With ever-increasing new policies on 'anti-social behaviour' and ongoing public concern over the care of children, juvenile crime and law breaking, this new book is a timely examination of recent developments in the areas of youth justice and child protection. The central focus of the book is on whether society and young people in state care, both in young offenders' institutes or foster/care homes, are better served by the dispensation of justice or appropriate family support. A broad range of international contributors discuss different approaches to this issue and the varying extent to which it is dealt with as part of the same system ranging from the English, Welsh, Western European, US and Canadian arrangements, where judicial and service responses are largely segregated to the Scottish system where both are dealt with in the same children's hearing system. The contributors also consider the implications of these arrangements for the rights of society on the one hand, children and parents on the other, and provide information on the rationale for current policy, new proposals, and the efficacy of the different systems. ''Youth Justice and Child Protection'' will be an important reference for policy-makers, social workers, carers, academics, students, lawyers, magistrates, sheriffs, heath professionals and all those working in youth justice and child protection.