ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on treatment interventions for children with disruptive or delinquent behaviours. Research has offered insights into the general principles of effective interventions in juvenile delinquency. Unfortunately, empirical evidence of intervention efficacy in children is very scarce. The ultimate goal of interventions is to reduce disruptive behaviours to a more normal level and reduce the risk of a criminal career. Each intervention is usually based on an implicit or explicit theory on how this goal is to be attained. Effective interventions for young offenders tend to focus on mediating dynamic risk factors, such as the juvenile's social competencies or their family's functioning. Project social workers rated 109 clients on four areas at the start and finish of the intervention: social surroundings, school, leisure time activities and police contacts. The interventions applied in a police context have more or less the same goals as the family interventions described by Veerman and Orobio de Castro.
