Read complete books and articles on: Juvenile Crime

Juvenile Delinquency - legal term for behavior of children and adolescents that in adults would be judged criminal under law. In the United States, definitions and age limits of juveniles vary, the maximum age being set at 14 years in some states and as high as 21 years in others. The 16- to 20-year age group, considered adult in many places, has one of the highest incidences of serious crime. A high proportion of adult criminals have a background of early delinquency. Theft is the most common offense by children; more serious property crimes and rape are most frequently committed in later youth. The causes of such behavior, like those of crime in general, are found in a complex of psychological, social, and economic factors. Clinical studies have uncovered emotional maladjustments, usually arising from disorganized family situations, in many delinquents. Other studies have suggested that there are persisting patterns of delinquency in poverty-level neighborhoods regardless of changing occupants; this "culture of poverty" argument has come into disrepute among many social scientists. The gang, a source of much delinquency, has been a common path for adolescents, particularly in the inner cities. Not until the development, after 1899, of the juvenile court was judgment of youthful offenders effectively separated from that of adults. The system generally emphasizes informal procedure and correction rather than punishment. In some states, psychiatric clinics are attached, and there has been a tendency to handle cases in public welfare agencies outside the court. Juvenile correctional institutions have been separated from regular prisons since the early 19th cent., and although most are inadequate, some have developed intensive rehabilitation programs, providing vocational training and psychiatric treatment. The parole system, foster homes, child guidance clinics, and public juvenile protective agencies have contributed to the correction of delinquent and maladjusted children. Especially important for prevention is action by community groups to provide essential facilities for the well-being of children. On an international level, delinquency rates are highest in the more economically and technologically advanced countries.

See P. Cromwell, Jr., et al., Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency: Text and Readings (1978); D. J. Shoemaker, Theories of Delinquency (1984); V. Bailey, Delinquency and Citizenship (1987); A. Binder et al., Juvenile Delinquency (1988); R. Kramer, At a Tender Age (1988).

Show Excerpt Only

14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Juvenile Crime

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Children and Criminality: The Child as Victim and Perpetrator » Read Now
by Ronald Barri Flowers. 228 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

Flowers provides an understanding of the relationship between child victimization and juvenile delinquency as well as a comprehensive review of the literature. Assessing the effectiveness of present conceptual frameworks, modes of research, and social and legal measures, he offers recommendations...
Read More

Flowers provides an understanding of the relationship between child victimization and juvenile delinquency as well as a comprehensive review of the literature. Assessing the effectiveness of present conceptual frameworks, modes of research, and social and legal measures, he offers recommendations for furthering professional and research efforts in the field.
Show less
2.

When Good Kids Kill » Read Now
by Michael D. Kelleher. 190 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

In recent years, the incidence of violent crime committed by teenagers has escalated, a fact that has hardly escaped the news media. When faced with the challenge of understanding and explaining such occurences in the headlines, one is tempted to rely upon the truism: "There are good kids and there...
Read More

In recent years, the incidence of violent crime committed by teenagers has escalated, a fact that has hardly escaped the news media. When faced with the challenge of understanding and explaining such occurences in the headlines, one is tempted to rely upon the truism: "There are good kids and there are bad kids." Michael D. Kelleher, noted expert on the subject of violence, asserts in When Good Kids Kill that this belief is outdated, oversimplified, and fundamentally wrong. He states that some of the most atrocious murders are, in fact, committed by "good kids" who have never given a prior indication of violence. Kelleher's book is the first to focus exclusively on homicides committed by previously nonviolent teens, exploring many of the prominent criminal cases covered by the media in recent years. Although individual killings are hard to predict, Kelleher's important new work demonstrates that there are categories of crime that can be attributed to good kids who kill; his work shows for the first time that the young perpetrators of murders that fall into these categories share similar backgrounds and experience.
Show less
3.

Murder Is No Accident: Understanding and Preventing Youth Violence in America » Read Now
by Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Howard R. Spivak. 279 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

A Prescription for Stopping Youth Violence Before It Starts'A clear, compelling, and much-needed examination of what causes youth violence in small towns and big cities all over America, and how one community was able to bring many partners and pieces of a complex puzzle together to curb youth...
Read More

A Prescription for Stopping Youth Violence Before It Starts'A clear, compelling, and much-needed examination of what causes youth violence in small towns and big cities all over America, and how one community was able to bring many partners and pieces of a complex puzzle together to curb youth violence in its neighborhoods. This book is an important reminder that youth violence is preventable. It should be read by every elected official, public health professional, community leader, advocate, and parent ready to move beyond despair or fear and take action.'-Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund'Essential reading for public officials, concerned parents, and citizens.'-Senator Edward M. Kennedy'An eye-opening and well-documented book by two of the foremost pioneers in violence prevention efforts in America. Through their own personal stories and an astute analysis of the complexities of violence prevention initiatives, the authors argue that violence is learned behavior that can be significantly reduced. This is an inspiring book; I highly recommend it.'-Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D., professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Judge Baker Children's Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Show less
4.

Youth Aggression and Violence: A Psychological Approach » Read Now
by Thomas G. Moeller. 421 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

The rash of school shootings in the late 1990s has generated a tremendous amount of public concern about youth aggression and violence. But students, trainees, and professionals who work with children and adolescents have had no concise or systematic survey of our current knowledge about causes and...
Read More

The rash of school shootings in the late 1990s has generated a tremendous amount of public concern about youth aggression and violence. But students, trainees, and professionals who work with children and adolescents have had no concise or systematic survey of our current knowledge about causes and effective approaches to intervention and prevention on which to draw. Youth Aggression and Violence has filled the void. Comprehensive and readable, it: * utilizes theory and research from the developmental psychology of "normal" children and adolescents, as well as material on "abnormal" forms of development, such as disruptive behavior disorders and juvenile delinquency; * situates youthful aggression and violence within the overall framework of children's moral development; * integrates quantitative research with carefully considered qualitative research and case studies; * discusses the genetic and biological underpinnings of youthful aggression, as well as family and social factors related to antisocial behavior; * emphasizes cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes involved in youth aggression and violence; * provides in-depth coverage of juvenile killers and school violence; * examines female aggression and violence in a variety of contexts; and * critically examines a number of questions frequently discussed in conjunction with youth violence, such as media violence, firearm accessibility, and the relationship between self-esteem and aggression.
Show less
5.

The Context of Youth Violence: Resilience, Risk, and Protection » Read Now
by Mark W. Fraser, Jack M. Richman. 210 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

Leading scholars summarize the current research on risk, protection, and resilience in the context of youth violence and its implications for practice with children and families. It describes an emerging framework for understanding social and health problems and for developing more effective...
Read More

Leading scholars summarize the current research on risk, protection, and resilience in the context of youth violence and its implications for practice with children and families. It describes an emerging framework for understanding social and health problems and for developing more effective programs for interventions. This book describes resilient children by examining risk factors for violence and explores the factors that lead some children to resist or adapt to risk.
Show less
6.

American Youth Violence » Read Now
by Franklin E. Zimring. 212 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

This is the definitive examination of adolescent violence in the United States as both a social phenomenon and a policy problem. Franklin Zimring, one of America's most esteemed scholars of law and crime, scrutinizes criminal statistics and demographic trends in order to authoritatively address...
Read More

This is the definitive examination of adolescent violence in the United States as both a social phenomenon and a policy problem. Franklin Zimring, one of America's most esteemed scholars of law and crime, scrutinizes criminal statistics and demographic trends in order to authoritatively address public worries. The result is a thorough debunking of Congressional predictions of "a coming storm of juvenile violence" and the half-baked policy proposals that accompany such warnings. The book sets forth comprehensive and dispassionate analyses of three key areas of youth violence policy: adolescent firearms possession and use, standards for transfer from juvenile to criminal court jurisdiction, and legal sanctions for adolescents who kill. Throughout American Youth Violence, the core issues of youth violence in the 1990s are examined with an unprecedented degree of analytic rigour. Zimring also offers an appropriate set of responses to youth violence that are consistent with a positive future for the juvenile court and for American youth.
Show less
7.

Winning the War against Youth Gangs: A Guide for Teens, Families, and Communities » Read Now
by Valerie Wiener. 228 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

Gangs have spread throughout the entire sector of society, and what was once viewed as an inner-city problem can now be found everywhere, including suburbia. This guide for teenagers, their families, and impacted communities addresses the youth gang issue in understandable, manageable terms. Quotes...
Read More

Gangs have spread throughout the entire sector of society, and what was once viewed as an inner-city problem can now be found everywhere, including suburbia. This guide for teenagers, their families, and impacted communities addresses the youth gang issue in understandable, manageable terms. Quotes from teens themselves provide valuable insight into the problems that can cause kids to join gangs: absent parents, the need for excitement or to belong to a group, following in the footsteps of family members who are involved in gangs. These factors and others are explored (including an examination of the workings of the adolescent mind), and sound solutions are suggested to help kids resist gang membership.
Show less
8.

The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control » Read Now
by Malcolm W. Klein. 270 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the White House announced with great fanfare that 100 FBI counterintelligence agents would be reassigned. Their new target: street gangs. Americans--filled with fear of crack-dealing gangs--cheered the decision, as did many big-city police departments. But this...
Read More

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the White House announced with great fanfare that 100 FBI counterintelligence agents would be reassigned. Their new target: street gangs. Americans--filled with fear of crack-dealing gangs--cheered the decision, as did many big-city police departments. But this highly publicized move could be an experience in futility, suggests Malcolm Klein: for one thing, most street gangs have little to do with the drug trade. The American Street Gang provides the finest portrait of this subject ever produced--a detailed accounting, through statistics, interviews, and personal experience, of what street gangs are, how they have changed, their involvement in drug sales, and why we have not been able to stop them. Klein has been studying street gangs for more than thirty years, and he brings a sophisticated understanding of the problem to bear in this often surprising book. In contrast to the image of rigid organization and military-style leadership we see in the press, he writes, street gangs are usually loose bodies of associates, with informal and multiple leadership. Street gangs, he makes clear, are quite distinct from drug gangs--though they may share individual members. In a drug-selling operation tight discipline is required--the members are more like employees--whereas street gangs are held together by affiliation and common rivalries, with far less discipline. With statistics and revealing anecdotes, Klein offers a strong critique of the approach of many law enforcement agencies, which have demonized street gangs while ignoring the fact that they are the worst possible bodies for running disciplined criminal operations--let alone colonizing other cities. On the other hand, he shows that street gangs do spur criminal activity, and he demonstrates the shocking rise in gang homicides and the proliferation of gangs across America. Ironically, he writes, the liberal approach to gangs advocated by many (assigning a social worker to a gang, organizing non-violent gang activities) can actually increase group cohesion, which leads to still more criminal activity. And programs to erode that cohesion, Klein tells us from personal experience, can work--but they require intensive, exhausting effort. Street gangs are a real and growing problem in America--but the media and many law enforcement officials continue to dispense misleading ideas about what they are and what they do. In The American Street Gang, Malcolm Klein challenges these assumptions with startling new evidence that must be understood if we are to come to grips with this perceived crisis.
Show less
9.

Youth Crime and Urban Policy: A View from the Inner City » Read Now
by Robert L. Woodson. 176 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
10.

Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court » Read Now
by Barry C. Feld. 376 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Written by a leading scholar of juvenile justice, this book examines the social and legal changes that have transformed the juvenile court in the last three decades from a nominally rehabilitative welfare agency into a scaled-down criminal court for young offenders. It explores the complex...
Read More

Written by a leading scholar of juvenile justice, this book examines the social and legal changes that have transformed the juvenile court in the last three decades from a nominally rehabilitative welfare agency into a scaled-down criminal court for young offenders. It explores the complex relationship between race and youth crime to explain both the Supreme Court decisions to provide delinquents with procedural justice and the more recent political impetus to "get tough" on young offenders. This provocative book will be necessary reading for criminal and juvenile justice scholars, sociologists, legislators, and juvenile justice personnel.
Show less
11.

Transferring Juveniles to Criminal Courts: Trends and Implications for Criminal Justice » Read Now
by Dean J. Champion, G. Larry Mays. 194 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Champion and Mays offer the first in-depth investigation of the juvenile transfer process together with long range implications for the criminal justice system. Their analysis includes descriptions of juvenile courts, types of offenders processed, and characteristic outcomes. The authors explore...
Read More

Champion and Mays offer the first in-depth investigation of the juvenile transfer process together with long range implications for the criminal justice system. Their analysis includes descriptions of juvenile courts, types of offenders processed, and characteristic outcomes. The authors explore social and legal definitions of delinquency; goals and functions of transfers; legal rights of juveniles; implications of possible penalties, such as the death penalty; and, ideal versus real results of transfers. This book is designed for majors in criminal justice, public administration, political science, sociology, and psychology.
Show less
12.

Black Youths, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice » Read Now
by Janice Joseph. 216 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has delineated the nature and extent of delinquency, as well as the role of the juvenile justice system. Despite such research, the causes and consequences of delinquency and the role of the justice system remain poorly understood, particularly in...
Read More

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has delineated the nature and extent of delinquency, as well as the role of the juvenile justice system. Despite such research, the causes and consequences of delinquency and the role of the justice system remain poorly understood, particularly in regard to minority groups. This book is intended to meet a two-fold need: to extend research into the area of delinquency generally and to further research into the sociology of Black youths. The author explores critical issues such as the rates of delinquency among Black youths, explanations of delinquency, and the juvenile justice system's treatment of Black youths, as well as the policy implications for designing culturally sensitive and effective delinquency treatment and prevention programs. Joseph's work will be of interest to scholars in sociology/criminology, criminal justice, and Black studies.
Show less
13.

Youth Crisis: Growing Up in the High-Risk Society » Read Now
by Nanette J. Davis. 374 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

What is the social condition of youth in modern society? This is the question taken up by this passionate and substantive book. The author argues that youth are at a crisis state. The crisis has been brought about by the general state of social crisis; violence, questions of political legitimacy...
Read More

What is the social condition of youth in modern society? This is the question taken up by this passionate and substantive book. The author argues that youth are at a crisis state. The crisis has been brought about by the general state of social crisis; violence, questions of political legitimacy, educational decline; as well as the decline of compassion as a core principle of culture. The author draws on a variety of trends and scholarly research to examine the problems of growing up in a high risk society and offers pathways to spiritual renewal and cultural renewal, esential for salvaging the next generation.
Show less
14.

Safe Passage: Making It through Adolescence in a Risky Society (Chap. 3 "Vulnerable Youth: Sex, Drugs, and Violence" and Chap. 7 "Coping with Sex, Drugs, and Violence") » Read Now
by Joy G. Dryfoos. 308 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

Children today face daunting obstacles on the path to adulthood--failing schools, dangerous streets, drug abuse, teen pregnancy. But the good news, according to child advocate Joy Dryfoos, is that there are many programs out there that work--models that we can apply to our own communities and our...
Read More

Children today face daunting obstacles on the path to adulthood--failing schools, dangerous streets, drug abuse, teen pregnancy. But the good news, according to child advocate Joy Dryfoos, is that there are many programs out there that work--models that we can apply to our own communities and our own children. In Safe Passage, Dryfoos helps us find them. Indeed, this book examines hundreds of successful programs, ideas that have worked in the real world--in a very tough real world at that--such as the Turner Middle School in Philadelphia, a model of a "university assisted" community school. Dryfoos examines the new trend toward full-service schools, programs that make the school the hub of the community, serving as enrichment centers and neighborhood safe havens. She evaluates programs that try to cope with sex, drugs, and violence--revealing which ones work and what aspects of these programs are most effective--and she also dissects programs that have failed, such as the highly touted drug program, DARE. Dryfoos concludes with a passionate call for action, outlining what must be done if our young people are to be assured safe passage to the future. Whether they live in a room down the hall, a house across town, or a tenement a thousand miles away, these are our children. This book shows us what we can do to give them a better chance to succeed in life, to grow up to be healthy and productive adults.
Show less