NCJ Number
217933
Journal
Criminology Volume: 45 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 67-98
Date Published
February 2007
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study examined the linkage between first-time employment as an adolescent during the school year and problem behaviors.
Abstract
The analysis shows that careful consideration of how the development of problem behavior sets individuals up for different likelihoods of employment and future offending leads to useful insights about the effects of work on crime and substance use at age 16. Contrary to most prior research, no overall effect of working on either criminal behavior or substance abuse was found. Within the United States, working during the school year has become a normative feature of adolescent development. It was once presumed that the experience of working while still attending school fulltime was beneficial. However, in the mid-1980s, researchers questioned this claim. It was suggested that high school employment, particularly intensive employment, came at a high price for students, such as lower grades, increased absenteeism, difficulties with parents, and a greater risk of delinquency, alcohol use, and other antisocial behaviors. This study of a nationally representative sample of youth was designed to analyze the effect of work within a developmental context. It sought to estimate the effect of intensive school year employment on problem behaviors by explicitly attending to the developmental histories of those behaviors prior to the initiation of employment. Tables, references, and appendix