AbstractFounded in 1939, the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study represents the earliest longitudinal–experi-mental study in developmental crime prevention, combining the aims of understanding how the developmental process is related to future offending (i.e., longitudinal focus) as well as attempting to prevent offending through an experimental intervention during early adolescence. This article examines the historical context in which this novel design arose and provides a review of studies performed by Joan McCord
based on her age-45 follow up of the study. The study made possible decades of research on developmental risk factors for delinquency and criminal offending. A central question that arises from McCord’s body of research is how these risk factors are transmitted from parents to children. This article reviews extant research on the transmission of intergenera-tional offending, and discusses the potential of the Cam-bridge-Somerville Youth Study to contribute to this literature. Specifically, the prospective longitudinal design makes it possible to include the children of the study par-ticipants and investigate the intergenerational transmission of offending, while the longitudinal–experimental design allows for the investigation of the transmission of treatment effects. This potential research stands as a testament to the study’s design and vision. KeywordsDevelopmental crime prevention Developmental risk factors Randomized experiment Prospective longitudinal survey Intergenerational transmission of offending