In this paper, the author argues that the Italian approach to juvenile justice is much more lenient than that represented by Anglo-American juvenile justice systems. However, the author attempts to relate this issue of leniency to larger questions regarding the Italian criminal justice system and the study of punitiveness and leniency. Insight is drawn into how practices of punitiveness or leniency in the Italian criminal justice system may be fairly compared with others. The paper begins first by understanding what is involved in calling a society punitive or non-punitive indicating some of the problems associated with measuring punitiveness cross-nationally and cross-culturally. The paper suggests that the level of imprisonment and general harshness of the Italian system is within the norm for Continental Europe. However, its approach to juvenile delinquency stands out as relatively lenient. With this knowledge, there is an attempt to determine whether trends towards neoliberalism affect the Italian juvenile justice system. Regardless of the findings, it is implied that in any analysis of punitiveness or non-punitiveness there needs to take into account its causes, conditions, and consequences. Notes, references