Following a review of mental health, law, and children and an assessment of legal practice and psychological research relevant to the competencies and capacities of children (e.g., consent, testimony), issues in child custody determinations, child maltreatment, and youth employment are addressed. Adolescents' reproductive rights (to abortion, contraception, sterilization) are reviewed, and issues in the civil commitment of minors are discussed. The psychological consequences of pretrial detention, interrogation, juvenile court waiver, and postadjudication disposition are discussed, and reforms are recommended. Factors influencing juvenile treatment dispositions and determinations of amenability to treatment are delineated. A consideration of the impact of juvenile deinstitutionalization and diversion policies, particularly net-widening, precedes a discussion of the need for juvenile justice dispositions to be informed by the knowledge of normative adolescent development. Finally, legal issues in psychological assessments in schools and in educational services for handicapped children are examined. Chapter notes, figures, and references.