The Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal Offending: Exploring Gender-specific Mechanisms

The intergenerational transmission of criminal behaviour is well-recognized, but less is known about the mechanisms that may explain it. This study presents new analyses from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, which examine the intergenerational transmission of criminal convictions. It then investigates mediation via psychosocial risk factors. The convictions of fathers and mothers were significantly related to the convictions of their male offspring, and this was mediated via the fathers’ drug use. However, the convictions of fathers were only indirectly related to the convictions of female offspring via the father’s cohabitation problems. The convictions of mothers were also indirectly related to those of the female offspring through harsh parental discipline. Accurate identification of the role that psychosocial risk factors play in intergenerational pathways for males and females can inform much more effective gender-specific prevention.This work is sponsored by the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Department for Education, the Rayne Foundation, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and the Smith Richardson Foundation.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azv11

Risk, promotive, and protective factors in youth offending: Results from the Cambridge study in delinquent development

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to investigate risk, promotive, risk-based protective, and interactive protective factors for delinquency. Methods: The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males from age 8 onwards. Variables measured at age 8–10 are investigated as predictors of convictions between ages 10 and 18. Results: High troublesomeness, a convicted parent, and high daring were important risk factors for delinquency, while low neuroticism and few friends were important promotive factors. The most important interactive protective effects were: high nonverbal intelligence, high verbal intelligence, high school attainment, and high parental interest in education protected against poor child-rearing; good parental supervision protected against high dishonesty; and high family income protected against a convicted parent. Conclusions: Developmental and life-course theories of offending should attempt to explain findings on promotive and protective factors. Findings on interactive protective factors suggest particular types of interventions that should be targeted on individuals displaying particular risk factors.Home Office, and the Smith-Richardson Foundation., the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Department for Education, the Department of Health, the Rayne FoundationThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.02.01

Preventing Repeat Victimization: A Systematic Review

This report presents a systematic review, including a statistical meta-analysis, of the effects of initiatives to prevent repeat victimization

The impact of longitudinal offending trajectories on mental health: Lifetime consequences and intergenerational transfer

Objectives: This paper set out to contribute to the literature by linking research into offending pathways with the study of longitudinal effects and intergenerational transmission of mental health. Methods: Data was used from two generations of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a longitudinal study of 411 men from London and their children who were followed since 1961-62. Results: Findings from this study (1) indicate that symptoms of depression and anxiety were highest among those who commenced offending in adulthood and (2) demonstrated familial continuity of mental health: poor offspring mental health was related to father’s criminality, but not to their offender group. Conclusions: A thorough understanding of the heterogeneity of offenders is essential for policy and practice. It is suggested that future research further examines individuals who only commence offending in adulthood, since they have been shown to not only face a variety of adverse outcomes themselves, but are also likely to have children with distinct patterns of internalizing problems across. Keywords: life-course-persistent offending, late-onset offending, adolescence-limited offending, adverse mental health outcomes, intergenerational transmissio

What can we do to reduce disciplinary school exclusion? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the evidence for the impact of different types of school-based interventions on the reduction of school exclusion. Methods: A systematic search of 27 databases including published and unpublished literature was carried out between September and December 2015. Eligible studies evaluated interventions intended to reduce the rates of exclusion; targeted children from ages four to 18 in mainstream schools; and reported results of interventions delivered from 1980 onwards. Only randomised controlled trials were included. Two independent reviewers determined study eligibility, extracted data and rated the methodological quality of studies. Results: Based on the thirty-seven studies eligible for meta-analysis, under a random effects model, results showed that school-based interventions significantly reduced school exclusion during the first six months after implementation SMD=.30, 95% CI [.20, .41], p<.001. The impact at follow-up (i.e., 12 or more months) was reduced by half and it was not statistically significant. Heterogeneity was mainly explained by the role of the evaluator: independent evaluators reported lower effect sizes than researchers involved in the design and/or delivery of the intervention. Four approaches presented promising and significant results in reducing exclusion: enhancement of academic skills, counselling, mentoring/monitoring, and skills training for teachers. Conclusions: Results suggest that school-based interventions can be effective in reducing school exclusion in the short term. Some specific types of interventions show more promising and stable results, but, based on the small number of studies involved in our calculations, we suggest that results are interpreted with caution.Nuffield Foundation Beca Chil

Understanding How Offending Prevalence and Frequency Change with Age in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development Using Bayesian Statistical Models

Objectives: To provide a detailed understanding of how the prevalence and frequency of offending vary with age in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) and to quantify the influence of early childhood risk factors such as high troublesomeness on this variation. Methods: We develop a statistical model for the prevalence and frequency of offending based on the hurdle model and curves called splines that allow smooth variation with age. We use the Bayesian framework to quantify estimation uncertainty. We also test a model that assumes that frequency is constant across all ages. Results: For 346 males from the CSDD for whom the number of offenses at all ages from 10 to 61 are recorded, we found peaks in the prevalence of offending around ages 16 to 18. Whilst there were strong differences in prevalence between males of high troublesomeness and those of lower troublesomeness up to age 45, the level of troublesomeness had a weaker effect on the frequency of offenses, and this lasted only up to age 20. The risk factors of low nonverbal IQ, poor parental supervision and low family income affect how prevalence varies with age in a similar way, but their influence on the variation of frequency with age is considerably weaker. We also provide examples of quantifying the uncertainty associated with estimates of interesting quantities such as variations in offending prevalence across levels of troublesomeness. Conclusions: Our methodology provides a quantified understanding of the effects of risk factors on age-crime curves. Our visualizations allow these to be easily presented and interpreted

A model for reactive porous transport during re-wetting of hardened concrete

A mathematical model is developed that captures the transport of liquid water in hardened concrete, as well as the chemical reactions that occur between the imbibed water and the residual calcium silicate compounds residing in the porous concrete matrix. The main hypothesis in this model is that the reaction product -- calcium silicate hydrate gel -- clogs the pores within the concrete thereby hindering water transport. Numerical simulations are employed to determine the sensitivity of the model solution to changes in various physical parameters, and compare to experimental results available in the literature.Comment: 30 page

Serious, Minor, and Non-Delinquents in Early Adolescence: The Impact of Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors. The TRAILS Study

This study uses a social-ecological approach to the development of delinquency. The authors emphasize that a balance between eliminating risk and enhancing protection across domains is essential in reducing problems and promoting competence. The cumulative risk and promotive effects of temperament, family and school factors in preadolescence were examined on different groups of delinquents (based on self-report) in early adolescence. Data from the first two waves of the TRAILS study (N = 2,230) were used. The results provide evidence for a compensatory model that assumes main effects of risk and promotive factors on problem behavior. Accumulation of risks in preadolescence promoted being a serious delinquent in early adolescence, with the strongest effects for temperament. Accumulation of promotive effects decreased being a delinquent and supported being a non-delinquent. Furthermore, evidence is found for a counter-balancing effect of cumulative promotive and risk factors. Exposure to more promotive domains in the relative absence of risk domains decreased the percentage of serious delinquents. Our results did not support a protective model. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed