Intergenerational Similarities in Risk Factors for Offending

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to investigate to what extent the relationships between risk factors and offending by males are similar from one generation to the next. The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males who were originally studied at age 8. This article compares these males (generation 2 or G2) with their biological parents (generation 1 or G1) and biological children (generation 3 or G3). Ninety-four per cent of G2 males were interviewed at age 32, while 85 % of G3 males were interviewed at an average age of 25. Up to age 21, 34 % of G2 males were convicted, compared with 20 % of G3 males. Eleven risk factors were significant predictors of both G2 and G3 offending: a convicted father and mother, harsh discipline, poor parental supervision, a disrupted family, low family income, large family size, poor housing, low school attainment, daring/risk-taking and antisocial child behaviour. The findings were markedly different for only three risk factors: parental conflict, low social class and hyperactivity/attention problems. Over 20 risk factors, G2 effect sizes correlated .80 with G3 effect sizes. G2 results were similar to G3 results. While risk factors were not exactly comparable between generations, most of the findings in one generation were replicated in the next generation.