Juvenile Justice and Public Policy

Billions of federal, state and local dollars are spent every year dealing with juvenile crime in America and indications are that crime prevention and control will consume an increasingly larger share of scarce public resources in the future. Despite the pressing interest in this issue, little progress has been made in reducing the rate of serious juvenile crime. Public policy decisions aimed at preventing and controlling juvenile crime are usually made within an atmosphere of rhetoric and with a remarkable lack of facts. This volume examines a number of critical and troubling issues in juvenile justice - including delinquency prevention, youth gangs, the future of juvenile court, and race, gender and ethnicity - and aims to serve as a catalyst and resource for the development of sound policy decisions.