Child Delinquency Bulletin -- May 2003 -- Early Intervention and Prevention


J. Robert Flores, Administrator	May 2003

Juvenile courts are being challenged by an increase in the number of child delinquents coming before them. In 1997 alone, juvenile courts handled more than 180,000 juvenile offenders younger than 13 years old. These child delinquents account for 1 in 3 juvenile arrests for arson, 1 in 5 juvenile arrests for sex offenses, and 1 in 12 juvenile arrests for violent crime.

Because youth referred to juvenile court before the age of 13 are far more likely to become chronic juvenile offenders than youth whose initial contact occurs at a later age, there is reason for concern about the growing number of child delinquents.

This Bulletin summarizes the final report of OJJDP’s Study Group on Very Young Offenders, Child Delinquents: Development, Intervention, and Service Needs. The report draws on hundreds of studies to describe the developmental course of child delinquency and delineate key risk and protective factors. It also identifies effective and promising prevention and intervention programs that help reduce the incidence of delinquency while offering significant cost savings to society.

The information provided by the findings of the Study Group on Very Young Offenders demonstrates the need to invest in effective early prevention and intervention efforts with such children.

Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention

Rolf Loeber, David P. Farrington, and David Petechuk

Some Key Findings

Defining the Scope of Very Young Offenders

Early Disruptive Behavior

Child Delinquency—Official Records

Self-Reports of Delinquency

Risk Factors and Predictors

Interventions

Interagency Mechanism

Legal Issues

Key Research Priorities

Costs and Benefits

Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

Summary

References

Endnotes

NCJ 186162

This Bulletin was prepared under grant number 95–JD–FX–0018 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

Acknowledgments

Rolf Loeber, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, PA; Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Study. David P. Farrington, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychological Criminology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. David Petechuk is a freelance health sciences writer. The authors thank Magda Stouthamer-Loeber for her contributions to this research.