Early prevention of criminal and antisocial behavior: A review of interventions in infancy and childhood

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing public and political interest in the early prevention of criminal and antisocial behavior, and a number of programs have been developed to intervene early in the life course. This chapter reviews the evidence base on preventive interventions aimed at children from birth to age 5. We organize our review into three categories of intervention: (1) those that target key child risk and protective factors; (2) those that target key parent risk and protective factors; and (3) those that target key child and parent risk and protective factors (i.e., “two-generation†approaches). We find that programs intensively targeting children’s social and self-regulation skills and adult caregivers’ behavior management skills are particularly promising. Additionally, a number of two-generation programs offering high-quality early childhood care and education alongside comprehensive family services have successfully reduced rates of behavior problems and later crime.