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Cited by 33Crime Patterns and InterventionsPsychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingIntergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

A Swedish population-based study of the mechanisms of parent–offspring transmission of criminal behavior

Kendler, K. S., Ohlsson, H., Morris, N. A., Sundquist, J., Sundquist, K.·2015·Psychological Medicine
DOI 10.1017/s0033291714002268
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Abstract

Background.: While children of parents with criminal behavior (CB) are at increased risk for CB, we have limited knowledge about the causes of this cross-generational transmission. Method.: We examined intergenerational continuity in CB in the Swedish population ascertained from the national conviction registers in three family types: intact (n= 21 11 074), ‘not-lived-with’ (n= 16 53 15 where biological parents never lived with their offspring) and ‘step’ (n= 1 24 800 offspring) which reflected, respectively, the effects of genes + rearing, genes only and rearing only. We also examined three criminal conviction subtypes: violent CB (VCB), property CB (PCB) and white-collar CB (WCCB). Results.: Combined across mothers and fathers, the hazard ratio (HR) for CB in offspring given parental CB was 1.95 in intact, 1.56 in ‘not-lived-with’ and 1.28 in stepfamilies. In all three family types, all forms of CB in parents (VCB, PCB and WCCB) significantly predicted risk for all forms of CB in offspring. However, VCB in offspring was most strongly predicted by VCB in parents in intact, not-lived-with and stepfamilies. In intact families only, some specific parent–offspring transmission was also seen for WCCB. Conclusions.: Both genetic and environmental factors contribute substantially to parent–offspring resemblance for CB. With respect to criminal subtypes, much of parent–offspring transmission appears to be non-specific. However, specific genetic and environmental risk factors for VCB are transmitted across generations. A limitation of these analyses is that CB was assessed only via official criminal convictions.

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Authors
Kendler, K. S., Ohlsson, H., Morris, N. A., Sundquist, J., & Sundquist, K.
Affiliations
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
  • Lund University (SE)
Corresponding author
Kendler, K. S.
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2014-09-17
Volume
45
Issue
5
Pages
1093-1102
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
DOI
10.1017/s0033291714002268
OpenAlex
W2165777186
Cited by
33
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
FWCI
7.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
Keywords
parent-offspring resemblance, violent crime, property crime, white-collar crime, stepfamilies, genetic and environmental risk factors, criminal conviction, family structure
MeSH terms
Criminal Behavior, Adolescent, Adult, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Parents, Registries, Social Environment, Sweden, Proportional Hazards Models, Information Storage and Retrieval, Intergenerational Relations, Gene-Environment Interaction

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