Persistent juvenile theft can be difficult to treat. It can be elusive to observation, can have low individual baseline rates of occurrence and detection, and can have strong and immediate self‐reinforcing properties. These difficulties are accentuated when treatment is conducted in naturalistic settings, where less control can be exercised in the observation and verification of theft, and where less control is available for punishing theft or interfering with the immediately self‐reinforcing contingencies which accompany it. This study reports the design of a standardised outpatient, family‐based treatment of persistent juvenile theft. The treatment was tested through intervention with 14 juvenile thieves of diverse ages and stealing histories, who were consecutively referred to an outpatient child psychiatry se