New research suggests that early intervention work with young people, schools and parents is leading to a reduction in crime rates.

The decline in youth offending since 2005 has been the subject of a joint study by Dr Gareth Norris from the Department of Psychology at Aberystwyth University and Dr Gwyn Griffith, head of youth justice at Ceredigion County Council.

In an article published in the latest edition of the academic journal Crime, Law and Social Change, Dr Norris and Dr Griffith argue that reductions in crime rates for England and Wales since 2005 are largely due to a drop in offending by young people.

They say multi-agency interventions targeted at young people who were at risk of starting to offend are diverting them away from a life of crime.

A senior lecturer in psychology at Aberystwyth University, Dr Norris has been working closely with Ceredigion County Council and the Home Office on two pioneering early intervention projects.

The first project in 2017/18 was aimed at limiting young people’s involvement in serious and organised crime.

The latest pioneering project ran from September 2018 to April 2019 and looked at interventions with younger children aged between 10 and 12 years who were at risk of being drawn into serious and organised crime. 

Speaking about the two projects, Dr Norris said: “Our research clearly shows that early intervention works – despite a levelling off in the last decade or so in the adult figures, reductions in offending by young people has been the primary driver of continuing reductions recorded in overall crime rates for England and Wales from 2005 onwards.”

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday