Family factors in the intergenerational transmission of offending

Abstract

Convicted parents tend to have convicted children, but there have been few previous studies of transmission between three generations, especially including both records and interviews for hundreds of people. In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), 411 south London males have been followed up from age 8 to age 48. These males (generation 2, G2) are compared with their fathers and mothers (generation 1, G1), and with their biological sons and daughters (generation 3, G3). There was significant intergenerational transmission of convictions from G1 males to G2 males, and from G2 males to G3 males. Convictions of fathers still predicted convictions of sons after controlling for risk factors, but the predictive efficiency was reduced. Transmission was less from G1 females to G2 males, and from G2 males to G3 females. There was little evidence of intergenerational transmission from G1 to G3, except from grandmothers to granddaughters. The intergenerational transmission of offending may be mediated by family, socio-economic and individual risk factors. Intervention to reduce intergenerational transmission could target these risk factors.