Crime Prevention and Intervention Over the Life Course

A central tenant of the life course paradigm as applied to criminology is that the causes of the onset and termination of criminal behavior vary over different stages of the life course. Since crime prevention and intervention programs are designed to change these causal characteristics and conditions, it follows that effective crime prevention and intervention programs will likely target different causal factors for interventions involving children, adolescents, and adults. A scientific standard for identifying effective, evidence-based crime prevention programs and practices is proposed and programs meeting this standard are described. The risk and protective factors targeted by these programs and practices designed for children, adolescents, and adults are examined and differences and similarities across these stages of the life course are described.