Intergenerational Similarities in Risk Factors for Offending

Purpose: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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. © 2015, Springer International Publishing AG.