Juvenile Justice: An Introduction, Tenth Edition, presents a comprehensive picture of juvenile offending, delinquency theories, and the ways juvenile justice actors and agencies react to delinquency.
Juvenile Justice: An Introduction gives a comprehensive review of the juvenile justice system, covering the extent of juvenile delinquency, the history of juvenile justice, theories explaining juvenile delinquent behaviors, topical issues such as juvenile gang involvement, juvenile drug use, and juveniles and the police. The juvenile justice process and the system's response to juvenile delinquency are clearly outlined. I also appreciate how the authors interweave the juvenile justice landmark cases into the discussion. The book also discusses restorative justice as an alternative approach to dealing with juvenile delinquency.
Another positive for me is the in-depth coverage of the theories explaining delinquency. While students in this course (usually sophomore or junior) would have already taken their theory course (Criminology) in their second semester, many do not recall even hearing about these theories. This gives me a chance to present this to them a second time.
Sherill Morris-Francis, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator, Mississippi Valley State University
