Past conceptions of appropriate and inappropriate juvenile behavior are reviewed, and early American institutions for juveniles, including jails, houses of refuge, reformatories, and ship schools, are surveyed. The development of the juvenile court, criticism of the juvenile courts, delinquency in the 20th century, and delinquency theories are examined. This historical analysis shows how the values and attitudes of the middle and upper classes affected the 'invention of delinquency.' Evidence indicates that a child's ethnic origins, economic and social class, and ability to conform to dominant standards and attitudes of society were far more influential than the child's actual behavior in determining a decision of placement in a juvenile care facility. The book contends that delinquency was equated with being poor in the 1800's and early 1900's. Other chapters examine definitions of delinquency; the measurement of official and unofficial delinquency; and causes of delinquency as expressed in various theories, including classical and biogenetic, sociological, psychological, containment, labeling, and radical theories. Also discussed are police and delinquency prevention, the juvenile court process, juvenile probation, and juvenile institutions and treatment today. A consideration of juvenile delinquency prevention and the schools covers academic tracking and its effects, delinquency resulting from lack of attainment, causes of failure at school, and teacher expectation and student peformance. Ways to reduce delinquency and to identify the predelinquent are noted. The book argues that the juvenile court system has failed to achieve any of its goals and is faced with demands to abolish the entire system or to drastically reform it. Several reforms are offered which, if implemented, would serve both the interests of children and the State. These include repeal of the juvenile court's jurisdiction over status offenses; legislation prohibiting waiver of counsel at any stage of the process; final prosecutor control of intake determinations; requirements of accountability for the use of each more restrictive sanction; and restriction of judicial and correctional system discretion to comport with proportionality, determinacy, and 'equal handling of equals.' Finally, the book concludes that juvenile courts should deal only with serious offenders, with local communities handling other youth problems (e.g., by creating jobs and developing school-work programs). Tables, chapter notes, an index, appended statistical data, and an annotated bibliography of over 180 references are provided.