Iain Duncan Smith: We must end this grim cycle that sends social breakdown through generations

The details of the violence carried out shocked the nation, and all the more so as the perpetrators themselves were 10 and 11.

However, though the details may be shocking, violence perpetrated by children against children is increasingly common.

We have only to look at the number of fatal gang attacks in the past few years to see the worrying trend. This is one – devastating – illustration of the levels of social breakdown plaguing our most deprived communities.

In setting up the Centre for Social Justice, I wanted to understand why, in certain areas, people are so dislocated from mainstream society. I wanted to understand the reasons behind these shocking levels of social breakdown.

It should come as no surprise that the two brothers responsible for the heinous attack had, according to local accounts, grown up in a chaotic broken home in which their mother and her partner abused alcohol and drugs. It is also unsurprising that the brothers had both been expelled from their primary schools and had a history of violence.

Having been on the child protection register, the

brothers had actually been taken into care at the time of the attack. This awful crime was committed by brothers under the supervision of the State. It shames us all that up to half of children in custody, almost a quarter of adult prisoners and a third of homeless people have been in care.

Key predictors of future offending include having experienced family

breakdown, going through the care system and being excluded from school. All three risk factors were present with the two brothers.

The failure of social services to prevent this attack has been repeatedly highlighted, as has the failure of the police to act quickly following a previous similar attack. Both services should take responsibility for their inadequacies, however by focusing on this we risk missing the real issue: how is it that in one of the world's wealthiest countries we have children growing up perpetuating such awful crimes?

Despite its early rhetoric of being tough on the causes of crime, this Government has failed to get to grips with the reality of what lies behind violence and criminality.

We now know that the first three years of a child's life are crucial, and that it is the

family environment that

directly affects the

development of the brain. If a child grows up in a chaotic, abusive and neglectful environment then they are more likely to act aggressively and impulsively themselves.

We also know that children who have experienced a dysfunctional home life are less able to engage at school, and are more likely to display the sort of behaviour which leads to exclusion.

We know that 80 per cent of young offenders have truanted from school and that up to 70 per cent of gang members have been excluded: why is this not triggering intensive intervention?

If we are to address the increase of violent children, we must address the drivers behind it. Dysfunctional families are at the heart of social breakdown. Government must do more to support and strengthen families.

We have recommended establishing Family Hubs. These would provide family-focused services, easily accessed and non-stigmatising, in the heart of deprived communities. They would have a particular focus on early intervention and parenting support in order to identify problems before they become full-blown.

We also need a national roll out of the intensive early intervention programme, Nurse Family Partnership. In America, teenagers who went through the programme as "at risk" children had 56 per cent fewer arrests, 81 per cent fewer adolescent convictions, and 56 per cent fewer behavioural problems due to drug and alcohol consumption. We know the programme works so let's not waste time piloting it. It should be available to everyone who needs it.

This will go a long way in preventing children ending up in care, but for struggling families for whom further support is needed we should offer family fostering. Working with families as a whole will lead to much better outcomes for these vulnerable children.

The background of the two brothers in the Edlington case does not excuse their crime, and they should face the consequences, but in reality a one dimensional view that simply talks about cracking down on juveniles doesn't work.

If we are to reverse the continuing and growing rise in violent crime then we need to get to the families producing the future stock of violent criminals.

If the lessons of the

Edlington boys show us anything, it is that we have to intervene early with dysfunctional families to stop this cycle of social breakdown and violence.

Only this will ensure children staring through the bars of the playpen today, are not staring through the bars of a Young Offenders Institute tomorrow.