ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines that the complex bases of both criminality and conformity unambiguously point to the necessity for a better reconciliation of criminological insights and the policy practices of government. It demonstrates that adolescent behaviour cannot sensibly be described on the basis of adherence to any one particular theoretical orientation and provides a disturbing indication of just how far one has to go in improving his/her responses to problematic adolescent behaviour. The chapter presents all the different ways in which more criminologically-informed thinking might feed into the policy process that is at the core of most government activity. Policy-makers need to adopt a similar strategy in terms of the mechanisms employed in dealing with offending adolescents. The chapter suggests that both policy-makers and researchers need to become more sophisticated in the ways in which they both recognize and respond to the diversity of factors underpinning adolescent criminality and conformity.
