New Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

The current panel presents new findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD). The CSDD is a longitudinal study that has prospectively followed 411 males (G2) for half a century, from age 8 to age 61. In addition, their (G3) children have been interviewed at the average age of 25.

The first paper reports new information about the duration of criminal careers, based on continuous searches of criminal records of G2 from age 8 to age 61. The results show that the duration of criminal careers is sometimes surprisingly long. For example, 18% of offenders had a criminal career spanning at least 30 years. The second paper investigates the intergenerational transmission of personality disorders from the G2 males to their biological children (G3). The results provide insight into whether personality disorders show a general or a disorder-specific pattern of intergenerational transmission.

The final paper reports findings from the female children (G3) of the original (G2) males. Specifically, the relationships between personality disorders and psychopathy, as well as their relationships with criminal behavior, are explored.

Sub Unit

• Area III. Perspectives on Crime / 2. Developmental and Life Course Perspectives

Division of Special Interests

• Division Session of Interest / Division of Developmental/Life-Course Criminology

• Division Session of Interest / Division of International Criminology

Individual Presentations

• The Duration of Criminal Careers - David P. Farrington, University of Cambridge; Maria Ttofi, Cambridge University

• The Intergenerational Transmission of Personality Disorders – General or Disorder-Specific? - Katherine Auty, Cambridge University; David P. Farrington, University of Cambridge

• The Relationship between Personality Disorders and Convictions in Women: Recent Results from the G3 Females in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) - Henriette Bergstrøm, University of Derby; David P. Farrington, University of Cambridge

Chair

• Henriette Bergstrøm, University of Derby

Discussant

• Darrick Jolliffe, Centre for Criminology, University of Greenwich