This updated edition presents the structures, procedures, and philosophies of juvenile justice agencies in the United States. It explores and defines the important components of and debates over juvenile justice in the United States and attempts to maintain a balance between theory, research, law, and practice in examining juvenile justice. It is comprehensively organized into 16 chapters and includes coverage of today’s major juvenile justice issues including the elimination of the juvenile death penalty, teen courts, drug courts, and sex offenders, and explores whether the juvenile justice system should be abolished or reformed, whether “hard” or “soft” policies should prevail, and whether the rights of juveniles should be extended. New in this edition is a focus on the history of juvenile justice, drugs and behavior, gender, race/ethnicity, and class, police, and updated statistics, tables, charts, and major studies. Also, supplements are available in this edition and include an expanded PowerPoint presentation featuring 500 slides, a new companion reader, Voices in Juvenile Justice--including real-life accounts of the juvenile justice system from juveniles and juvenile justice professionals, an updated companion Web site with links to free downloadable podcasts, and an instructor’s manual and a computerized test manager. The problems youth face go to the core of cultural thinking, far beyond the needs of societies simply to fine-tune agencies and rules for handling of youth needs. The United States is an excellent case study of what is and what could be in juvenile justice in the world today and is presented in this fifth edition issue of Juvenile Justice in America. Figures, tables, photographs and indexes (name and subject)