Discuss three policies your text discusses that can help reduce criminality according to the theories in this chapter.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Policies emphasizing the prenatal and perinatal stages of life; the most significant and effective interventions can occur during this time. If policymakers hope to reduce early risk factors for criminality, they must insist on universal health care for pregnant women, as well as for their newborn infants through the first few years of life. There should be legally mandated interventions for pregnant women who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. An additional concern is inadvertent exposure to toxins, such as lead, which has shown an alarming causal connection to persistent criminality. Other policy implications include assigning special caseworkers for high-risk pregnancies, such as those involving low birth weight or low Apgar scores. Another advised intervention would be to organize a centralized medical system that provides a flag for high-risk infants who have numerous birth or delivery complications so that the doctors seeing them for the first time are aware of their vulnerabilities. Finally, universal preschool should be funded and provided for all young children. Studies have shown that this leads to better performance, both academically and socially, once they enter school.