Juvenile Lifers

Why do adolescents kill? Can they ever be trusted to live safely in the community again? How does the experience of adult prison help or hurt them in reaching that goal? Simone Deegan takes on these tough questions in her book, and has done an excellent job of shedding light on these issues. James Garbarino, PhD Emeritus Professor of Human Development, Cornell University From her meticulous case studies and exhaustive examination of the literature, Simone Deegan demonstrates why there are no real winners, neither society or the offender, nor the victim’s or offender’s family when juveniles are sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. During her riveting discussion of the tortuous prison adjustment problems that such juvenile offenders experience, she reveals the hurt wrenching dilemmas that both they and their parents undergo for which there does not presently exist any possible means of either one of them escaping. Deegan makes the strongest case that I am aware of for the need of reforming the juvenile justice system’s treatment of violent juvenile offenders. Lonnie Athens, Professor of Criminal Justice, Seton Hall University This book is an important, timely, and much needed contribution to the literature. The author illuminates the diverse pathways that lead juveniles to kill and provides a compassionate account of these individuals and the significant others in their lives. She shines an intense spotlight on sentencing policies and correctional environments that, all too often, ignore the juvenile’s immaturity and impede rehabilitation and a successful transition to society. Kathleen M. Heide, Distinguished University Professor, University of South Florida