“Evaluating Juvenile Transfer and Disposition: Law, Science, and Practice,” co-authored by Professor David DeMatteo and alumnus Christopher King has been published by Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.

DeMatteo and King joined lead author Kirk Heilbrun, a professor of psychology at Drexel, and doctoral candidate Sarah Filone in writing the book, which integrates current law, science and practice related to  the transfer of juveniles to adult court and disposition evaluations.

“Any mental health professional involved in juvenile justice should read this book, not only because transfer of juveniles to adult court is a ubiquitous aspect of juvenile justice, but because recent Supreme Court opinions have also made evaluation of rehabilitative potential crucial for those adults who committed crimes while juveniles,” Vanderbilt University Law School Professor Christopher Slobogin wrote. “This book describes all the up-to-date tools needed to carry out this incredibly important aspect of the juvenile justice system.”

The book contains a chapter on resentencing, in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole. 

DeMatteo, the director of the JD-PhD in Law and Clinical Psychology program, is an authority on forensic mental health assessment, offender diversion, and drug-involved criminal offenders.  He has previously published seven books and more than 90 articles and book chapters.

He is the president of the American Pscyhology-Law Society.

King, an alumnus of the JD-PhD program, received his JD in 2014 and his PhD in clinical psychology in 2016.  He is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Montclair State University, where his research focuses on adult and juvenile clinical-forensic psychology, correctional psychology, and mental health law.