Dutile, F. N., Foust, C. H., & Webster, D. R. (Eds.). Early childhood intervention and juvenile delinquenry. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, D. C. Heath & Co., 1982, 193 pp., $23.95. Frank, M. (Ed.) Primary prevention for children and families. New York: Haworth Press, 119 pp., $20.00
✍ Scribed by Caven S. McLoughlin; Lynn Sametz
- Book ID
- 101364316
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1984
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 147 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0033-3085
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Early Childhood Intervention and Juvenile Delinquency is the edited text of the Juvenile Delinquency and Early Childhood Intervention Conference held in Indianapolis in May, 1981. Experts from juvenile justice, early childhood, legal and judicial areas, administrative and social services shared their varying perspectives concerning early childhood intervention as prevention for juvenile delinquency. The book is divided into sections dealing with biological and environmental influences on development, discovering the child at risk, legal and constitutional problems of intervention and prevention. Each section contains rather formal presentations of substantive material, commentary, and round-table discussion. The commentary and discussion are particularly helpful to the reader, as they raise additional issues related to those initially presented.
This book deals with important issues and dilemmas. For example, how are young children identified as "at risk?" Will identification stigmatize the child? Does early identification violate the child's Fourteenth Amendment rights? Will court and judicial intervention lead more to harm than to good? These complex issues are not treated lightly. Throughout, authors attempt to offer solutions to these and related questions. For example, early development could be monitored, especially in families that have experienced child abuse. (The participants are careful to note that there is not a one-to-one relationship between abuse and delinquency.) Parenting could be taught in elementary school. Extended day care and better support services could be made available. Perhaps the most radical suggestion is to repeal (with restrictions) child labor laws, and make work an option for parents and children.
The conference concludes that early intervention is the key to prevent delinquency. The development of a voluntary model is urged that would operate as an extension of family support services for all at-risk children and families. Many readers may be distressed that the discussion of the child at risk is from a psychoanalytic perspective; other views on this important topic would have been welcomed. However, the issues raised throughout this well-balanced book are worthy of our consideration. Delinquency is a problem; intervention in adolescence does not appear to rehabilitate youthful offenders. Early childhood intervention would seem to be a better prospect.