The principal flaws of the traditional juvenile court are not in its basic purposes nor the scope of its jurisdiction but rather in the court's believing it can manage problem juveniles by itself, in the court's making the child the focus of legal power, and in failing to experiment with methods of supervision that draw more heavily on private and community resources. A review of the history of American society's treatment of children shows that public interventions have become broader and deeper, and they are implemented by institutions whose purposes have become more obscure and whose relationships with the involved families and children have become more impersonal. The future of the juvenile justice system will be determined by what tasks society will authorize the juvenile justice system to perform and the extent of the investment in the system's identification of problems and in effective intervention. Some alternative juvenile-justice futures are the traditional court, the individualized justice court, the austere justice court, the children's rights court, and the family court. Whatever system emerges, it should hold children and those who care for children accountable for their actions even as the system attmepts to provide the resources that will help juveniles become constructive citizens. Chapter notes and a subject index.