BOOK
Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison
The New Press
Nell Bernstein
BOOK
Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison
The New Press
Nell Bernstein
Award-winning journalist and former Soros Justice Media Fellow Nell Bernstein has, for many, shifted the conversation around juvenile justice with her new book, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison. Arguing that there is no good way to lock up a child, Bernstein highlights the stories of the one in three US schoolchildren who will be arrested by the time they reach 23 years of age. She introduces readers to youth who have suffered violence and psychological torture at the hands of the state through stories told in their own voices about isolation, rehabilitation, humanity, and the struggle for recovery. Bernstein, the 2015 Media for a Just Society Awards winner in the book category, emphasizes that incarcerating children leaves the public less safe, as “too many will never recover from the experience” of detainment.
Burning Down the House is a clarion call to shut down America’s brutal and counterproductive juvenile prisons and bring our children home.
Read more about Burning Down the House and Nell Bernstein here and click here to purchase the book. Follow her on Twitter @nellbernstein.
Listen to an interview with Nell Bernstein about Burning Down the House on NPR:
Information adapted from NellBernstein.com and thenewpress.com