The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency

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.

Focusing on social reformers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Platt's principal argument is that the "child savers" movement was not an effort to liberate and dignify youth but, instead, a punitive and intrusive attempt to control the lives of working-class urban adolescents. This expanded edition provides a renewed and distinguished contribution by placing it in historical context through insightful commentaries from cross-disciplinary academics, along with an essay by Miroslava Chávez-García examining how Platt's influential study has impacted many of the central arguments social scientists and historians face today.

Author: Anthony M. Platt
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 04/22/2009
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780813545363

About the Author
ANTHONY M. PLATT is a professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento. He is the author of several books on American history, social policy, and race relations.