NCJ Number
205063
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2004 Pages: 183-205
Date Published
March 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effects of associating with prosocial coworkers on disrupting delinquent peer networks and on criminal and drug involvement.
Abstract
Sampson’s and Laub’s (1993) informal social control theory posits that stable employment will reduce adult criminal behavior because employment builds social capital that bonds adults to social institutions. The current study extends this model to propose that the crime-reducing effects of employment are due not only to the formation of social bonds, but also to the establishment of prosocial relations with coworkers. The authors hypothesized that prosocial work networks may disrupt friendship networks by minimizing contact with delinquent peers. Data were drawn from the National Youth Survey, a national longitudinal study of 1,725 individuals aged 11 through 17 years at the time of the first interviews in 1976. Data were drawn primarily from waves 5 and 6, which included respondents who were between 15 and 24 years. Variables under analysis included work measures such as job role commitment, job stability, weeks worked, wage, prosocial coworkers; other measures such as delinquent friends, drug use, and demographics; and the life-course perspective variable of transitions. Results of statistical analyses revealed that stable employment for young adults appeared to encourage desistance from criminal behaviors. Thus, stable employment is a key transition in the life course that is associated with reductions in criminal offending and drug use. More specifically, associations with prosocial coworkers appeared to disrupt delinquent peer networks, which in turn reduced criminal offending. The findings suggest that the key ingredient necessary for employment to reduce criminal offending is the quality of the coworker. Offending adults and youths who are placed in work environments where they are surrounded by delinquent coworkers will most likely continue offending. However, when placed with prosocial coworkers, there is a greater likelihood of desistence from criminal behavior. The findings draw attention to the structural and cultural aspects associated with certain work environments and have implications for job preparedness programs that focus on at-risk youth and adults. Tables, figures, references