Juvenile Justice in Global Perspective

An unprecedented comparison of juvenile justice systems across the globe, Juvenile Justice in Global Perspective brings together original contributions from some of the world's leading voices.

While American scholars may have extensive knowledge about other justice systems around the world and how adults are treated, juvenile justice systems and the plight of youth who break the law throughout the world is less often studied. This important volume fills a large gap in the study of juvenile justice by providing an unprecedented comparison of criminal justice and juvenile justice systems across the world, looking for points of comparison and policy variance that can lead to positive change in the United States.

Distinguished criminology scholars Franklin Zimring, Máximo Langer, and David Tanenhaus, and the contributors cover countries from Western Europe to rising powers like China, India, and countries in Latin America. The book discusses important issues such as the relationship between political change and juvenile justice, the common labels used to unify juvenile systems in different regions and in different forms of government, the types of juvenile systems that exist and how they differ, and more. Furthermore, the book uses its data on criminal versus juvenile justice in a wide variety of nations to create a new explanation of why separate juvenile and criminal courts are felt to be necessary.

Franklin E. Zimring is William G. Simon Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley Law School. He is the author of several books, including The City That Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control and American Juvenile Justice.Langer Maximo :

Máximo Langer is Professor of Law at UCLA. His work has been translated into Chinese, German, and Spanish, and has received awards from different professional associations, including the 2007 Hessel Yntema Prize by the American Society of Comparative Law, the 2007 Margaret Popkin Award by the Latin American Studies Association, and the 2012 Deák Prize by the American Society of International Law.Tanenhaus David S. :

David S. Tanenhaus is Professor of History and James E. Rogers Professor of History and Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the author of The Constitutional Rights of Children and Juvenile Justice in the Making. He is also co-editor, with Franklin Zimring, of the series Youth, Crime, and Justice for NYU Press.

This book is a valuable resource for academic courses designed to compare and contrast juvenile justice systems and gain an appreciation of how different cultures approach juvenile justice.

Shadd Maruna,author of Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives:
With chapters on China, India, Latin America, Africa, and beyond, Juvenile Justice in Global Perspective is truly global in a way that no previous work has been. Besides being a hugely useful resource, though, the book also triggers important theoretical debates on the purpose and lasting value of separate systems of juvenile justice internationally. It should be widely read.

Martin Guggenheim,author of What’s Wrong with Children’s Rights:
This book is a major contribution to the literature on juvenile justice. Editors Franklin E. Zimring, Máximo Langer, and David S. Tanenhausall of whom are leading voices in the field of juvenile justicehave gathered together other top scholars from around the world to present a compelling transnational perspective.They examine reform efforts in China, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and South Korea.In doing so, they provide a brilliant synthesis of juvenile justice reform efforts across the globe, enabling readers to appreciate why a commitment to a separate system of juvenile justice is universal.

Anthony Doob,co-author of Justice for Girls?:
Juvenile Justice in Global Perspective successfully makes the point that an adequate understanding of youth justice requires the multiple comparisonsto adult systems, to other systems, to social policiescontained in this volume. It is an impressive contribution to the field.