The increasingly serious nature of juvenile criminal behavior has led to greater efforts to understand the roots, causes, and correlates of juvenile violence and chronic delinquency, as well as develop more effective means of identifying at-risk youth and treating serious and violent juvenile offenders. This book examines the realities and dynamics of serious and violent youth offending and its implications. The book is divided into four parts. Part I explores serious juvenile crime including its magnitude; youth violence; kids, drugs and crime; school crime and violence; youth gangs and criminality; dating violence; and family violence. Part II examines explanations of juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior, including biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives; and intrafamilial causes and correlates of delinquency. Part III addresses juvenile crime and the justice system, including the police and juvenile offenders, youths and the juvenile and adult courts, and juvenile offenders in custody and confinement. Part IV examines responses to the problem of serious and violent juvenile offending and its precursors, including federal laws and prevention, intervention, and control strategies. (Contains over 400 references and an index.) (GCP)