Intergenerational offending: A narrative review of the literature

This report reviews the published evidence base on intergenerational offending, defined as the observed phenomenon whereby children with a parent or parents who offend, go on to offend themselves. It focuses on questions such as whether any differences between maternal and paternal offending exist, differential impacts according to the child’s gender and evidence of interventions to reduce intergenerational offending.

The report draws primarily upon academic, peer-reviewed research. The scope is global, but all research needed to be published in English. Key words/phrases were used to source relevant papers, including ‘intergenerational offending’, ‘offending transmission’, and ‘intergenerational crime’. A total of 44 research papers have been reviewed covering a mix of methodologies. Eight systematic reviews and three longitudinal studies are included.