Americans are more supportive for policies that will save rather than punish youth criminals, and are willing to pay for them

As with all types of crime, when it comes to youth crime, policymakers are faced with a choice – should they pursue policies which will punish young offenders, or those that aim to rehabilitate them? But which of these policies does the public support? In new research Thomas Baker finds that nearly 3/4 of Americans support rehabilitative (or ‘child saving’) policies, and about 50 percent are willing to pay for such policies. He also finds that education and fears about crime are linked with being more willing to pay for child saving policies.