A cultural critique of gowing up in the USA, with such topics as our universities as purveyors of hopelessness and the dynamics of "getting laid" taught in high school that emphasizes that taking on the "straight" role damages all human beings regardless of sexual orientation but is taught from birth by the institutions of our society.

Jan RasmusenOs investigation into her dogOs illness led her to the startling conclusion that almost everything she knew about dog care was myth, outdated information or advertising propaganda. After two years of research and interviews with eighteen innovative veterinarians, Jan and her opinionated four-pound dog Chiclet Oco-authoredO Scared Poopless, a book destined to change the way we all care for our dogs.

Across America, crime is a consistent public concern. The authors have produced a comprehensive work on major criminological theories, combining classical criminology with new topics, such as Internet crime and terrorism. The text also focuses on how criminology shapes public policy.

The author critiques the American obsession with imprisonment as punishment, calling it "retributive degradation" of the incarcerated. His analysis draws on both salient empirical data and material from a variety of disciplines - social history, anthropology, law and penal theory, philosophy of religion - as he uncovers the devastating social consequences (both direct and collateral) of imprisonment on such a large, unprecedented scale. The book develops a Christian social ethics of "good punishment" embodied as a politics of "healing memories" and "ontological intimacy"

This book examines evidence-based crime prevention through the use of the rigorous methodology of systematic reviews. It brings together the leading scientific evidence on what works best for a wide range of interventions organized around four important domains in criminology: at-risk children, offenders, victims, and places. It is an indispensable guide to the leading scientific evidence on what works best to prevent crime.

This study examines why, in the face of data that show its ineffectiveness, the "Scared Straight" approach to delinquency prevention continues to be used in some jurisdictions. The author's 1982 edition examined and critiqued the Scared Straight project at New Jersey's Rahway State Prison. It identified the program as unable to deal with juvenile delinquency; associated it with a pattern of failure in other efforts to deal with juvenile delinquency; and linked these to a futile but persistent quest for simple remedies or cure-alls. This pattern was referred to as the "panacea phenomenon". This new edition updates the evidence and extends the discussion. The panacea phenomenon is identified as a myth, having the function of offering simple explanations for complex, often otherwise unexplainable issues and problems. The original Scared Straight case study is then reviewed and evidence of Scared Straight's performance since 1982 presented. A description of Norway's Ullersmo project, which operated from 1992 to 1996 and was based on U.S. models, is offered as an international example of the panacea phenomenon in action. The book concludes that Scared Straight and programs like it, survive despite evidence that they do not work because they are harmonious with certain deeply held beliefs about crime, punishment, and human behavior. One such belief -- that fear of consequences sustains behavioral change -- is a cornerstone of the Scared Straight program.

An award-winning journalist's breathtaking mosaic of the tough-love industry and the young adults it inevitably fails. In the middle of the night, they are vanished. Each year thousands of young adults deemed out of control--suffering from depression, addiction, anxiety, and rage--are carted off against their will to remote wilderness programs and treatment facilities across the country. Desperate parents of these "troubled teens" fear it's their only option. The private, largely unregulated behavioral boot camps break their children down, a damnation the children suffer forever. Acclaimed journalist Kenneth R. Rosen knows firsthand the brutal emotional, physical, and sexual abuse carried out at these programs. He lived it. In Troubled, Rosen unspools the stories of four graduates on their own scarred journeys through the programs into adulthood. Based on three years of reporting and more than one hundred interviews with other clients, their parents, psychologists, and health-care professionals, Troubled combines harrowing storytelling with investigative journalism to expose the disturbing truth about the massively profitable, sometimes fatal, grossly unchecked redirection industry. Not without hope, Troubled ultimately delivers an emotional, crucial tapestry of coming of age, neglect, exploitation, trauma, and fraught redemption.

The juvenile justice system is a multifaceted entity that continually changes under the influence of decisions, policies, and laws. The all new Third Edition of Juvenile Justice: A Social, Historical, and Legal Perspective, offers readers a clear and comprehensive look at exaclty what it is and how it works. Reader friendly and up-to-date, this text unravels the complexities of the juvenile justice system by exploring the history, theory, and components of the juvenile justice process and how they relate.

A fascinating account of how radical researchers have used experiments to overturn conventional wisdom and shaped life as we know it Experiments have consistently been used in the hard sciences, but in recent decades social scientists have adopted the practice. Randomized trials have been used to design policies to increase educational attainment, lower crime rates, elevate employment rates, and improve living standards among the poor. This book tells the stories of radical researchers who have used experiments to overturn conventional wisdom. From finding the cure for scurvy to discovering what policies really improve literacy rates, Leigh shows how randomistas have shaped life as we know it. Written in a “Gladwell-esque” style, this book provides a fascinating account of key randomized control trial studies from across the globe and the challenges that randomistas have faced in getting their studies accepted and their findings implemented. In telling these stories, Leigh draws out key lessons learned and shows the most effective way to conduct these trials.

Juvenile Delinquency offers a timely and comprehensive look at the issues of criminal behavior and justice related to young persons. In this highly readable text, Donald J. Shoemaker grounds his readers with a historical perspective, then presents a series of sharply focused chapters on schooling, religion, and family, as well as sections on drug use, gangs, and female delinquency. With a strong emphasis on the importance of theory and practice, Juvenile Delinquency is a must read for understanding crime and youth culture.