AbstractThis paper has as its starting point the unease with which researchers and some members of the social work profession now view current trends in Intermediate Treatment (I.T.) In this paper, which is intended to be an introduction to a more detailed analysis, I attempt to explain these issues by drawing together the historical development of I.T. and showing the connection between these changes that have taken place in penal policy and changes that have occurred in the wider social structure. It is argued that this raises serious questions in respect of the assumptions made by the social work profession about I.T., in particular that the continuous justification in terms of and preoccupation with“individual need” obscures the fact that I.T. has become the vehicle for an increasingly wider and more intensive regulation of the lives of young peo