Book excerpt: Researchers have often attempted to identify and comprehend international trends in criminal justice, and in youth justice and penality more particularly. But the complex, contradictory and often inconsistent nature of youth justice and penality over both time and space, defies generalized accounts. Deriving from detailed and original empirical research of youth justice and youth penality in England and Wales and specific states in Australia, this book represents the first major comparative study of Anglo-Australian youth justice and youth penality to be published. With analysis spanning three decades, this book surveys the 'moving image' of penal culture and youth justice regimes, the principal drivers of policy and practice reform and reconfiguration, the core outcomes of such processes, and the overall implications for theory building and for comprehending the twists and turns of policy formation. It considers the following questions: How has the form and reach of youth penality changed since the early 1980s within and across the comparative jurisdictions? What are the defining drivers of contemporary youth penality? How has the international human rights framework influenced youth penal law, policy and practice? How, and to what extent, are penal cultures internationalized, nationalized, regionalised or localized? In what form has youth 'justice' differentiated from adult 'justice' and penal systems? What effects have legislative reforms had upon processes of criminalisation, sentencing practice and the use of penal detention for children and young people? How - and to what extent - is policy translated into practice? This is essential reading for all those engaged in youth and juvenile justice, and will also be of interest to those interested in comparative criminal justice, social policy, youth studies and human rights.