Customer Reviews

Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

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Barry Feld's "Bad Kids" raises provocative and timely policy issues concerning American juvenile justice at the turn of the century. More than most researchers, he has kept two issues front and center: (1) the contradictions and failings of the juvenile court, and (2) the role of race in driving juvenile justice policy and practice. There are few resources available that address these issues adequately, much less that place them within a broader historical, legal, and sociological context. His primary policy focus is on abolishment of the juvenile court, but many of his arguments can be used to develop and defend modifications, rather than wholesale elimination, of juvenile justice systems. For this reason alone it is a must read for proponents of juvenile justice.

Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

I appreciated the fact that Mr. Feld's approach to his study included a child development theory base!

The condition and delivery of the book was quick and secure.

Thank you from a first time user.

Feld is one of the most informed scholars of the juvenile court working today. This book is a tremendous resource for anyone who wants to understand the contemporary juvenile court system as well as the current controversy about the court's responsibility for young offenders. His conclusion, that the juvenile court's delinquency jurisdiction is not only constitutionally suspect but also unworkable in today's policy climate, disturbs those who instinctively defend the system. Once you read his book, however, his arguments are difficult to dismiss so easily.

A top quality book on juvenile crime. A MUST READ ! Provides you with insight into things never before imagined!!! BUY THIS BOOK!

-Robert Daniels, San Diego, CA

Adding nothing new to the world of juvenile law, Barry Feld once more demonstrates the gap between academia and real life. It is apparant that the author is either naive or has no real or practical experience with delinquents, the juvenile system or the politics of criminal courts. The book contains no new ideas, insights or real solutions to the limitations of our juvenile system or the issues facing today's families and thier chidren. Rather, Feld merely rehashes revisionist histories and opinions of other academics and concludes that because a greater number of delinquents have been treated as adult offenders over the last decade, we should scrap the system altogather thus literally throwing the baby out with the bath. It is not suprising that the positive reviews of this book have all been from other academics. It is a shame our "scholars" cannot offer better than this.