Conclusion

The focus of this book has been on preventing juvenile criminality by reducing the number of children and young people with a disposition to behaving in a criminal manner. The book advocates the preventing of youth offending through the medium of parenting support catering to the families of young people who are not yet seriously engaged in offending and antisocial behaviour, but who might be at risk of developing in that direction. The Children Act 1989 was found to represent a proactive programme for preventing children engaging in offending behaviour. The 1989 Act actively promotes strategies and activities that reduce the impact of risk factors, and enhance the influence of protective factors, in the lives of youth at greatest risk of delinquency. The evidence examined in the book emphasised that the child welfare interventions and family-strengthening policies of the Children Act 1989 are effective as youth crime prevention strategies. The book not only examined the underlying theoretical questions about the prevention of juvenile offending behaviour, but also considered what actually happens in practice. It determined why the Children Act 1989 is not being implemented in full in order to prevent children from becoming involved in offending behaviour, and considered the means available to redress the disparity between legislative policy and its day-today operation.