The book was written in 1984 against a background of despair about dealing with juvenile offenders. Since 1984, a dramatic change has occurred in the perspectives of juvenile justice practitioners. The new optimism is largely the result of recognizing the potential for shaping rather than merely responding to the behavior of young people. A statistical approach is used to explore various influence on the juvenile justice movement. Features of the juvenile justice movement are described, such as the declining number of known juvenile offenders, shrinking court caseloads, and reduced sentence severity. Policy and practice considerations that define the transformation of the juvenile justice system are examined, as well as the history of the juvenile justice system, concepts of punishment and welfare, juvenile transfer to adult court, community-based programs and other alternatives to institutionalization, juvenile courts, serious juvenile offenders, and the age of criminal responsibility. Juvenile justice issues and initiatives in the United States, England, and Wales are compared. Notes, references, tables, and figures