Parents can pass criminality on to children

A study by the Institute of Criminology has looked at the likelihood of criminal tendencies being transferred from parents to their children.

Previous studies have found that criminal fathers do have an influence on their sons, but this was the first time a mother's impact has also been examined.

The study, published yesterday, found sons with criminal fathers and law-abiding mothers had a 48.5 per cent chance of committing a serious crime in their lifetime. If the mother had a criminal record, but the father was clean, the probability of the son offending was 33 per cent.

But if both parents had criminal records it created a ''multiplier effect'' and the probability the son would commit a serious crime increased to 67 per cent.

This compared with an 18.7 per cent chance of offending if neither parent had a record.

''The more severe the criminal offending history, the greater likelihood of intergenerational transmission,'' Dr Adam Tomison wrote in the report.

The study was conducted by tracking the criminal history of six extended Tasmanian families, all known to police. Of 313 family members identified, 99 men and 60 women had criminal records for serious offences, including car theft, assault and stealing.

There have been high-profile examples where sons and daughters of criminals have also been convicted. Kathleen Folbigg was convicted in NSW of killing her three infant children in 2003. During the trial it was revealed she had learnt as an adult that her father had stabbed her mother to death in 1968.

The AFL player Andrew Krakouer and his brother Tyrone Krakouer both spent time in jail for an assault outside a Fremantle nightclub in December 2006. Their famous footballing father, Jim Krakouer, had been jailed in 1996 for drug trafficking.

Dr Tomison said the study highlighted the importance of intervention programs for children known to be at risk.