Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice - Hardcover

Marilyn D. McShane Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Houston–Downtown Ph.D. (1985) Sam Houston State University Specialization: Institutional and community corrections, child abuse, criminal justice system management, and criminological theory. Dr. McShane has taught at the graduate and undergraduate level and has served on a number of national criminal justice professional organization boards. She often serves as a reviewer for the National Institute for Justice. At Cal State, San Bernardino (tenured professor) she received the faculty Professional Development Award in 1994 and she was Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice (tenured professor) at Northern Arizona University. At Prairie View A&M, she was the senior founding professor of the Juvenile Justice Doctoral Program. Her current appointment is at the University of Houston–Downtown as an endowed professor and institute director. Dr. McShane Professor McShane has a consistent record of publication and grantsmanship (more than 50 books and articles, and directed several grants). Her editorial work includes a series of dissertations with LFB Scholarly Publishing and a scholarly monograph series with Greenwood / Praeger. She co-edited the award-winning Encyclopedia of American Prisons and is currently co-editing the Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice. Her most recent book is Criminological Theory, 3rd Edition, coauthored with Frank P. Williams III.

Franklin P. Williams III

 

Professor of Juvenile Justice, Prairie View A&M University

Professor Emeritus, California State University, San Bernardino

 

Ph.D. (1976) Florida State University

Specialization: Criminological theory, corrections, fear of crime, drug abuse, methodology and statistics.

 

Dr. Williams has taught at departments in five universities and has published a substantial number of articles, research monographs and government reports, and books. He has served as a department chair (Cal State, San Bernardino), Assistant Director for Research (Sam Houston State), Coordinator of the Doctoral Program (Prairie View A&M) and directed numerous research projects and two centers. He has served on or been elected to the boards of national scholarly organizations, chaired a major division of a national organization, and chaired/served on numerous national/regional committees. He has been an editor or deputy/associate editor for several journals and publisher’s book and monograph series. He is currently serving as co-editor of two book series, an encyclopedia, and is beginning work on the fourth edition of a popular theory textbook (with over 100 articles, books, and reports published). His most recent book is Imagining Criminology.

This volume, edited by two criminal justice scholars, provides a comprehensive overview of juvenile justice in the U.S. Readers will find information on the history of the juvenile justice system as well as material on theories of delinquency, treatment and punishment of juvenile offenders, and the institutions and legal framework of the system.

The encyclopedia includes more than 100 alphabetically arranged entries written by more than 120 scholars and practitioners and ranging from a few paragraphs in length to several pages. Examples of specific entries include Alcohol abuse; Gangs; Boot camps; Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study; Death penalty; Law, juvenile; Public opinion on juvenile justice issues ; and Truancy. Approximately 20 of the entries are biographical. In addition, the book contains articles on issues that have recently been sensationalized in the media, such as Missing children and School violence. The entries are clearly written, and many include useful historical background. Each article is signed and includes a bibliography and cross-references.

Some of the additional features detract from the overall quality of the main text. The index is too broad and has several inaccuracies. In addition, the appendix of print and online resources provides a general description and examples of juvenile justice resources such as reference books, journals, standards, and statistics instead of a more comprehensive bibliography of books and journal articles.

Despite some weaknesses, the Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice is generally thorough and informative. It is particularly helpful for placing juvenile justice issues that have received a great deal of media attention into perspective and dispelling some of the myths surrounding juvenile crime. This reference work is suitable for public, academic, and law libraries. RBB
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