"Family Life and Youth Offending examines the relationship between the causes of youth offending and the legal duty of the state to address those causes. In his globally relevant new study Arthur provides the evidence that improving the family environment could be the most effective and enduring strategy for combating juvenile delinquency and associated behavioural, social and emotional problems. In so doing the author argues that youth crime prevention policy should therefore focus on the family context in which offenders find themselves and resources should be diverted from more traditional criminal justice measures and practices. This book addresses several topical issues: how current child welfare legislation, in particular the Children Act 1989, could be employed to prevent children who are at risk of engaging in antisocial and delinquent behaviour from offending; why greater use is not made of the present legislative framework in preventing youth crime; how existing legal powers could be used in order to discourage and divert young people from engaging in offending behaviour; and how international efforts to prevent youth offending have developed in recent years, focusing on countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Scotland, France and Scandinavian countries."--Jacket.