ABSTRACT
Crime runs in families and there is significant evidence of intergenerational continuity in criminal offending. The same holds true for psychopathic features, where an individual is at elevated risk for psychopathy when his or her parents also exhibited psychopathic traits. The current chapter reviews the evidence for the intergenerational continuity in psychopathy and identifies the environmental and biological mechanisms by which this transmission occurs. Directions for future research on how best to intervene in the family role in psychopathy are offered.
