Child savers

Anthony Platt examines the child-saving movement and the juvenile court, challenging the common belief that both were humane. He argues that the reformers were not mainly trying to free young people or give them dignity. Instead, he presents their work as a harsh and sentimental campaign to govern the lives of working-class city teenagers and keep them in a subordinate position.

The book traces how earlier ideas about criminal behavior developed, how the reformatory system began, and what middle-class reformers believed. It also compares how young offenders were handled before and after separate juvenile courts were established.

This enlarged second edition adds a new introduction and a postscript. In them, Platt looks back critically at his original argument, proposes other ways of understanding the movement, and reviews more recent changes in the juvenile justice system.