Juvenile offending and anti-social behavior are enormous societal concerns. This broad-reaching volume summarizes
the current evidence on prevention, diversion, causes, and rates of delinquency, as well as assessment of risk
and intervention needs. A distinguished cast of contributors from law, psychology, and psychiatry describe what
we know about interventions in school, community, and residential contexts, focusing particularly on interventions
that are risk reducing and cost effective. Equally important, each chapter comments on what is not well supported
through research, distinguishing aspects of current practice that are likely to be effective from those that are
not and mapping new directions for research, policy, and practice.
Finally, the volume provides a description of a model curriculum for training legal and mental health professionals
on conducting relevant assessments of adolescents for the courts. Effectively bridging research and practice, this
will be an important resource for legal and mental health professionals involved in the juvenile justice system,
policy makers seeking humane but effective interventions in the context of society's need for safety, and those
involved in teaching about and training in juvenile delinquency.
Table of Contents
1. Juvenile delinquency : past and present
2. Risk factors, protective factors, and the prevention of antisocial behavior among juveniles
3. School violence : fears versus facts
4. Juvenile offending
5. Mental health disorders : the neglected risk factor in juvenile delinquency
6. Risk factors and intervention outcomes : meta-analyses of juvenile offending
7. Mental health and rehabilitative services in juvenile justice : system reforms and innovative approaches
8. Juvenile diversion
9. Juveniles' competence to confess and competence to participate in the juvenile justice process
10. Risk assessment in juvenile justice policy and practice
11. Adjudicatory and dispositional decision making in juvenile justice
12. Community-based treatments
13. Mental health treatment for juvenile offenders in residential psychiatric and juvenile justice settings
14. Training mental health and juvenile justice professionals in juvenile forensic assessment
15. Emerging directions : implications for research, policy, and practice
