Observers during those decades felt that they were discovering the emergence of a distinct group of young persons who were caught between childhood and adulthood and had problems of social and physical development and adjustment. During the war an increase in the rates of juvenile crime provided an opportunity for the press and the middle and upper classes to initiate a renewed moral crusade, which extended the use of legal prosecution rather than informal methods of controlling the poorer youths on the streets. This moral panic also reflected concern about national decline during a period of threat to national stability. However, the further criminalization of delinquency was accompanied by the assumption that youths under age 16 should receive special treatment. Thus, a shift occurred away from institutionalization, flogging, or traditional punishments and toward probation. This shift rested on experts' views that juvenile delinquency resulted from the house environment, particularly the mother, and that they should intervene in the domestic life of the working classes. The Home Office also encouraged youth organizations and clubs. Table and 127 reference notes