Book by Laurent Mucchielli: «The Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency: Moral Panic and Psychosocial Realities»
Laurent Muchielli, The Sociology of Juvenile Delinquency: Moral Panic and Psychosocial Realities, L’Harmattan, 2026, 284 pp. (ISBN 978-2-336-61661-2)
Summary:
Juvenile delinquency is the subject of numerous myths fuelled by media coverage of crime stories, by politicians« electioneering rhetoric, and by »experts’ who are rarely competent or impartial. Year after year, they all repeat the same hackneyed clichés about the growing threat to society posed by young people, particularly those living in the poorest neighbourhoods of urban areas.
Far removed from fears, moralising rhetoric and security-driven posturing, this book forms part of a tradition of social science research that has now spanned centuries in Europe and North America. The ten essays it brings together draw on most social science methods, with a focus on historical comparisons, statistical analyses and data analysis
large collections of court files.
Delinquent behaviour is analysed here within the framework of the sociology of youth, the sociology of deviance and, in many respects, general sociology.
