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Juvenile Offenders and Guns explores how and why twenty-five incarcerated young men of color acquired and used guns, and how guns made them feel. Guns have multiple meanings and serve many purposes for these youth as they attempt to construct a capable masculinity in their worlds, growing up in homes where money is often scarce and fathers absent.

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Selected by Choice magazine as an "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2016

"Juvenile offenders and guns Voices behind gun violence offers a nice insight into the world of young minority males and informs the reader into understanding the dispositions they are subject to. ... Still, the study of gun use by juveniles remains surprisingly understudied which makes the book´s conclusions particularly important ones." (Parker Knight, Adolescent Research Review, Vol. 13, 2018)

"The six well-written chapters detail how guns construct meaning and masculinity, create pathways for producing and consuming violence, and are perceived as a panacea for solving life´s hardships and inadequacies. An important read for scholars as well as practitioners interested in juvenile delinquency and crime. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." (P. J. Venturelli, Choice, Vol. 54 (3), November, 2016)

"The unique contribution of this work is the in-depth interviews with the 25 juvenile offenders. ... this book on its face will be of interest to criminologists, criminal justice policy-makers, and citizens concerned with the harmful effects of gun violence. ... This book provides a decent introduction to the various stages of gun acquisition and use by impoverished, inner-city, racial minority youth." (David Yamane, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books, clcjbooks.rutgers.edu, May, 2017)

"The interview-style of the author´s research and the way she presented responses through storytelling, the reader is taken on a sequential from non-delinquent boyhood to violent offender. Marano thoroughly and thoughtfully answers her question of why boys obtain guns. ... In fact, after reading this book, one could understand how, if placed in these young men´s positions, their life would likely have a similar trajectory." (Allison M. Chopra, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 46, 2017)

"Juvenile Offenders and Guns: Voices Behind Gun Violence, examines how an environment such as poverty and violence creates a juvenile offender´s need or want for a gun. These research findings will be useful to anyone studying how a juvenile living in poverty can consume the violence and in return portray that with gun acquisition ... . book successfully provides insight into how juveniles are feeling while committing their offenses but also what led them to turn to the street lifestyle." (Norma L. Rodriguez, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 46, 2017)

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Diane Marano served as an assistant prosecutor in Camden, New Jersey, for twenty-five years, supervising the juvenile unit for over two decades. She earned her PhD in Childhood Studies from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in Camden, USA, and has taught Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Law, and Urban Education there.

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