Abstract
The book begins with a discussion of child and youth risk factors for delinquency and why some are at greater risk of delinquency than others. The author details four specific and often interrelated problems: maltreatment victimization; mental health disorders; substance use/abuse; and special education disabilities, primarily learning disabilities.
Further, Chapter 1 talks about individual risk factors that may increase the likelihood of delinquency—specifically special education disability, maltreatment victimization, family risk factors, and community risk factors. This is apropos considering the rising number of youth in the juvenile justice system who have unmet special education needs, who have prior maltreatment, and who live in impoverished areas with few resources for them and their families. In addition, the author provides a brief discussion of resiliency and how some children are highly resilient to the risk based on the interaction of each youth’s risk and protective factors.
Chapter 1 also contains a very good argument of the purpose/utility of juvenile detention as well as the concern of race and gender of youth entering the system. The author discusses the issue of race as a significant, although not fully understood, predictor of detention placement. African American youth are 6 times more likely and Hispanic youth are 3 times more likely to be detained than their White counterparts, thus, recognizing the phenomenon of disproportionate minority contact. In addition to detention, the author has a brief but important section on juvenile incarceration and transfers of youth to adult criminal court, which he points out has divided the youth offender into two categories: those worthy of rehabilitative services and those who are not. The latter half of the first chapter talks about the issues of the cost of confinement to society from both the financial aspect and the human capital aspect.
The second chapter builds on Chapter 1 and begins to examine the links between delinquency and disorders. This chapter discusses four major areas: maltreatment/victimization, special education disabilities (learning disabilities and emotional disturbances), mental health disorders, and substance abuse. The author does a wonderful job in bringing to light additional areas of concern such as the prevalence of these issues when compared to the general population. He raises the concern that youth in the juvenile justice system often have at least one significant disability, have experienced some form of maltreatment, have a mental health disorder or more, and/or have some substance abuse issue. The author also points out that those youth deeper in the system are more likely to have some comorbidity. The discussion in Chapter 2 is a prelude to a deeper argument on a very complex issue that is not easily solved, however, as the author points out, if recognized, then stakeholders can address these issues as youth with multiple issues are at greater risk of entry and continuation in the juvenile justice and adult justice system.
Chapters 3 and 4 discuss primary school-aged children and secondary school-aged youth. The author states that these chapters should be utilized in tandem. His statement in Chapter 3 that “many factors linked with later juvenile court involvement are rooted in childhood” (p. 37) is an accurate statement that is oftentimes overlooked by professionals working in the juvenile court system. Although Chapter 3 focuses an earlier time frame, it is a developmental stage that should not be overlooked since most of the children who encounter the juvenile court system have been experiencing difficulties for many years prior to involvement, although often not recognized until it is “too late.” Chapter 3 discusses the concern of early onset and occurrence of maltreatment and the profound effect it can have on the development of the child. The author presents a possible resolve to this problem through early identification and assessment, prevention through home visit programs, parent training/education, and family/parent support groups. He also spends time discussing the issue of parental substance abuse and dependence as well as child sex abuse prevention programs. Chapter 3 is wrapped up with an in-depth talk on the onset and occurrence of learning disabilities and mental health disorders. The author discusses the problems that these two areas have on children and he presents ideas as to how to best address them. The arguments presented point out that if these difficulties can be managed if early enough; however, if not recognized and addressed adequately, the child is at a greater risk of delinquent activity and involvement in the juvenile justice system later in life.
Chapter 4 focuses on older children and youth in secondary school. The author begins this chapter with talking about the onset and occurrence of maltreatment victimization. He points out that, although this age group consists of a smaller percentage of abuse and neglect victims, they are at greater risk of psychological or emotional abuse because of past maltreatment experiences. The author carries the same discussion of this issue as in Chapter 3; however, he adds a section on foster care treatment which is a treatment setting designed for children and youth who are having more serious adjustment problems. He goes on to talk about the success of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care programs, and how if implemented properly, can actually save jurisdictions money. The author does a valid argument of continuing the discussion of why youth with learning disabilities are at greater risk of court involvement and continues by exploring three current competing hypotheses: school failure hypothesis, susceptibility hypothesis, and differential treatment hypothesis. He fairly presents all of the hypotheses and leaves judgment of them to the reader. Chapter 4 concludes with a solid debate of two important topics with this age group: depression and suicide prevention and substance abuse. The author gives a balanced and reasoned argument from onset and occurrence to addressing the problem. Chapter 4 argues these issues and points out several effective prevention and intervention programs that can decrease or even eliminate delinquent behavior and which would lead to less involvement in the juvenile justice and adult criminal justice system.
Chapter 5 touches on low-level offenders. The author makes an important point to those who are working with these youth: Most of those youth who come into contact with the system are first-time, low-level offenders. However, many of them suffer from the issues addressed in previous chapters, resulting in a better understanding of how to best work with these low-level offenders rather than treating them like serious and chronic offenders. One key consideration is that once a youth comes into contact with the system, their chance of recontact increases; thus, prevention, diversion, and intervention are preferable. The chapter also includes a discussion on screening and assessment and that proper identification, proper screening, and adequate assessment are vital to these youth and future success.
Chapter 6 discusses serious and chronic offenders. The author points out that, although this is a small proportion of youth who are in contact with the system, these youth tend to commit more crimes, escalate their criminal activity, stay in the youth system longer, and are more likely to go into the adult criminal justice system. However, the main argument of the chapter is how this trajectory is not fixed. The author argues that with proper identification of educational problems, mental health disorders, and trauma-related issues these youth can be treated, rehabilitated, and returned to society as productive citizens. Finally, the chapter addresses where things have gone and continue to go wrong and namely with the traditional punitive paradigm that has replaced the historical ideology of parens patriae.
The book concludes with an in-depth discussion of the shifting paradigm from punishment to rehabilitation. As the author does throughout the book, the focus of Chapter 7 is the effect that educational problems, mental health disorders, and trauma-related issues can have on a youth. He points out that these issues are greater for youth who have a serious offending problem; however, the traditional way of handling them (punishment) may not be the best philosophy to follow.
There is growing support for the shift from punishment to treatment and the author points out that one of the best ways to accomplish this is through multisystem collaboration. He also touches on how important it is for school districts to be involved in the treatment of these youth and not just “pass them off” into the school-to-prison pipeline. Schools need to refocus their efforts on policies that are “tough on crime” as well as zero-tolerance policies. These two philosophies of dealing with “unruly” children have increased the number of children coming into contact with law enforcement as well as entering the juvenile justice system. Unfortunately, the majority of these youth have underlying issues that the school is no longer addressing.
The author has made a great effort to draw on the current literature. He points out counterarguments as well as possible critiques of what he presents. The presentation of a solution beyond the current thinking is what makes this book one worth considering in further debate on all these issues. And, in the words of the author “A society is judged not by the success of its most prominent or able-bodied but by how it treats its most disadvantaged. When looking at today’s juvenile detention centers and punitively-focused incarceration facilities, it is difficult to draw any conclusions other than we have wholly failed many of these young people” (p. 124). The author states “we must do better” (p. 124) … we must and we can.