Authors: APEL, ROBERT¹; BUSHWAY, SHAWN¹; BRAME, ROBERT²; HAVILAND, AMELIA M.³; NAGIN, DANIEL S.⁴; PATERNOSTER, RAY⁵

Source: Criminology, Volume 45, Number 1, February 2007 , pp. 67-97(31)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

A large body of research has consistently found that intensive employment during the school year is associated with heightened antisocial behavior. These findings have been influential in prompting policy recommendations to establish stricter limits on the number of hours that students can work during the school year. We reexamine the linkage between first-time work at age 16 during the school year and problem behaviors. Our analysis uses group-based trajectory modeling to stratify youths based on their developmental history of crime and substance abuse. This stratification serves to control for preexisting differences between workers and nonworkers and permits us to examine whether the effect of work on problem behaviors depends on the developmental history of those behaviors. Contrary to most prior research we find no overall effect of working on either criminal behavior or substance abuse. However, we do find some indication that work may have a salutary effect on these behaviors for some individuals who had followed trajectories of heightened criminal activity or substance abuse prior to their working for the first time.

Keywords: adolescent employment; delinquent offending; group-specific treatment effects; developmental trajectories

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00072.x

Affiliations: 1: School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany 2: Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina. 3: RAND Corporation. 4: Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University. 5: Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland, Maryland Population Research Center.

Publication date: 2007-02-01

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Psychology ,  Law ,  Sociology
• By this author: APEL, ROBERT ;  BUSHWAY, SHAWN ;  BRAME, ROBERT ;  HAVILAND, AMELIA M. ;  NAGIN, DANIEL S. ;  PATERNOSTER, RAY

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers