Increased risk of violent recidivism among adult males is related to single-parent family during childhood:: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study

Parental lack or loss during childhood may increase the risk of later behavioural problems in the offspring. We studied the association between violent recidivism and types of single-parent family of origin by using a prospectively collected general population birth cohort database (N = 5,589 males), 'the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort'. The results showed that the risk of repeated violent offending was nearly eightfold if the male child was born to a single mother who remained unmarried up to the child's 14th birthday. The cot-responding probability was fivefold if the male subject was born to a single mother who married later during the offspring's childhood and twofold if the parents were separated. Parental death was not significantly associated with violent recidivism.