This Understanding treatise discusses the various bodies of law in relation to a fundamental issue permeating the entire field of juvenile law: the extent to which the law should protect young people rather than recognize them as autonomous persons. While the law traditionally adopted a protectionist posture, recent legal developments appear to recognize autonomy rights of adolescents in certain contexts. These developments are praised by some commentators who advocate wholesale rejection of the paternalistic model in favor of a system that treats adolescents as full-fledged persons under the law. This e?Book does not advocate any particular resolution of the current debate about the nature of the rights of young people Understanding Juvenile Law 4th Edition by Gardner, Martin R. and Publisher Lexis Nexis (CAP). ISBN: 9780769891712, 0769891713. The print version of this textbook is ISBN: 9780769891231, 0769891233.