The Child Savers: Invention of Delinquency - Softcover

Platt, Anthony M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226670716 ISBN 13: 9780226670713

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1972

Synopsis

Anthony Platt's study, a chronicle of the child-saving movement and the juvenile court, explodes myth after myth about the benign character of both. The movement is described not as an effort to liberate and dignify youth but as a punitive, romantic, and intrusive effort to control the lives of lower-class urban adolescents and to maintain their dependent status. In so doing Platt analyzes early views of criminal behavior, the origins of the reformatory system, the social values of middle-class reformers, and the handling of youthful offenders before and after the creation of separate juvenile jurisdictions.

In this second, enlarged edition of The Child Savers, the author has added a new introduction and postscript in which he critically reflects upon his original analysis, suggests new ways of thinking about the child-saving movement, and summarizes recent developments in the juvenile justice system.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Hailed as a definitive analytical and historical study of the juvenile justice system, this 40th anniversary edition of The Child Savers features a new essay by Anthony M. Platt that highlights recent directions in the field, as well as a critique of his original text. Platt's argues that the "child savers" movement was not altruistic but, instead, a punitive and intrusive attempt to control the lives of working-class urban adolescents. This edition places it in historical context and features an essay by Miroslava Chavez-Garcia examining how Platt's study has impacted many of the central arguments social scientists and historians face today.

About the Author

Anthony M. Platt is a professor in the School of Social Work at California State University at Sacramento. He is the author of The Politics of Riot Commissions, and coauthor of Policing America and The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove: An Analysis of the U.S. Police.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1972
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226670716
• ISBN 13: 9780226670713
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270