Intergenerational Continuities in Imprisonment: Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

• In Event: Recent Results from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

Abstract

Objective: Using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development we examine the prevalence of instances of imprisonment in two generations of the study to establish whether there is an association between the imprisonment of a father and that of their son. We also examine a range of psychosocial risk factors to see if they mediate the relationship.
Method: The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), is a prospective longitudinal study of the development of delinquent behaviour in a community sample of 411 males. The study began in 1961– 2, with the original cohort (generation 2, or G2) containing all boys aged 8 or 9 years old from the registers of six schools in south London. The G2 males have participated in nine social interviews throughout their life and their parents (generation 1, or G1) were also interviewed several times during their son’s childhood.
Results: The sons of imprisoned fathers were over twice as likely to be imprisoned themselves. Factors related to the son’s personality and socioeconomic circumstances appeared to mediate this relationship.
Conclusions: It is hoped that understanding the specific role of certain psychosocial risk factors may be useful in developing preventative measures to break the cycle of imprisonment.

Authors

• Katherine M. Auty, University of Cambridge

• Henriette Bergstrøm, University of Derby

• David Farrington, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge