Juvenile Justice Systems: International Perspectives

Charlotte Neff is chair of the Department of Law and Justice at
Laurentian University and the co-author of The Annotated Competition Act
1992.

This book purports to provide academics and policymakers with
information that will allow them to conduct comparative analyses of
juvenile justice systems around the world. In the introduction, the
editor provides a rationale for such comparative studies and considers
the common themes linking them. While he undertakes little analysis
himself, he does suggest the existence of six juvenile justice models,
thus providing a potential framework within which to conduct comparative
studies. The balance of the book is devoted to contributions by experts
from 11 different countries (Africa and Central and South America are
excluded). The articles appear in a standardized format that is intended
to facilitate comparisons.

The editor’s objective was laudatory but difficult to achieve.
Restricting a subject of this scope to 330 pages does not allow for
in-depth coverage. Drawing any conclusions from the book would be risky
at best. Furthermore, there are frequent departures from the
standardized format. As a result, qualitative comparisons can be made
only after careful reading, while direct quantitative comparisons are
rarely possible. Finally, assessments of the relative effectiveness of
different approaches and of the possibilities of transporting them to
another country are possible only within the context of a detailed
understanding of social, cultural, economic, and political contexts; in
this book, such contexts are either ignored or dealt with in a cursory
fashion.

Caveats aside, Juvenile Justice Systems is a valuable resource for
those seeking an introduction to systems around the world.