STUDIES & EVIDENCE BASE
Existing research that informs the work.
This page does not claim that the cited literature proves the ASU theories. It identifies research areas that make the questions scientifically or policy-relevant and shows where the current evidence is stronger, weaker or incomplete.
Intergenerational transmission
The Intergenerational Transfer of Psychosocial Risk
Serbin & Karp review longitudinal evidence on intergenerational continuity, parenting and environmental mechanisms, including factors that can increase risk and factors that can buffer it.
Annual Review of Psychology — review articleSocialization Processes in the Family
Grusec reviews how children learn moral values and social conventions through family socialization and notes complex interactions among biological, social and cultural factors.
Annual Review of Psychology — review articleComparative Intergenerational Stratification Research
Ganzeboom, Treiman & Ultee review decades of cross-national work on intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic advantage and the measurement challenges involved.
Annual Review of Sociology — review articleCriminal justice and life-course questions
Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal Justice Contact
Wildeman provides a critical overview of research on intergenerational patterns in criminal-justice contact, illustrating why family-level patterns should not automatically be treated as simple inherited traits.
Annual Review of Criminology — reviewDesistance as an Intergenerational Process
A later review considers how crime and desistance can be examined across individuals, families and generations, including measurement and mechanisms.
Annual Review of Criminology — 2024 reviewPolicy and responsible implementation
UK risk management framework
HSE guidance provides a practical model for identifying hazards, assessing risk, controlling risk, recording findings and reviewing controls. This is used as a governance analogy for higher-risk practical work.
HSE risk assessment guidance