ABSTRACT
The main aim of this chapter is to summarise briefly some of the most effective programmes for preventing delinquency and later offending whose effectiveness has been demonstrated in high quality evaluation research. Only programmes with outcome measures of delinquency, antisocial behaviour, or disruptive child behaviour are included; programmes were not included if they only had outcome measures of risk factors such as IQ or poor parenting. Some of the programmes did not have a direct measure of delinquency, because this would have required a long-term follow-up. However, there is considerable continuity between disruptive child behaviour and juvenile delinquency (e.g. Farrington 1998). Therefore, programmes that have immediate effects on disruptive child behaviour are likely to have long-term effects on delinquency and later offending.
