Rethinking Juvenile Justice
Published on 1. September 2008
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-674-03086-2 (ISBN)
Description
What should we do with teenagers who commit crimes? Are they children whose offenses are the result of immaturity and circumstances, or are they in fact criminals?"Adult time for adult crime" has been the justice system's mantra for the last twenty years. But, locking up so many young people puts a strain on state budgets - and ironically, the evidence suggests it ultimately increases crime.In this bold book, two leading scholars in law and adolescent development offer a comprehensive and pragmatic way forward. They argue that juvenile justice should be grounded in the best available psychological science, which shows that adolescence is a distinctive state of cognitive and emotional development. Although adolescents are not children, they are also not fully responsible adults.Elizabeth Scott and Laurence Steinberg outline a new developmental model of juvenile justice that recognizes adolescents' immaturity but also holds them accountable. Developmentally based laws and policies would make it possible for young people who have committed crimes to grow into responsible adults, rather than career criminals, and would lighten the present burden on the legal and prison systems.
In the end, this model would better serve the interests of justice, and it would also be less wasteful of money and lives than the harsh and ineffective policies of the last generation.
In the end, this model would better serve the interests of justice, and it would also be less wasteful of money and lives than the harsh and ineffective policies of the last generation.
Reviews / Votes
This multidisciplinary book is exactly what policy makers should consult when thinking about ways to change a system that is in dire need of repair. -- D. S. Mann Choice 20090501 What distinguishes this book from other writings in the field are not the proposals made, which are relatively modest, but rather the developmental sophistication with which they are defended. And in the end, the hard questions the book raises are not about juvenile justice policy, but rather about the interrelationship between law and science. Offering us the gold standard in legal-developmental collaboration, it presses us to consider the role the developmental sciences should play in shaping the law affecting children...What makes the book so valuable is that it can be relied upon by judges, legislatures, lawyers, and policymakers to enhance the sophistication with which they consider the very issues that they are currently being called on to decide. In this sense, Rethinking Juvenile Justice is a complete success. Lawmakers already look to Scott and Steinberg's earlier work when they address how the law should respond to juvenile crime, and this book should only enhance the sophistication of those lawmaking efforts...Rethinking Juvenile Justice promises to enhance the sophistication of those addressing juvenile justice policy on a broad range of issues. -- Emily Buss University of Chicago Law Review 20091201 [Scott and Steinberg] believe that new juvenile justice reforms that publicize available scientific developmental data and empirical data demonstrating savings in recidivism and costs due to keeping kids in the juvenile system will be successful. They believe that we can avoid the demolition of the courts or at least staunch the loss of so many young offenders from the courts' jurisdiction...This book is one of the very few works that provides legal and developmental analyses and offers politically savvy advice about implementing a successful legislative strategy...This is a book that everyone should read. -- Lucy S. McGough Law and Politics Book Review 20090101More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Unsewn / adhesive bound
With printed dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-674-03086-2 (9780674030862)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2010
Harvard University Press
€71.99
Available for download
Persons
Elizabeth S. Scott is Harold Medina Professor of Law at Columbia University. Laurence Steinberg is Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Temple University.
Content
* Introduction: The Challenge of Lionel Tate * The Science of Adolescent Development and Teens' Involvement in Crime * Regulating Children in American Law: The State as Parent and Protector * Why Crime Is Different * Immaturity and Mitigation * Developmental Competence and the Adjudication of Juveniles * Social Welfare and Juvenile Crime Regulation * The Developmental Model and Juvenile Justice Policy for the Twenty-First Century * Is Society Ready for Juvenile Justice Reform? * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index