NCJ Number
194998
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on interventions that take place early in a child’s life to prevent crime in later life.
Abstract
The early childhood approach is based on evidence that the interaction between risk and protective factors that arise in a person’s early childhood can lead to socially undesirable outcomes such as crime later in life. Evidence based on studies taking place in the United States as well as from Australia is now accumulating as to the effectiveness of this approach. Partnership or multi-agency collaboration is central to this approach to prevention because they have the ability to gather resources from several relevant areas. They need to have commonality of goals, be well planned, and be adequately funded to be effective. Police have an important role in these partnerships in terms of acting as facilitators between the various agencies. Police are also in a position to be strong advocates for early childhood intervention approaches. They will remain critical front line providers in an overall crime prevention approach. On the basis of extensive research literature, it is recommended that early childhood approaches should be considered as one aspect of an overall balanced approach to crime prevention. Although this approach is not under the direct control of police, they still have an important role to play in terms of advocacy and facilitation between agencies, as well as being front line providers of other key aspects of a multi-faceted approach to crime prevention. It is important not to overemphasize the effects of the early intervention approach, as by itself it does not eliminate crime. It is wise to balance this approach to crime prevention with other approaches that are able to realize short-term benefits. 4 footnotes, 25 references