Farrington: Disrupted Families

Question 1

Background?

Answer 1

Bowlby= most important relationship we form is with our mother during first 2 years of life

Nye= naturally inclined to be selfish, parenting socialised young children

Question 2

Aim?

Answer 2

To document the start, duration and end of offending behaviour from childhood to adulthood.

Question 3

Design?

Answer 3

Prospective longitudinal survey

Question 4

PPs?

Answer 4

• 411 boys aged 8 and 9 from East London
• mainly working class
• 397 different families
• at aged 48, 365 were interviewed

Question 5

Procedure?

Answer 5

• interviews with the children
• interviews with the parents (mainly mothers) once a year
• interviews with their teachers

Question 6

Results?

Answer 6

• number of offences and offenders peaked at age 17
• at age 20, 48% with convicted fathers also had convictions
• small proportion of males in study (7%) defined as “chronic offenders” as accounted for about half of all offences
• most chronic (multiple) offenders shared common characteristics in childhood: convicted parent, delinquent sibling, young mother

Question 7

Conclusion?

Answer 7

Offending tends to be concentrated in families and appears to be transmitted from one generation to the next.

Question 8

Strengths?

Answer 8

• holistic measures= easier to generalise
• longitudinal= more detail, test re-test reliability
• prospective study (looking forward)
• falsifiable (predictions which can be proven)= supports PAS
• large sample= higher reliability

Question 9

Weaknesses?

Answer 9

• androcentric
• ethnocentric
• social class selection bias
• longitudinal= Hawthorne effect (when u observe someone, you change their behav)
• sample attrition