This book provides a discussion ofadvances in our understanding of the
juvenile offender. These derive from psychological and criminological
theoryand researchonthe phenomenonofyouth crime and from efforts on the
part of social science researchers and practitioners to develop and
evaluate new approaches to prevention and treatment. The theoretical and
empirical advances relate, first, to analyses of the nature and extent
ofyouth crime. This is reflected, for example, in various descriptive
and classification systems developed for characterizingjuvenile
offenders. Significant advances are also being made in understanding the
risk factors associated with youthful criminal activity, as well as the
processes linking the risk factors with antisocial behaviors. This
understanding is based on theory and research relatingto the correlates
andcauses ofdelinquency. The advances in our understanding of the
nature, correlates, and causes of juvenile crime are accompanied by
progress in analyzing the treatment ofyouth in juvenile justice systems
and in developing and evaluating alternative approaches to treatment.
These efforts include research on decision-making within juvenile
justice systems and the development of screening and assessment tools.
This also includes efforts to develop and evaluate effective prevention
and treatment programs for use with youths involved in criminal activity
and those at risk for this activity.