Geoff K Ward, The Black Child-Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice
| Date | 01 December 2013 |
| Author | Heather Ellis |
| DOI | 10.1177/1462474513490903 |
| Published date | 01 December 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
summarizes the samples, methods, theoretical foundations, and findings from all
the studies reviewed. Arditti’s use of theories that emphasize context and process
allows readers to understand the complexity of the family problems created by
mass incarceration.
Parental Incarceration and the Family is a useful source of information for
scholars as well as policymakers. It would also be a helpful reference for social
workers or psychologists working with prison populations. In addition, while the
theory chapter might not be of interest to a non-academic audience, the other
chapters are accessible to a general audience and would be useful for incarcerated
parents or their family members.
Anne Nurse
The College of Wooster, USA
Geoff K Ward, The Black Child-Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice, The University
of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2012; 336 pp. (including index): 9780226873183, $ 90 (cloth),
$30.00 (pbk)
The Black Child-Savers, the latest book by Geoff K. Ward, Associate Professor in
the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California,
Irvine, is a valuable addition to the history of juvenile delinquency and juvenile
justice systems not only in the United States but across the globe. The book, which
tells the powerful and thought-provoking story of the nearly century-long cam-
paign to achieve a more democratic system of juvenile justice for black American
youth, opens with a well-written and engaging introductory chapter summarizing
the study’s key arguments. It then proceeds in two parts, focusing respectively on
the origins and organization of Jim Crow juvenile justice and the emergence and
development of the black child-saving movement. In seven thematic and broadly
chronologically sequential chapters, The Black Child-Savers analyzes the historical
experiences of young black people in the US juvenile justice system and the deter-
mined efforts of reformers working to improve their lot between 1890 and 2000.
Although forming the core period of the research presented in this book, develop-
ments in these years are placed firmly within the context of earlier debates about
the nature of childhood and adolescence from the late 18th century as well as
current discussions and developments within the youth justice system.
This study is particularly important because, as the introduction makes clear,
there was a good chance it might never have been written. As the author tells us, his
original intentions were quite different – he began with the goal of writing a ‘con-
temporary statistical study of race and juvenile justice’ with a ‘brief ‘‘historical
background’’ section’ (p. 1). During the course of his initial research, however,
he became increasingly preoccupied with the historical significance of race and
racial distinctions in the structuring and shaping of youth justice in the USA. As
the author explains, what led to this was the ‘near absence of historical background
Book reviews 587
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