain relevant to criminology today by continuing to question conventional wisdom, by making us pay attention to realities we have overlooked, and by inspiring us to theorize more innovatively.

Generally naive about their world, children are thought to be nearly incapable of serious wrongdoing and are rarely suspects in violent crimes. Yet, from the 1960s to the mid-90s, the U.S. saw several waves of juvenile murders that caused widespread public concern. The phenomenon created longstanding debates about the sources or causes of a child killer's mindset. Some blame external triggers like video games, rock music or pornography, while others argue the causes are deeper issues, such as an underdeveloped brain experiencing abuse and neglect. The quest to uncover the causes of these crimes is ongoing, and how the American justice system should handle these young killers remains a controversy. This book assesses ten murder cases in modern American criminal history, examining the minds of the children who perpetrated them. Chapters compile decades of research on the psychology of child murderers in hopes of creating a more coherent understanding of why kids kill.