The overall aim of this research was to address issues in two important classic debates in criminology which have not yet been fully resolved. These are known as The 'delinquent generations' debate: Do different generations exhibit different patterns of offending behaviour? and The 'Criminal Careers debate: Is the likelihood of an individual committing various types of offences constant over time, or does the propensity change? The overall aim of this research was to address issues in two important classic debates in criminology which have not yet been fully resolved. These are known as

The 'delinquent generations' debate: Do different generations exhibit different patterns of offending behaviour? and

The 'Criminal Careers debate: Is the likelihood of an individual committing various types of offences constant over time, or does the propensity change?

Using up to date methods and a unique data source, the specific objectives of the research were to focus on:

To investigate the presence of cohort effects in offending behaviour, contributing new evidence to the delinquent generations debate.

To contribute to the criminal careers debate on offending propensities and contagion effects by developing new methods for analysing parallel birth cohort criminological data.

Grant Holders:

Keith Soothill, Brian Francis, Elizabeth Ackerley.