"Bush weaves the compelling story of this 110-year conflict between advocates of imprisonment and the proponents of rehabilitation at this troubled institution, observing that this is a story repeated nationwide as the US struggles to address the issue of juvenile justice."—Choice
“William Bush draws on a staggering amount of research to introduce a compelling cast of previously unknown characters who put Texas and the U.S. South at the center of mid-twentieth-century juvenile justice reform. Legal scholars and social and political historians will need to read and respond to this novel and intriguing study.”—Steven Schlossman, author of Transforming Juvenile Justice: Reform Ideals and Institutional Realities, 1825–1920
“Combining innovative archival research, astute analysis of popular culture, and gripping prose, Who Gets a Childhood? presents a harrowing history of juvenile corrections in twentieth-century Texas. Bush reminds us what happens to young people who are denied a childhood, while demonstrating that American juvenile justice has become the New American Dilemma that urgently demands our attention.”—David S. Tanenhaus, author of Juvenile Justice in the Making
"An immensely informative account of the complexities of reform and repression within the training schools of a state known for its tough penal culture."—American Historical Review
“Who Gets a Childhood? is a powerful account of juvenile injustice and an important, thought-provoking book that engages boldly, as Bush maintains, a fundamental crisis facing American society. It is worthy of close reading by all who are concerned about juvenile justice and the solutions to the growing problem of juvenile delinquency and violent crime. It will undoubtedly be of particular interest to academic experts. . . .sociologists; school psychologists; public policy experts; legal scholars; political scientists; and social, cultural, and political historians. . . .The book is certainly accessible to serious lay readers. . .and is well suited for undergraduate classes and the graduate seminar room.”—Mark Carroll, H-Net Reviews
“Bush’s multilayered analysis of some seven decades of Texas juvenile justice breaks new ground in a number of ways, and it should be required reading for anyone working at the intersection of race and juvenile justice in the twentieth century. The book constitutes an important contribution to a field in which local- and state-level histories are scarce—though its greatest value lies in its breadth, which extends far beyond the institution of the juvenile justice system.”—Andrew J. Diamond, The Journal of American History
“The book constitutes an important contribution to a field in which local- and state-level histories are scarce—though its greatest value lies in its breadth, which extends far beyond the institutions of the juvenile justice system.”— Andrew J. Diamond, Journal of American History
“Who Gets a Childhood? offers readers an opportunity to see beyond the headlines in contemporary debates about juvenile crime. Bush encourages us to question not only our ideas about the nature of juvenile criminality but also our collective biases concerning the dividing line between adolescence and adulthood.”—Deborah Blackwell, Journal of Southern History
