Review: Youth Crime and Justice Barry Goldson and John Muncie (eds) SAGE, London, 2006, 239pp, ISBN 1—4129—1137—0, £21.99 (pbk)
Abstract
ReviewYouth Crime and Justice Barry Goldson and John Muncie (eds) SAGE, London, 2006, 239pp, ISBN 1—4129—1137—0, £21.99 (pbk) SAGE Publications, Inc.2008DOI: 10.1177/02610183080280040802 SteveRogowski Social Worker, NW England Youth crime and youth justice remain, as always, near the top of the political agenda as they have since the early 1990s following the rise of `populist punitiveness' (Bottoms, 1995). This book, a companion to Comparative Youth Justice: Critical Issues by the same editors, is certainly timely as it attempts to provide an overview and critical assessment of the relation between `evidence' and current youth justice policy formulation. It succeeds admirably in this respect and deserves to be widely read. The book is divided into three parts. Part One deals with historical and social-structural contexts: chapter one looks at the history of youth crime from the early 19th century to the late 1980s, before ensuing ones analyse class, `race' and gender in relation to youth crime and justice. Part Two deals with evidence, policy rationales and current interventions. The chapters cover: statistical evidence; evaluative research; actuarialism, `risk'-based paradigms and early intervention; restorative justice; community supervision; penal cus- tody; community safety and anti-social behaviour; urban regeneration; and the New Deal for the