How did Scotland's criminal justice system respond to marginalised
street children who found themselves on the wrong side of the law, often
for simple vagrancy or other minor offences? This book examines the
historical criminalisation of Scotland's Victorian children, as well as
revealing the history and early success of the Scottish day industrial
school movement - a philanthropic response to juvenile offending hailed
as 'magic' in Charles Dickens's Household Words.
With case studies ranging from police courts to the High Court of
Justiciary, the book offers a lively account of the way children
experienced Scotland's early juvenile justice system.