Early intervention programs
Infancy and toddlerhood
The evidence is now substantial that very young children who are highly aggressive are at
risk of progressing to involvement in seriously aggressive and delinquent behaviour in
adolescence. This indicates a need for preventative programs targeted at very young
children and their parents. Transitional phases in development, or ‘points of change’, are
times of both increased stress and increased openness to change (Ruble & Seidman, 1996,
cited in National Crime Prevention 1999: 52). Hence efforts should be directed at transitions in
parent-child relationships, for example, in the early months of infancy; and during the period
from the first to the second year of age, when the infant grows into the challenging toddler.