Introduction

In recent years, in the United Kingdom and other industrialised countries, there has been a growing interest on the part of governments and other stakeholders in the economic costs and benefits of the early prevention of antisocial behaviour. Rising criminal justice costs, a greater understanding of the economic impacts of crime and fiscal cut-backs are just some of the issues that have prompted this attention. However, investments in effective delinquency and criminality prevention programmes have not kept pace with this level of interest, and investments remain extremely small in comparison with government spending on criminal justice strategies (Waller and Welsh, 1999). This chapter provides some evidence for moving beyond this passive interest.

This chapter is concerned with the primary prevention of delinquency and later offending. Primary prevention focuses on preventing these behaviours before any signs of them become evident. Essentially, it aims to influence positively the early risk factors or ‘root causes’ of delinquency and later offending, typically through broad-based strategies. Some of the major causes or risk factors include: growing up in poverty, living in poor housing, inadequate parental supervision and harsh or inconsistent discipline, parental conflict and separation, low intelligence and poor school performance, and a high level of impulsiveness and hyperactivity (Farrington, 1996). Secondary prevention, which is given some mention here, is distinguished from primary prevention through its targetted interventions at older children and adolescents who show signs of antisocial behaviour or other related risk factors (e.g. substance abuse, delinquent peers).