Routledge Becoming Delinquent: British and European Youth, 1650–1950 (Routledge Revivals)

This title was first published in 2002: Becoming Delinquent: British and European Youth, 1650-1950 provides a critical synthesis of the growing body of work on the history of British and European juvenile delinquency. It is unique in that it analyzes definitions of and responses to, disorderly youth across time (from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-twentieth centuries) and across space (covering developments across Western Europe). This comparative approach allows it to show how certain themes dominated European discourses of delinquency across this period, not least panics about urban culture, poor parenting, dangerous pleasures, family breakdown, national fitness and future social stability. It also shows how these various threats were countered by recurring strategies, most notably by repeated attempts to deter delinquency, to divide responsibility between the state, civil society and the family, and to find a "proper" balance between moral reform and physical punishment, between care and control. Review ’Taken together, we are presented with a lively set of essays covering a subject from a fresh direction, and which pose questions for current theories of juvenile delinquency...this volume should be placed firmly on teaching booklists...It will, no doubt, also be of considerable use to criminology students and researchers working in the area of youth crime.’ The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice ’Becoming Delinquent represents an attempt to illustrate the fluidity of...boundaries, a successful attempt that begins a critical dialogue between history and criminology that will certainly benefit those studying juvenile delinquency in the future.’ International Criminal Justice Review ’...a very welcome addition to the literature...represents a great deal of useful research, wide-ranging in its geographical scope and refreshing in its attempt to explore constructions of juvenile delinquency outside their usual chronological framework.’ Social History Society Bulletin ’...an excellent collection of well-crafted and carefully edited essays...the book should be a popular acquisition for history, social policy, sociology, criminology and professional studies libraries. It is a fine research resource...’ Youth & Policy ’The main interest of the book lies in the issues raised by the recurrent themes in the history of taking problem children into care. The collected essays not only allow us to rediscover the themes outlined in Cox and Shore's introduction, they also highlight for us the universality of studies that examine juvenile delinquency in the West.’ Crime, History and Societies ’...[a] wide-ranging and fine collection.’ Continuity and Change