Featured Book
- Lost Childhoods : Poverty, Trauma, and Violent Crime in the Post-Welfare Era Lost Childhoods focuses on the life-course histories of thirty young men serving time in the Pennsylvania adult prison system for crimes they committed when they were minors. The narratives of these young men, their friends, and relatives reveal the invisible yet deep-seated connection between the childhood traumas they suffered and the violent criminal behavior they committed during adolescence. By living through domestic violence, poverty, the crack epidemic, and other circumstances, these men were forced to grow up fast all while familial ties that should have sustained them were broken at each turn. The book goes on to connect large-scale social policy decisions and their effects on family dynamics and demonstrates the limits of punitive justice.
About This Guide
This guide is dedicated to topics relating to youth justice and the juvenile court systems.
Resource Spotlight
"CT Public’s Accountability Project takes a deep dive into Connecticut’s juvenile justice system---why lawmakers are calling for reform, what youth advocates and teenagers say they need and what the data shows about car thefts and juvenile crime." Learn more through PBS, available here.
Policing in Schools
This report from the Citizens for Juvenile Justice discusses school policing, including school resource officers, armed police officers in schools, and the harmful effects on school climate, especially for Black and Latinx students, whose sense of safety is impacted by officers in schools.
Librarian
This guide was originally authored by Chris Smith, April, 2023.