The APA Handbook of Psychology and Juvenile Justice consolidates and advances knowledge about the legal, scientific, and applied foundations of the juvenile justice system. In addition to an overview of the area, it contains chapters in the following sections: Relevant Law (focusing on important legislation and on U.S. Supreme Court decisions from Kent and Gault to Eddings, Roper, Graham, and Miller-Jackson, and on the relevant legal theory of preventive justice for adolescents); Human Development (describing research on adolescent development and brain development as they apply to behavior in the juvenile justice context); Patterns of Offending (including evidence about offending in juveniles and the persistence vs. desistance into adulthood); Risk Factors for Offending (evidence about risk factors for juvenile offending including Risk-Need-Responsivity theory, juvenile psychopathy, substance abuse, gangs, and trauma/adverse experience, as well as threat assessment and bullying prevention in schools); Forensic Assessment (assessing risk, needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity as part of legal decisions on commitment, transfer, and reverse transfer, as well as legal decisions on Miranda waiver capacity and competence to stand trial); Interventions (evidence on risk-reducing interventions, both in the community and in residential placement, including for specialized offending of sexual offenders); and Training and Ethics (including the updated MacArthur curriculum on adolescents in the juvenile justice system and an analysis of the ethical issues particular to juvenile justice).

Juvenile justice centers have a long tradition as an unfortunate stop for young offenders who need mental health care. Reports estimate that as many as 70% of the youth in detention centers meet criteria for mental health disorders. As juvenile justice systems once again turn their focus from confinement to rehabilitation, mental health providers have major opportunities to inform and improve both practice and policy. The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry explores these opportunities by emphasizing a developmental perspective, multifaceted assessment, and evidence-based practice in working with juvenile offenders. This comprehensive volume provides insights at virtually every intersection of mental health practice and juvenile justice, covering areas as wide-ranging as special populations, sentencing issues, educational and pharmacological interventions, family involvement, ethical issues, staff training concerns, and emerging challenges. Together, its chapters contain guidelines not only for changing the culture of detention but also preventing detention facilities from being the venue of choice in placing troubled youth. Key issues addressed in the Handbook include: Developmental risks for delinquency. Race and sex disparities in juvenile justice processing. Establishing standards of practice in juvenile forensic mental health assessment. Serving dually diagnosed youth in the juvenile justice system. PTSD among court-involved youth. Female juvenile offenders. Juvenile sex offenders. The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry is an essential reference for researchers, professors, allied clinicians and professionals, and policy makers across multiple fields, including child and school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, developmental psychology, criminology, juvenile justice, forensic psychology, neuropsychology, social work, and education.

"The APA Handbook of Forensic Psychology consolidates and advances knowledge about the scientific foundations and practical application of psychology to law, the practice of law, and law-related policy. Drawing upon contemporary psychological research and practice, this Handbook provides a thorough, up-to-date, and far-reaching reference on forensic psychological issues that are important to researchers, practitioners and students in psychology, other social sciences and practice disciplines, and law. The Handbook is divided into 2 Volumes, each comprised of 3 sections."--Publicity materials.

Psychologists have always played a key role in determining how the juvenile justice system assesses and treats young offenders. Recent neuropsychological findings shows that there are important developmental differences between juvenile offenders, such as varying levels of maturity, risk potential, and amenability to treatment, not to mention individualized personality traits and possible mental disorders. Psychologists must therefore strive for targeted rehabilitation services to avoid unfair treatment and redirect youth to healthier life choices. This book is a practical guide that will help psychologists answer important psycho-legal questions to properly assess and treat juvenile offenders. These guidelines primarily focus on disposition evaluations, which describe adolescent offenders and paths to rehabilitation, and transfer evaluations, which determine whether juveniles should be moved to adult courts. Psychological assessments can greatly influence a judge s decision, so this book will help forensic clinicians consider important external factors, such as local laws and the political climate, and present assessment data to judges in a thorough, understandable manner. This book will also be valuable for attorneys, judges, criminologists, and legal scholars who want to understand the psychological science behind juvenile assessment.

Child maltreatment has enormous costs, both at the individual and the societal level. Today, thanks to increased knowledge and awareness, we are better equipped than ever to prevent the trauma of child abuse and to intervene to help maltreated children. Yet, fundamental questions remain. How and why does normal development go awry in maltreated children? Why are some children more affected than others, and what are the processes that promote or undermine resilience? How can clinicians and child protection professionals help neglected and abused children and their families in the most timely and effective manner? This book explains and summarises the science of developmental psychopathology for clinicians and other professionals who work with maltreated children and those at risk. The authors focus particularly on how maltreatment differentially affects children at key stages of their lives, ranging from infancy to early adulthood, so that clinicians can be aware of age specific vulnerabilities. This handy guide encourages its readers to look beyond immediate presenting problems to better understand the needs and experiences of their young clients.

Focusing on juvenile transfer and disposition evaluations, this volume provides an up-to-date integration of current law, science, and practice with respect to juvenile risk assessment, treatment needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity. Included are perspectives relating to international practices, use of specialized assessment tools, and a separate chapter on resentencing following US Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole. This text will be a useful and comprehensive reference for forensic psychologists and other mental health professionals engaged in juvenile evaluation, as well as legal professionals, juvenile and criminal justice professionals, and others involved with juvenile assessment, decision-making, and rehabilitation.