Balancing juvenile justice /

Guarino-Ghezzi and Loughran have written a book that needs to be read not only by students in sociology and criminal justice but also by law students and legislators. This work sets forth some very real policy options for dealing with the vexing issue of juvenile law violators. The authors take readers on an excursus into the philosophies and politics of both early and contemporary juvenile justice policy, and then give a detailed overview of state and local reforms in juvenile corrections within the last decade or so. Guarino-Ghezzi and Loughran argue that the various components of the so-called juvenile justice system in the US have too long been working at cross-purposes and, in so doing, have further complicated the task of establishing a "balanced" system of justice for children. The authors argue that the police, the courts, the community, institutional correctional agencies, and political stakeholders all seek turf and bureaucratic advantage over each other, with the juvenile clients as the ultimate victims. Their strategies for reform include closer working relationships between state and private-sector groups and achieving a "political balance" in juvenile corrections as a whole. Appendix, references. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. C. Watkins Jr.; University of Alabama