Juvenile Justice in the Making [Paperback]

In his engaging narrative history of the rise and workings of America's first juvenile court, David S. Tanenhaus explores the fundamental and enduring question of how the law should treat the young. Sifting through almost 3,000 previously unexamined Chicago case files from the early twentieth century, Tanenhaus reveals how children's advocates slowly built up a separate system for juveniles, all the while fighting political and legal battles to legitimate this controversial institution. Harkening back to a more hopeful and nuanced age,Juvenile Justice in the Makingprovides a valuable historical framework for thinking about youth policy.


Foreword
Introduction
1. Imagining a Children's Court
2. Building a Model Court
3. Preserving the Family
4. Legitimating Juvenile Justice
5. Medicalizing Delinquency
6. Organizing the Community
Conclusion
Appendix: The Cook County Juvenile Court Case Files
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index

...presents new information about the oldest juvenile court in the United States. The book forces its readers to pause and think how daring some of the CCJC's ideas and practices were. This book is a welcome addition to the existing literature and should be read by scholars, students, juvenile court professionals, and the general public. --American Historical Review

...a very useful and well-written introduction to the complex history of a pioneering institution. --Journal of American History

A quite brilliant and compelling book. Based on his detailed analysis of some 3,000 case files from the Cook County Juvenile Court between 1899 and 1926 he builds a picture of how the first juvenile court came to be established and uncovers the historic roots of some contemporary questions about young offenders--what is the legal status of a child that commits a crime, especially a horrific one, how should they be punished, and what causes children to commitl³Ç