How does the legal system accommodate an individual who is simultaneously a child and a criminal? Claire McDiarmid examines a number of serious cases from legal, philosophical and sociological perspectives, including the murder of James Bulger in 1993. She argues that a thorough investigation of the child's criminal capacity, drawing on developmental psychology, is necessary to provide a fair and rational basis for decisions on responsibility and disposal in respect of such children. Childhood and Crime presents a model for achieving this. McDiarmid also examines the existing response of the Scottish legal system to such children, both in the courts and through the children's hearings system, in its search for a fair and compassionate approach that still takes account of the public interest and the need for public confidence in the criminal justice system.