Over de wortels van zware criminaliteit: Een studie naar intergenerationele continuïteit van criminaliteit onder kinderen van plegers van georganiseerde misdaad

General conclusions First, at a younger age ‘earlier signals’ of predicting later criminal careers are not as clear-cut as expected. At an older age, the percentages of children of organized crime offenders with a criminal history are high. The risks seem to be higher also compared to studies focusing on intergenerational continuity among children of more general offenders. Regarding the relative risks, the results showed that the risks of general criminal behavior are higher, but the risk of engaging in drugs related crimes is much higher. Children of organized crime offenders seem susceptible for intergenerational continuity. An important question is of course how children get involved in organized crime. Existing (theoretical) explanations sometimes also offer valuable insights for this particular group, for example the social learning perspective, mediating mechanisms of risk factors, and assortative mating. Next to these more general explanations, the current dissertation yields also a more specific explanation: the closed character and structure of organized crime families. Despite the increased risk of having a criminal career, it seems important to note that of course not all children growing up in families of parents involved in organized crime, will develop a criminal career. The chapters of the dissertation show a substantial amount of intergenerational discontinuity and therefore resilience, mostly but not solely among daughters. Factors that may mitigate risks are adequate child rearing capacities in mothers, parental sensitivity, the ability to engage in prosocial relationships, educational success and attainment, and learning from negative consequences of a criminal lifestyle as observed in their parents. The dissertation adds to this that absence of criminal fathers may be beneficial for families, and that mothers who are not actively engaged in criminal activities may be an important protective factor. Implications for practice following from the results of the current dissertation are the potentially important focus on traumatic experiences among children of organized crime offenders, closely following up on this group when they reach adolescence, supporting mothers, and paying attention to the closed character and structure of these family systems.