Much can be done to prevent and reduce criminal offending over the life course; however, there is difficulty in implementing crime prevention programs in the midst of the current political, social, and economic arenas. Specifically, structural features of the current labor market for adolescents and young adults (low paying jobs, lowered expectations, lowered prospects for future advancement) are not hopeful. There is also increasing evidence that the probability of adolescent risks becoming transmuted into adverse adult circumstances is greatest among those in disadvantaged racial and economic positions. Contemporary political thinking is also not conducive to crime- prevention polices. There is a growing fear of crime among citizens, coupled with increasing public frustration with the perceived ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system. These attitudes have become the centerpiece of a crime-control policy of unprecedented incarceration. 65 references