The complexity of families assessing family relationships and their association with externalizing problems

Family relationships can be studied in different ways, and with different methods. In the current dissertation we present several ways to examine family relationships in five different studies: we use a dyadic approach of studying family relationships, we study family relationships considering the family as a whole, and we examine family relationships on multiple levels of family functioning in five different studies. In Chapter 2 we tested the replicability of existing models of associations between aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship on the one hand, and both aggression and delinquency on the other hand in two independent Dutch samples of adolescents. Another dyadic approach was used in Chapter 3, in which we examined patterns of related change among family negativity in three family dyads, and adolescent aggressive or delinquent behavior by using multivariate Latent Growth Models. The aim of the study in Chapter 4 was to examine the associations between family relationships (affective and instrumental family functioning) measured at the “family level” and adolescent externalizing behavior by performing a meta-analysis on 28 studies. In Chapter 5, we present a systematic review of studies that have used the Social Relations Model to study family relationships. The aim of the study was to identify general patterns of actor, partner, relationship, and family effects. In most past Social Relations Model studies, the SRM was applied to relatively well functioning families. Chapter 6 therefore focuses on the comparison of SRM patterns of negativity in families with and without an adolescent child that showed serious externalizing problems in order to gain insight in processes in problematic families. Most important conclusions that can be drawn from this dissertation are that across the studies included in the current dissertation we find a strong and consistent association between the quality of family relationship and externalizing problems. This association does not seem to be affected by ethnic or gender differences, and it seems persistent with both dyadic and static measures of family relationships. Family functioning measures at the family level, either with whole family measures or by the SRM family effect, are both related to adolescent externalizing problems. The current dissertation shows that family relationship scores are highly dependent on the perceptions of the rater, and on the characteristics of the family member that is being rated. Perceptions differ depending on the family role (child or parent), and perceptions of family members differ across problematic and non-problematic families. By presenting multiple ways of studying family relationships, the present dissertation aims to fill a gap between this rather well-defined theory and a relative shortage of methods and studies that test this theoretical mode

Children of Organized Crime Offenders: Like Father, Like Child?: An Explorative and Qualitative Study Into Mechanisms of Intergenerational (Dis)Continuity in Organized Crime Families

This qualitative descriptive study aims to explore (1) the extent of intergenerational continuity of crime in families of organized crime offenders, (2) the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and (3) the mechanisms underlying intergenerational discontinuity. The study comprised a descriptive analysis of the available numeric information on 25 organized crime offenders based in Amsterdam and their 48 children of at least 19 years of age and a more qualitative in-depth analysis of police files, justice department files and child protection service files of all the family members of 14 of the 25 families. Additionally, interviews with employees of the involved organizations were conducted. In terms of prevalence in official record crime statistics, the results show that a large majority of the organized crime offenders’ sons seem to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. This is not the case for daughters, as half of them have a criminal record, but primarily for only one minor crime. Intergenerational transmission seems to be facilitated by mediating risk factors, inadequate parenting skills of the mother, the “famous” or violent reputation of the father, and deviant social learning. If we want to break the intergenerational chain of crime and violence, the results seem to suggest that an accumulation of protective factors seem to be effective, particularly for girls. For girls, supervision from a child protection service also seems to work quite well. For boys, we might need a different approach to prevent them from offending

Qualitative research on the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviour in conflict-affected contexts: case examples of Burundi and Rwanda

The setup and objective of this chapter differs slightly from the other chapters in this book. Instead of providing insights into an existing dataset which can be further exploited, we describe and discuss research designs to inspire other types of data collection and findings. Namely, we suggest that the collection of qualitative datasets as well, doing so in different (cultural) contexts, may help advance criminological knowledge on the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviour. We propose that for criminologists, contexts affected by conflict and international crime are particularly relevant, as some of the violence there - war crimes, genocide, etc. - epitomize the ‘crime of crimes’. The chapter describes two qualitative studies in the Great Lakes region of Africa, a region that has been facing repeated outbreaks of mass atrocities for decades. The first example, in Burundi, shows the possibilities for cross-cultural comparison of a key mechanism studied in criminological research on intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviour; namely parenting styles. The second study, in Rwanda, exemplifies research which aims at identifying mechanisms that enable intergenerational transmission in other contexts. Key findings of these studies suggest that to understand how processes of intergenerational transmission unfold we need to pay attention to attributed meanings and the embeddedness of antisocial behaviour in the wider context. Findings also suggest that more attention is needed to children’s active engagement with legacies of violence; that is, addressing questions of agency and resilience

Predicting individual differences in criminal attitudes from offender characteristics: a study among Dutch prisoners

Criminal Justice: Legitimacy, accountability, and effectivit

Studying the intergenerational transmission of crime with population data: The System of Social statistical Datasets (SSD) of Statistics Netherlands

Conventional survey research has been suffering from decreasing participation rates for decades. In particular, the socially more deprived – those with low education levels, migrants and the unemployed – are of growing interest for policy makers but are among those the least likely to participate in surveys. In order to advance our knowledge on the sources and intergenerational transmission of crime, population-based datasets can be very useful, especially those datasets that cover a long period of historical time, are intergenerational and contain detailed information about offending, as well as information on families of origin, labour market participation, income and educational attainment. Statistics Netherlands hosts unique register data in the so-called System of Social statistical Datasets (SSD). The SSD is an integrated, longitudinal database of numerous registers and surveys, containing the most important socioeconomic and sociodemographic variables of the complete population of the Netherlands. In our example study we use information on five birth cohorts of young adults (N = 939,600) and their parents. We conclude by mentioning some limitations and recommendations regarding the use of population-based data in the study of the intergenerational transmission of crime

A Between- and within-person analysis of parenting and time spent in criminogenic settings during adolescence : The Role of self-control and delinquent attitudes

Although spending time in criminogenic settings is increasingly recognized as an explanation for adolescent delinquency, little is known about its determinants. The current study aims to examine the extent to which (change in) self-control and (change in) delinquent attitudes relate to (change in) time spent in criminogenic settings, and the extent to which they mediate the effects of (change in) parenting. Time spent in criminogenic settings was measured comprehensively, by including social and physical characteristics of micro settings (200 × 200 meters). Multilevel structural equation models on two waves of panel data on 603 adolescents (aged 12-19) showed that self-control and delinquent attitudes contributed to between-person differences in time spent in criminogenic settings. Within-person increases in time spent in such settings were predicted by increased delinquent attitudes. For indirect effects, self-control partially mediated between-person effects of parenting, whereas delinquent attitudes partially mediated both between- and within-person effects