Book Review: Youth Violence, Resilience, and Rehabilitation

• Author: Timothy Brezina
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• Date: 01 December 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016806295600
• Subject Matter: Articles

drug laws are “an imperfect mixture of fear, anger, and moral judgment” (p. 14), and juve-

nile drug courts appear to be a natural evolution of the drug policy premised upon such

laws, perhaps we should reevaluate the overall missions of drug courts, if only to have

clearer and more realistic goals. That is, do we really need juvenile drug courts if we can-

not truly discern who has serious drug problems and youth whose problems mainly stem

from poverty, troubled home environments, misdiagnosed mental health issues, under-

funded schools, or violent communities? Would it not be better to simply advocate having

the juvenile courts go back to their originally stated premise of parens patrie and rehabili-

tation? Can we even apply an accountability-based model such as the drug court to adoles-

cents who, by definition, are not independent, autonomous individuals like their adult

counterparts in adult drug courts?

Similarly, Chapter 7 mentions several challenges to working with an adolescent popula-

tion who aims to resist adult authority, may not be drug addicted, and have an “invincibil-

ity” complex (p. 237). Yet the chapter goes on to outline several conceptual frameworks

that, although interesting and thought provoking, do not discuss how drug courts address

any of those operational challenges in the box of the “drug court activities.” Chapter 7 also

emphasizes a shift from asking if juvenile drug courts work to asking how they work. A nat-

ural extension to that analytical shift would be to consider how the practical operations of

juvenile drug courts affect any type of outcome measure. For example, if court staff mea-

sures drug use or defines compliance differently (as shown in chapter 3 with the various

drug courts), would that not presumably complicate how we assess the “drug court activi-

ties” box of the “conceptual framework” listed in chapter 7? Should we not better identify

the processes by which drug court practitioners enact and operationalize the various “drug

court activities” before considering the intermediate and end outcomes?

Despite these questions, the book remains an essential read for policy evaluators and prac-

titioners. Before any jurisdiction jumps on the drug court bandwagon, its officials should

read this book to ask the critical questions peppered throughout the book, namely, if their

juvenile justice population actually has a significant drug use problem and if their local jus-

tice and drug treatment systems have the structural capacity to devote the needed resources

to run a juvenile drug court. If the answers to both questions are “yes,” the next step would

be to establish clearly articulated goals while designing their juvenile drug courts that are

realistic, attainable, and truly geared to help the youths that it is intended to serve.

Leslie Paik

City College, City University of New York

Hoffman, J. S. (2004). Youth Violence, Resilience, and Rehabilitation. New York: LFB

Scholarly Publishing.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806295600

Many hard-core offenders appear to be unfazed by the dangers associated with a violent

lifestyle, including the prospect of being shot or stabbed. A close brush with death, how-

ever, can provide a new perspective: “When you are lying there gasping for air, bleeding,

going into shock, rushing towards death, all that hard core is gone and all that is left is fear”

398 Criminal Justice Review