Youth who began the intervention with a strong bond to their primary caretaker were less likely to offend during and immediately following the intervention. However, it was also found that the intervention program might add little to the dynamic between family bond and delinquency. Youth who reported improvement in their family bond over time were also less likely to report involvement in delinquent behavior over time. Because improvement in family relationships occurred concurrently with improvement in behavior, targeting family dynamics appeared to be an effective strategy to reduce involvement in delinquent behavior. The evidence is convincing in that failure to intervene with children who initiate offending at an early age may result in a population of serious, violent, and chronic juvenile and adult offenders. The results of this investigation provide insight into the effect of a strong family bond on successful delinquency desistance in a specific intervention setting. It was hypothesized that individuals who report strong relationships with their parents are likely to fare better in intervention programs than those who do not and youth who begin an intervention experience already having a strong relationship with their parent(s) may not require family-based programming to the extent that others do. This study begins by providing a broad overview of the extant research on families and delinquency, reviewing what is known about serious, violent and early juvenile offenders. It continues with a discussion on the theoretical foundations of a relationship between family functioning and delinquency. To test the relationship between family relations and delinquency among childhood offenders, the study focused on data obtained from a community-based intervention initiative aimed at serious juvenile offenders between the ages of 10 and 13 years old. Theoretical and policy implications of the study are presented and discussed. Appendix A-D and references