Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Why is the number of homicides committed by youths rising in the United States? An escalating problem in this country, Juvenile Homicide has been considered an epidemic by mental health professionals as well as practitioners in the juvenile justice and criminal systems. In her book Young Killers , Kathleen M. Heide blends compelling case studies with an empirical assessment of male adolescent murderers, creating a readable and interesting scholarly text. This book explores several factors that contribute to the rise of juvenile homicide including home and family environments, role models, the witnessing of violence, access to weapons, the availability of drugs and alcohol, personality characteristics, and the cumulative effect of having little to lose. Although this book focuses on male juvenile offenders, Heide also addresses the changing percentage of juvenile females arrested for homicide and examines gender issues in juvenile homicide. She discusses the reasons girls may be more likely to kill family members than boys are and examines the effects of the women′s movement on girls and crime. Heide also addresses psychological assessment, treatment issues, and prevention strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of juvenile homicide. Young Killers is written with clarity, making it accessible to a wide-ranging audience. This definitive work on juvenile homicide will benefit both undergraduate and graduate students, and professionals in criminal justice, criminology, sociology, social work, counseling, and clinical psychology.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword
• Part 1 Juvenile Homicide Encapsulated
• The Phenomenon of Juvenile Homicide
• Ingredients for Juvenile Murder
• The Legal Response to Juvenile and Adolescent Homicide
• Understanding the Juvenile Murderer
• Part 2 Clinical Portraits
• Peter Daniels
• Jerry Johnson
• Calvin Thomas
• David Collins
• Malcolm Farrell
• Joel Westerlund
• Brian Clark
• Part 3 The Challenge Of Juvenile Homicide
• Treating Young Killers
• Reducing Youth Violence in the 21st Century

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Heide's book is an attempt to unravel some of the multifaceted causes of juvenile homicide. Heide (criminology, Univ. of South Florida) brings to her work an intensity and completeness often lacking in discussions of this topic. In the foreword she notes that "Multiple causation makes complete sense to me. I have long considered it the only realistic way to account for many of the behaviors" of both violent and nonviolent juvenile offenders. In 13 chapters Heide explores the often inexplicable causes of juvenile homicide. Part 1 examines both the criminological and legal dimensions of the problem. Part 2, "Clinical Portraits," deals with the backgrounds and lifestyles of seven male offenders and employs narrative as a device to uncover some of the perplexing dynamics of this phenomenon, casting some much-needed light on the question of causation. Part 3 outlines a possible treatment regimen and suggests methods to reduce juvenile violence in the coming century. This book is more "text" than treatise, but that does not detract in any way from its value as a resource. Notes; references. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. C. Watkins Jr.; University of Alabama