Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Providing an empirical assessment of male adolescent murderers and systematic case presentations of several juvenile homicide offenders, Young Killers addresses psychological assessment, treatment issues and prevention strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of juvenile homicide.
Synopsis
In Young Killers, Kathleen M. Heide, a criminologist and a licensed mental health professional, blends compelling case studies with an empirical assessment of male adolescent murderers, creating a readable and interesting scholarly text. This book explores more than a dozen factors that have contributed to the rise of juvenile homicide since the mid-1980s. These factors include the increase in child maltreatment, changes in the family structure, the absence of role models, the saturation of violence in our society, easy access to weapons, youths' increasing abuse of drugs and alcohol, and the rising number of children raised in poverty. These factors often interact with certain personality characteristics and biological influences, causing many youths to conclude that they have little or nothing to lose by engaging in reckless and destructive acts.
Synopsis
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
The phenomenon of juvenile homicide -- Ingredients for juvenile murder -- The legal response to juvenile and adolescent homicide -- Understanding the juvenile murderer -- Peter Daniels -- Jerry Johnson -- Calvin Thomas -- David Collins -- Malcolm Farrell -- Joel Westerlund -- Brian Clark -- Treating young killers with / Eldra P. Solomon -- Reducing youth violence in the 21st century.