Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescentsâ€"trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistanceâ€"the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with ageâ€"and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. Intervention within the juvenile justice system. Role of the police. Processing and detention of youth offenders. Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

Between 1980 and 1996 the number of arrests has increased considerably for offenders ages 12 and under. This increase is a cost to society in two ways: the cost of the crime and the cost of multiple agencies involved with these children. Several questions have developed due to this increase: How does the juvenile justice system deal with child delinquents? Is child delinquency a predictor of serious, violent, and chronic offending? How early can we predict delinquency, and what are early warning signs? In an effort to develop answers for these questions and many more, editors Rolf Loeber and David Farrington organized a study group on Very Young offenders comprising 39 experts on juvenile delinquency and child problem behavior. Over a two-year period of intense and collaborative work these individuals have produced the book Child Delinquents: Development, Intervention, and Service Needs. Presenting empirically derived insights, Child Delinquents is the definitive statement to date on the working knowledge of prevalence, development, risk and protective factors, and optimal intervention with preteen offenders. This book is an excellent source for a broad audience of researchers, scholars, psychiatry, and practitioners at the administrative level.

Learn how and why trauma is relevant to juvenile delinquency—and what to do about it! This groundbreaking book addresses the connection between childhood trauma and juvenile delinquency. Trauma and Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Research, and Interventions begins with two chapters presenting theoretical models of the relationship between trauma and the development/persistence of antisocial behavior. Another chapter addresses trauma-related assessment issues for juveniles, and several chapters present cutting-edge research on various aspects of the relationship between trauma and delinquency. Finally, several chapters focus on theory-based and empirically supported trauma-focused therapeutic interventions for juvenile delinquents. No other single source provides such breadth and depth of coverage on this topic! From the editor: “Disruptive behavior disorders are by far the largest type of mental health referral for children and adolescents, while juvenile crime and violence continue to be major social concerns. Several bodies of literature have converged to suggest that trauma is more than incidental to the problem of juvenile delinquency, it contributes to the problem.” Trauma and Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Research, and Interventions explores: how trauma relates to conduct disorder the connection between traumatic victimization and oppositional/defiance problems ways to assess PTSD in adolescents how exposure to violence, delinquent activity, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology are related the unique trauma histories of incarcerated girls and the problems they have adjusting to life within the juvenile justice system how to develop group therapy services for incarcerated male juvenile offenders with PTSD This valuable book also examines the effectiveness of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for boys with conduct problems, MASTR (Motivation - Adaptive Skills - Trauma Resolution) for teens with school-related problems, and CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy) for juvenile delinquents with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Juvenile Delinquency and Justice in the United States recognizes both the distinction and overlap between the subjects of juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice. Its twelve chapters are divided into two parts. Part I contains six chapters where the problem of delinquency itself is defined-primarily the nature, extent, and explanation of juvenile offending. Part II contains six chapters that describe formal social control of juvenile offending-primarily the components of the "juvenile justice system," current juvenile justice issues, and reform efforts. Part I describes what delinquency is exactly, how much of it occurs (and its relative seriousness), why it happens, and why it doesn't happen (social control). Since there are many possible causes of delinquency that operate in complex ways, three chapters are dedicated to them. These chapters focus on theories and factors that receive significant research support. Much attention is given to life course and developmental theories, given their prominent place in contemporary criminology and that child development has long been a focus in understanding delinquency. Part II describes what the juvenile justice system is doing, and possibly should do, to solve the problem of delinquency. Here, a major feature of the book is that it goes beyond formal justice system structure and processes (policing, courts, and corrections) to address the major role that human/social service workers and agencies play in juvenile justice processes. This is important as most system-involved juveniles are not serious chronic offenders deeply entangled in the system; most are sanctioned in the community and may deal more with social service agents. Social services also play a major role in treating serious offenders. Thus, much attention is given to treatment and rehabilitation issues. Further, broader issues of social justice and human rights are addressed. Unique to this book is a chapter (Chapter 11) devoted solely to juvenile justice reform"--

Juvenile Delinquency: Why Do Youths Commit Crime? focuses on why juveniles commit crime. It includes discussions on what constitutes criminal behavior by juveniles, the general theories on delinquency, and discussions that tie the theories with real life situations. The book opens the students’ eyes to the fascinating concepts involving juvenile delinquency, and is designed to provide a complete study of the behavior, beliefs, conditions, and reactions to deviance by young offenders. Throughout Cliff Roberson and Elena Azaola gives students a detailed discussion of and what constitutes juvenile delinquency to allow for better understanding of this phenomenon. In each of the chapters, the authors encourage the student to develop new insights on criminal behavior of juveniles. The book makes the subject come alive by the generous use of “down to earth” examples of the issues involved in the area. While each chapter builds on the previous chapters, the book is written in a manner to reduce the necessity of memorization by students. Each chapter begins with chapter objectives that highlights key points for the student and brief chapter outlines. Each chapter closes with a practicum, chapter summary, and discussion and review questions which enhance student learning. The book closes with a glossary where student may refer to they key terms and words throughout the text.

The Second Edition of Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework aims to inform students about the latest research and the most promising and effective programs and provides a wealth of information for understanding, preventing and controlling juvenile delinquency. Key Features Examines the history of current juvenile justice system policies and practices, including the juvenile violence "epidemic" Discusses key myths about juvenile violence and the ability of the juvenile justice system to handle modern-day juvenile delinquents Applies developmental theories of juvenile delinquency to understanding how juvenile offender careers evolve Reviews effective prevention and rehabilitation programs and what does not work Presents a comprehensive framework for building a continuum of effective programs Intended Audience: This is an ideal supplementary text for undergraduate and graduate courses in juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice, and violent offender intervention courses. It is also essential reading for juvenile justice and social services research and development specialists.