Four chapters address representations of and discourses and data on youth crime. The chapters discuss media coverage and portrayals of the threat of youth crime, the actual extent of youth offending and victimization, patterns of youth offending and nonoffending, and the link between age (youth) and criminal behavior. The next four chapters pertain to the histories of youth crime. Topics are the social construction of childhood and youth, perceptions of and responses to juvenile delinquency, problem behaviors associated with adolescence, and features of the "youth problem." Two chapters on positivist criminology's explanation of youth crime (application of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of social behavior) focus on individual positivism and sociological positivism. Three chapters discuss explanations of youth crime by radical and realist criminologies. Radical criminologies focus on how the perspectives of interactionism, labeling, Marxism, critical criminology, and gender studies have influenced constructions and interpretations of youthful behavior and responses to it. Realist criminologies are primarily concerned with responses to perceptions of the public's fear of specific behaviors by youth. Five chapters address studies of youth cultures and subcultures, with attention to the various features of youth gangs and the influence of distinctive youth-related cultural values on delinquent behaviors. Four chapters focus on how youths' behavior is controlled not only through formal legal controls but also through social policies that influence whether or not youth are included and integrated with mainstream society. The concluding section of the book contains five chapters on youth justice strategies. The focus is on major developments in youth justice (primarily in England, Wales, and Scotland) from the second half to the 20th century to the present. Chapter summaries, study questions, and resource lists