Modern juvenile justice appears to be forever more hybrid, delivering neither welfare nor justice but a complex and contradictory mixture of the punitive, the inclusionary, the exclusionary and the protective. The examples of decarceration, tolerance, protectionism, and rights examined in this article suggest diversity and confusion, as well as a wide range of positions, from which the punitive cultures of control can be disrupted and transformed. This article identifies six key themes in contemporary international juvenile justice reform: repenalization, adulteration, welfare protectionism, restoration, decarceration and rights, exploring how they have been designed and implemented. Taking a broad overview of these developments in juvenile justice, predominantly in Western societies, this article attempts to unravel how the forces of some themes are confronted by the forces of other themes. It attempts to shed light on how and why these themes of negotiations and contradictions work themselves out differently in different societies. Tables, references