Family-Based Programs for Preventing Delinquency and Later Offending

This chapter reviews the leading family-based programs for preventing delinquency and later offending, focusing on the highest quality research studies as well as the most rigorous reviews of research that include only high-quality studies. It argues that by focusing on families we can go a long way toward improving the effectiveness of programs and policies to prevent delinquency and later criminal offending. As such, this chapter provides some background on family risk factors and family-based prevention programs. It then examines the research evidence on the leading family-based programs for preventing delinquency and later offending: parent education, parent management training, and family programs for system-involved youth. Finally, this chapter discusses some implications for research and policy.