Under/Unemployment and Crime Among Youth: A Longitudinal Study of Recent High School Graduates

• NCJ Number: 128839
• Author(s): T F Hartnagel
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 27 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Canada Solicitor General; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
• Corporate Author: University of Alberta
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: Discussion paper 23

Annotation

Information from a longitudinal, panel study of young adults in Canada formed the basis of an analysis of the relationship between underemployment, unemployment, and criminal behavior.

Abstract

Data collection began in the spring of 1985, a period in which youth unemployment was 17.8 percent. The experiences of 386 high school and university graduates in 3 Canadian cities were traced through an initial questionnaire survey and followup surveys 12 and 24 months later. The results showed a net effect of the length of unemployment on property crime, but only among those who reported the most crime during their final year of high school. In contrast, employment difficulties did not push basically law-abiding young people into committing criminal acts, at least over the 2-year period studied. Results indicated the need for future research focusing on those entering the labor market who were already predisposed to criminal behavior and for lengthier followup periods. Tables and 61 references