Synopses & Reviews
The Child Savers deeply influenced me and dozens of other feminist scholars who have studied social policy critically. This reissue is remarkable in allowing us to rethink it, and nowhere more valuable than in Tony Platt's own thoughtful reconsideration.- Linda Gordon, professor of history, New York UniversityThe Child Savers, at forty, is a classic. Accompanied by lively contributions that reflect on its impact and outline recent research, this new edition will ensure that the book lives on, its message always challenging, its relevance undiminished.- Hugh Cunningham, emeritus professor of social history, University of KentThe Child Savers is a classic, and the updated edition is even more relevant today; a must for the informed public and the perceptive student.- Jock Young, Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice, Graduate Center, City University of New York and John Jay CollegePlatt's brilliant inquiry into the oxymoron of juvenile justice demands again that we upend our ritualized system of punishing, containing, and crushing our defiant young.-Bernardine Dohrn, Northwestern University School of LawHailed 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.This expanded edition includes insightful commentaries from cross-disciplinary academics, along with an introductory essay by Miroslava Ch vez-Garc a, critically examining how Platt's influential study has impacted many of the central arguments social scientists and historians face today.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.A volume in the Critical Issues in Crime and Society series, edited by Raymond J. Michalowski
Review
"The Child Savers, at forty, is a classic. Accompanied by lively contributions that reflect on its impact and outline recent research, this new edition will ensure that the book lives on, its message always challenging, its relevance undiminished." professor of history, New York University
Review
"Platt's revisionist history of the juvenile court introduced us to a time of social ferment and political conflict. It challenged, shaped, and influenced the next generation of historical research on the origins and administration of juvenile courts. Characterizing the early juvenile court as an agency of social control of the lower classes acquired new salience during the 'get tough' era of the 1990s when politicians pledged to 'crack down' on youth crime, a euphemism for urban black males."Barry C. Feld, author of Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court
Review
"The Child Savers deeply influenced me and dozens of other feminist scholars who have studied social policy critically. This reissue is remarkable in allowing us to rethink it, and nowhere more valuable than in Tony Platt's own thoughtful reconsideration." Linda Gordon
Review
"The Child Savers is a classic, and the updated edition is even more relevant today; a must for the informed public and the perceptive student." Hugh Cunningham - Professor Emeritus of Social History, University of Kent
Review
"Like a bracing wind, Platt's brilliant inquiry into the oxymoron of juvenile justice demands again that we upend our ritualized system of punishing, containing and crushing our defiant young." Jock Young - Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
"The Child Savers deeply influenced me and dozens of other feminist scholars who have studied social policy critically. This reissue is remarkable in allowing us to rethink it, and nowhere more valuable than in Tony Platt's own thoughtful reconsideration."Linda Gordon, professor of history, New York University"The Child Savers, at forty, is a classic. Accompanied by lively contributions that reflect on its impact and outline recent research, this new edition will ensure that the book lives on, its message always challenging, its relevance undiminished."
Hugh Cunningham, Emeritus Professor of Social History, University of Kent, author of The Invention of Childhood"Platt's revisionist history of the juvenile court introduced us to a time of social ferment and political conflict. It challenged, shaped, and influenced the next generation of historical research on the origins and administration of juvenile courts. Characterizing the early juvenile court as an agency of social control of the lower classes acquired new salience during the 'get tough' era of the 1990s when politicians pledged to 'crack down' on youth crime, a euphemism for urban black males."
Barry C. Feld, author of Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court
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.
Table of Contents
In Retrospect: Anthony M. Platt's The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency, by Miroslava Chávez-García
The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency
The Child Savers Reconsidered, by Anthony M. Platt
The Child Savers and Three Cycles of Juvenile Justice Reform in Twentieth-Century America, by William Bush
Women and Kids in the Court: Feminist History and Anthony Platt's The Child Savers, by Tamara Myers
"The "Other" Child-Savers: Racial Politics of the Parental State," by Geoff Ward