Promotional Information

Reflects the costs, challenges, and consequences the "tough on crime" age has had, especially for male youth of colour

Table of Contents

Introduction: An Experiment in Youth Justice1. Calendar Days in the Youth Part: Mundanity and Drama2. Creating the "Juvenile Offender"3. Rehabilitation, Youth Part Style4. Individualized Justice in a Criminal Court 5. Managing Contradictions 6. Judging the Court, Judging Transfer Conclusion: Kids Will Be Kids

About the Author

Carla J. Barrett is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Reviews

"This insightful ethnography tells a compelling story of injustice, humanity, and sufferingof a judges struggle to do right despite challenging circumstancesand in the process offers a powerful critique against transfer to criminal court." -- Aaron Kupchik,author of Homeroom Security
"Readers will gain a sense of the history and initial purpose of the juvenile court, an understanding of the impact of accountability-based public policies, the tools used to facilitate accountability, such as legislative and judicial waivers, and the research that, to date, has found that these policies have not necessarily reduced recidivism or deterred criminal conduct. In the end, Courting Kids is not just about youth and a specialized court in New York; it is about all youth, everywhere" * Political Science Quarterly *
"An impressive and important book. Meticulously researched and well written the book offers an insightful account of the way one court adapted to the legal effort to try juvenile offenders as adults." -- Austin Sarat,author of Life without Parole
"An articulate and intelligent ethnographic study." -- Sarah Ciftci * Current Issues in Criminal Justice *
"Explores the experiment in child-saving undertaken by the Manhattan Youth Part of the New York criminal court system and considers the insights it offers about the persecution of youth offenders." * Journal of Economic Literature *