Suppression, prevention, separation, stigmatization, close monitoring of children in the family environment, initiatives in the places where children socialize, mass initiatives to target those at risk, initiatives taken straight after birth or extended initiatives throughout childhood and youth have been explored over time with unequal results that are often difficult to evaluate. The article emphasizes that development was not linear and that provisions to prevent juvenile crime reflect, at the same time, concerns of the moment, deep changes in economic and social environment and changes in representation of individuals in society and in the family. The status of the child has evolved considerably, in the sense of a growing individualization and in the sense of wider socialization outside the family, which prevents a n over-simplistic view of the relationship between childhood, prevention and crime. References