xvii, 69 pages : 23 cm

Diverting Children from a Life of Crime is the first book to rigorously compare the costs and effectiveness of various early-intervention approaches with each other and with incarceration. The author examines four such programs: home visits by child care professionals to provide guidance in infant and child care; parent training and therapy for families with primary-school-age children who have shown aggressive behavior; cash and other incentives to induce disadvantaged high school students to graduate; and monitoring and supervision of high-school-age youth who have already exhibited delinquent behavior. The authors assess the cost-effectiveness of each program and find that graduation incentives might reduce crime by 15% and that other interventions could reduce crime by smaller but significant amounts

"MR-699-UCB/RC/IF"--Page 4 of cover

Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-69)

1. Introduction. 2. Opportunities for intervention in development. Early-childhood interventions for children at risk -- Interventions for families with children acting out -- School-based interventions -- Interventions for troublesome youths early in delinquency. 3. Estimating direct costs and benefits of alternative approaches. Types of early intervention: costs and potential -- Population treated and crime commited -- Program cost -- Effectiveness at reducing crime -- Comparing costs, benefits, and cost effectiveness -- Comparison of early intervention with incarceration -- Sensitivity to parameter assumptions -- Final observations. 4. Conclusions and policy implications

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