Sources of data included national questionnaire surveys, information supplied by governments, and information collected by nongovernmental organizations. Countries studied included Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Denmark, England and Wales, West Germany, France, India, Jamaica, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United States, Israel (West Bank), Yugoslavia, and Zaire. While the scope and focus of the national surveys varied from country to country, some form of incarceration of children in adult penal facilities was found to occur internationally. Incarcerated children included homeless and abandoned children, offspring of incarcerated offenders, child refugees, and those in political internment camps. From a children's rights perspective, these findings are examined in terms of (1) delinquency prevention and the criminalization of children and (2) standards for the protection of children within the criminal justice system (in custody, court, and prison), including minimum age legislation to protect children and international minimum standards for the treatment of children. Special attention also is given to the political victimization of children and to the plight of the offspring of female offenders. Finally, mechanisms for monitoring prison conditions and for protecting children from institutional abuses are examined and alternatives to child imprisonment are reviewed. Country-by-country summaries of the survey results are provided. Index.