NCJ Number
103863
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1986) Pages: 335-356
Date Published
1986
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between official crime rates, unemployment, and school-leaving for 399 London males between the ages of 14 and a median age of 18 years and 7 months.
Abstract
Through personal interviews (1968-1972) at both age points, the youths recounted their job history since leaving school. Self-reported job histories were compared with official crime records, which excluded minor offenses such as traffic infractions and drunkenness. Only convictions were considered. The Poisson distribution was used to determine differences in offending between periods of employment and unemployment. Crime rates were higher during unemployment periods than employment periods, particularly for offenses involving material gain and for younger juveniles (15 to 16), the most delinquent-prone youths, and youths with lower status jobs. There was little difference between crime rates just before leaving school and just after leaving under full-time employment. The findings are suggestive but do not prove that unemployment causes crime. This could only be demonstrated in a randomized experiment in which employment levels are systematically varied. 2 tables, suggestions for future research, and 51 references.