Juvenile Lifers

Simon I. Singer is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. His most recent book, America's Safest City: Delinquency and Modernity in Suburbia, won the American Society of Criminology's 2015 Michael J. Hindelang Book Award for the most valuable contribution to research in criminology.

"Simon Singer examines the contradiction between adolescents' developmental limitations and 'get tough' laws under which states sentence Juvenile Offenders to life in prison. Over several decades, he studied the paths that brought the JOs to prison, how they adapted, and the roads they took following release. His in-depth investigation of the workings of both justice systems provides a compassionate recognition that 'children are different' and that despite their worst acts, they have potential to emerge as responsible adults." - Barry C. Feld, author of Evolution of the Juvenile Court: Race, Politics, and the Criminalizing of Juvenile Justice "Singer has done a masterful job of synthesizing psychological, sociological, and legal factors pertinent to adolescents involved in murder. He beautifully illustrates these factors by discussing cases of adolescent homicide offenders that he met as young teenagers and with whom he has maintained contact for approximately 40 years. Long-term follow-up clinical studies of this nature are invaluable and rare in the field of juvenile homicide research. Juvenile Lifers is a must read for mental health professionals and criminal justice practitioners, including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, juvenile and correctional personnel, and probation and parole officers. Students interested in the circumstances involved when kids kill and how they can be safely returned to society will find this book to be an illuminating and inspiring resource." - Kathleen M. Heide, author of Young Killers: The Challenge of Juvenile Homicide