NCJ Number
131613
Date Published
1990
Length
27 pages
Annotation
A survey of about 2,200 high school seniors in 3 Canadian cities reveals that teenagers with part-time jobs are somewhat more likely than those who do not work to report alcohol use and other illegal activities.
Abstract
The survey followed high school graduates in Edmonton, Toronto, and Sudbury for 24 months. Data were obtained a month before graduation and then 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 4 years after graduation. Respondents were asked a general question about deviant activities, and a school commitment index was created by averaging responses to statements about school experiences and the value of education. Of high school seniors who provided baseline data in May 1985, 70 percent had held a paying job at some point during the school year, and 68 percent had worked during the previous summer vacation. Data indicated that teenagers working while in school were more likely to report illegal behavior. This deviant behavior could not be attributed to the greater discretionary income provided by a part-time job or to a reduction in parental control. Instead, working teenagers were more likely to have friends who engaged in illegal activity. It is pointed out that the effects of part-time work on teenage deviance should not be overstated, since the effects of part-time employment on deviance are not as large as those of traditional control theory explanatory variables and since some of the illegal activity reported by teenagers will become acceptable as soon as they reach the legal age for alcohol consumption. 48 references, 3 tables, and 2 figures (Author abstract modified)