A sociological approach to the phenomena of juvenlie delinquency and the policies of control that confronts it.

Crime and Social Policy provides an invaluable examination of the relationship between social policy and crime. It draws on recent empirical research to offer important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders. Provides an invaluable examination of the critical relationship between social policy and crime management Includes illuminating case studies on the impact of social policies on offenders Reviews current social policy trends and their influence on crime causation, crime rates, and crime management Discusses the role for social policy in promoting more effective reintegration of offenders into the community Draws on recent empirical research ranging from youth crime, anti-social behaviour, ‘problematic families’, and social security fraud The collection offers important insights into the impact of current social policy trends on the lives of offenders

In this book, David E. Brandt examines the legal, psychological, and cultural issues relevant to understanding antisocial behavior in adolescence. Based on his own research and a broad analysis of recent work in the field, Brandt identifies the factors that are common in cases of delinquency. The discussion considers the long-term effects of social issues such as poverty as well as psychological issues such as the high levels of stress and anxiety suffered during childhood by many delinquents. He shows how a failure to meet the developmental needs of children—at both the family level and at a broader social and political level—is at the core of the problem of juvenile delinquency. Brandt concludes with an inquiry into how best to prevent delinquency. Programs that address the developmental needs of children, Brandt argues, are more effective than policing, juvenile courts, or incarceration.

In this book, David E. Brandt examines the legal, psychological, and cultural issues relevant to understanding antisocial behavior in adolescence. Based on his own research and a broad analysis of recent work in the field, Brandt identifies the factors that are common in cases of delinquency. The discussion considers the long-term effects of social issues such as poverty as well as psychological issues such as the high levels of stress and anxiety suffered during childhood by many delinquents. He shows how a failure to meet the developmental needs of children—at both the family level and at a broader social and political level—is at the core of the problem of juvenile delinquency. Brandt concludes with an inquiry into how best to prevent delinquency. Programs that address the developmental needs of children, Brandt argues, are more effective than policing, juvenile courts, or incarceration.

Originally published in 1967, Social Policy and the Young Delinquent is an account of a process: of the way in which the treatment of the child delinquent has developed from the days when a boy of nine could be sentenced to be hanged for stealing two penny worth of paint (though the sentence, imposed in 1833, was not actually carried out) to the controversies of the time concerning the desirability of replacing the legalistic and penal framework of the services for young offenders by a service more appropriate to their educational and social needs. Peter Boss deals with the development of policy relating to the young offender with sympathy and clarity. While his own views were progressive, he is at pains to point out the administrative advantages and disadvantages of each of the current proposals, and to leave the reader free to make up their own mind on issues which have no simple and easy solution. Profound changes had taken place in our attitude to delinquent children over the previous hundred years, and, as Boss makes clear, the importance and even the direction of change was not always clearly discernible at the time. Whatever the outcome of the controversy in 1967, this account of a developing process would have been of value in enabling us to stand back and take the long view of the most intractable and important problems of modern urban society.

This book explores the relationship between crime and social policy from both a theoretical and empirical approach. Analyzing various governmental policies, Emma Wincup reflects upon the multiplicity of influences that shape the formulation of crime control policies, the changing nature of government, and the enhanced role of the welfare state in addressing crime. Utilizing a host of policy examples, she offers a thorough look at the close connections--and occasional tensions--between crime reduction and social policy agendas.

Paul Knepper discusses the difference social policy makes, or can make, in any response to crime. He also considers the contribution of criminology to the debates on major social policy areas, such as housing, education, employment, health and family.