Overview

Thisis a hopeful but complicated era for those with ambitions to reform thejuvenile courts and youth-serving public institutions in the United States. As advocates plea for major reforms, many fear the public backlash inmaking dramatic changes. Choosing the Future for American Juvenile Justiceprovides a look at the recent trends in juvenile justice as well as suggestionsfor reforms and policy changes in the future. Should youth be treated as adultswhen they break the law? How can youth be deterred from crime? What factorsshould be considered in how youth are punished?What role should the police have in schools? This essential volume, edited by two of the leadingscholars on juvenile justice, and with contributors who are among the keyexperts on each issue, the volume focuses on the most pressing issues of theday: the impact of neuroscience on our understanding of brain development andsubsequent sentencing, the relationship of schools and the police, the issue ofthe school-to-prison pipeline, the impact of immigration, the privacy of juvenile records, and the need for nationalpolicies--including registration requirements--for juvenile sex offenders. Choosingthe Future for American Juvenile Justice is not only a timely collection, basedon the most current research, but also a forward-thinking volume thatanticipates the needs for substantive and future changes in juvenile justice.