Contemporary Developments in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development: David Farrington's Legacy.

BACKGROUND

The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) is one of the most important prospective criminological longitudinal studies in the world. This now-famous study of 411 boys, followed up from age 8 (in 1961) to 48 with in-person social interviews and up to 61 in official records, has produced an immense range and depth of knowledge.

AIMS: The aim of the current paper is to describe recent efforts that have been made to both secure the data available from the CSDD by digitising the historical paper records and to obtain new data by undertaking a new wave of data collection with the men at about age 70.

RESULTS

Both the archiving of paper records and the new interviews significantly expand the depth and range of research questions that the CSDD can address. A surprisingly high proportion of the selected samples of men interviewed at about age 70 self-reported an offence.

CONCLUSIONS

These new developments solidify the status of the CSDD, David Farrington's legacy, as a world-leading source of information about the development and maintenance of criminal and antisocial behaviour.