On Juvenile Justice Reform and the Aims of Expert Debate. A Response to Victoria Shmidt

Abstract

I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to Victoria Shmidt’s review but find myself in a quandary. It is such a hostile review (there is nothing in the book that attracts a positive mention) that it is difficult to know where to begin. Even more difficult, I simply do not recognize my book, and the positions or arguments attributed to me, from the review. If Shmidt had provided the reader with a brief summary of the aims of the book, the questions I set out to answer, and the way I attempted to do this (which would explain the structure of the book), then—I would argue—some of her criticisms or comments would have no place, while others would rightfully stand out as justified.