Recriminalizing Delinquency provides a detailed account of one state's attempt to control violent juvenile crime by redefining previous acts of delinquency as crimes, and delinquents as juvenile offenders. It begins with the brutal violence of a 15-year-old chronic delinquent, and the subsequent passage of waiver legislation which abruptly lowered the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles charged with violent offenses.

But the reasons for bringing juveniles into criminal court, Singer argues, go beyond sensational acts of violence and the immediate concerns of elected officials to do something about violent juvenile crime. Instead, recriminalization is seen as a product of earlier juvenile justice reforms and modern-day political and organizational interests in classifying juveniles with a diverse set of legal categories.

Singer shows that waiver legislation has not eliminated the need for juvenile justice nor has it reduced the incidence of violent juvenile crime.