Causes Of Intergenerational Crime

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INTERGENERATIONAL CRIME
Intergenerational transmission does not necessarily mean that disadvantages are physically transmitted but means that some behaviour or characteristic will be evident in both the parent and child. The Intergenerational transmission of behaviour appears to be widespread but this research will primarily focus on the generational transmission of crime. I have chosen to study intergenerational crime because it’s sociologically interesting and relevant in today’s society. The main focus of this research project will be to find out the cause and effect of intergenerational crime and ultimately explain the phenomenon. Intergenerational crime and generational disadvantage is becoming an increasing problem within some societies …show more content…

I will follow this by discussing what methodology I will use to gather data and help examine my research questions, including an analysis of the method.
Farrington (2011) defined six descriptions for the intergenerational transmission of criminal behaviour: intergenerational contact to multiple risk factors, genetic mechanism, environmental risk factors, teaching and co-offending, police bias and assortative mating. These explanations are not mutually exclusive but are linked. A mixture of these mechanisms will help explain intergenerational transmission. I will also introduce Thornberry’s intergenerational interactional theory of offending (Thornberry, 2005: Thornberry and Krohn, 2001, …show more content…

Numerous studies have advocated that there are biological bases of criminal and aggressive behaviour, such as high testosterone levels (Olweus, 1987) and a low resting heart rate. These biological bases tend to be inherited and as such they could adequately explain intergenerational transmission. The best method to study genetic versus environmental contributions to behaviour is by using twin or adoption designs ( DiLalla & Gottesman,1991).Even though the current study is not capable of examining genetic influences, it is imperative to note that a number of studies have validated that there is a genetic impact on criminal or antisocial and aggressive behaviour
The bulk of research on biological and genetic bases of criminal and violent behaviour is still increasing and recently more attention has fixated on the interaction of someone’s genetic make-up and the environment. A genetic tendency for aggressive behaviour does not automatically mean that someone will actually develop this behaviour it is not a deterministic process. The environment will have some influence on how the genetic potential