Some of the most critical and troubling issues in juvenile justice are addressed to serve as a catalyst and resource for developing sound juvenile justice public policy decisions. The following chapters examine juvenile court policies, special issues, and cost-effective interventions, and present findings of a national survey of public attitudes toward juvenile crime: (1) "Youth Crime and Its Prevention: A Research Agenda" (B. Krisberg); (2) "The New Youth Gangs: Social Policy and Malignant Neglect" (C. R. Huff); (3) "Juvenile Diversion: The Ongoing Search for Alternatives" (M. Ezell); (4) "Criminalizing the Juvenile Court: A Research Agenda for the 1990s" (B. C. Feld); (5) "The Rights of Children and the Juvenile Court" (F. A. Orlando and G. L. Crippen); (6) "Prosecutors and Juvenile Justice: New Roles and Perspectives" (J. Shine and D. Price); (7) "Interagency Services in Juvenile Justice Systems" (M. Soler); (8) "Public Policy and the Incarceration of Juveniles: Directions for the 1990s" (I. M. Schwartz and R. Van Vleet); (9) "Special Issues in Juvenile Justice: Gender, Race, and Ethnicity" (K. H. Federle and M. Chesney-Lind); (10) "The Private Sector in Juvenile Corrections" (Y. Bakal and H. Lowell); (11) "Juvenile Crime-Fighting Policies: What the Public Really Wants" (I. M. Schwartz); and (12) "Toward a National Juvenile Justice Agenda" (I. M. Schwartz). Eight tables and eight figures illustrate the discussions. References follow each chapter. (SLD)