NCJ Number
84082
Journal
Youth and Society Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: (June 1982) Pages: 423-448
Date Published
1982
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Findings from a recent study involving 212 high school students in Orange County, Calif., indicate that occupational deviance appears early in the careers of many young workers.
Abstract
All study subjects were currently holding their first part-time job or had held no more than one past summer job. Subjects were employed in the private sector. Findings were based on self-report questionnaires administered in large group sessions. Respondents were asked to report how frequently they had engaged in nine categories of occupational deviance, such as putting more hours on the timecard than actually worked or stealing money. In addition, six indices of the job environment were measured, and three attitudinal measures were assessed. After an average of 9 months on the job, more than 60 percent of the workers had committed at least one deviant act at work. Approximately 41 percent had committed an act of theft, and 45 percent had committed another form of deviance. Several interpretations are possible for these findings. One cluster of responses suggests that deviance in the workplace may validate membership in the peer culture; deviance is more common in a positive social environment. An alternative to the 'peer culture' interpretation is that occupational deviance is a reaction to job stress generated by job dissatisfaction. Some job dimensions seem to evoke deviant behavior regardless of attitudinal differences among employees. In general, occupational deviance appears to supplant rather than substitute for other forms of crime and delinquency. Tables, footnotes, and 39 references are provided.