Anthony Platt's study, a chronicle of the child-saving movement and the juvenile court, explodes myth after
myth about the benign character of both. The movement is described not as an effort to liberate and dignify youth
but as a punitive, romantic, and intrusive effort to control the lives of lower-class urban adolescents and to
maintain their dependent status. In so doing Platt analyzes early views of criminal behavior, the origins of the
reformatory system, the social values of middle-class reformers, and the handling of youthful offenders before
and after the creation of separate juvenile jurisdictions.
In this second, enlarged edition of The Child Savers, the author has added a new introduction and postscript in
which he critically reflects upon his original analysis, suggests new ways of thinking about the child-saving movement,
and summarizes recent developments in the juvenile justice system.