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Young Offenders Who Work but Don't Attend School Show More Antisocial Behavior
Young offenders don't always benefit from employment.
--by Julia Haskins 
The Gist
If idle hands make for bad behavior, the natural
solution is for those at risk of getting into trouble to take on a
character-building venture like employment. While this line of thinking
expresses good intentions for at-risk youth, it isn't necessarily the
answer for juvenile offenders. It is only in early adulthood that the
positive influences of holding a job really come to fruition. Until
then, it's a bumpy road for adolescents juggling school, making money,
and reforming past misconduct.
"The combinations of high
intensity employment and irregular school attendance, unemployment and
irregular school attendance, and unemployment and not being enrolled in
school are associated with significantly greater antisocial behavior,
particularly during early adolescence," researchers at the University of
Pittsburgh, Temple University, and the University of California, Irvine
explain in a new study in Child Development. "High-intensity employment diminishes antisocial behavior only when accompanied by attending school."
The Expert Take
High
intensity employment can be extremely helpful in early adulthood,
giving individuals the income and purpose to lead fulfilling lives, as
well as connections to other productive members of society. Younger
people do not reap the same benefits, however.
"Although being
gainfully involved (that is, attending school regularly, working, or
both) is preferable to being idle, if the choice is between facilitating
adolescent offenders’ school attendance versus placing them in jobs as a
deterrent against further antisocial behavior, the preferred practice
depends on the young person’s age," the researchers said.
And
it's not all about the money, either. While taking home a paycheck
would seem to motivate young offenders to turn over a new leaf, the
value of employment doesn't immediately translate to improved behavior
or social interaction. An adolescent must also be attending school
regularly to get the most out of the work-school balance, which is a
challenging feat for anyone, let alone a young person with a rough past
to overcome.
"While working long hours may deter adolescents
from income-related delinquency, high-intensity employment diminishes
antisocial behavior only when accompanied by attending school," the
researchers conclude. "Given that the impact of employment is not
moderated by type of job or amount of wages earned, it suggests that the
mechanism by which employment reduces antisocial behavior among high
risk youth is not due to providing them with money or job skills."
Source and Method
The
current study incorporates 60 months of data from the Pathways to
Desistance study, a prospective study of 1,354 serious juvenile
offenders in Phoenix, Arizona and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most
participants were from lower socioeconomic brackets, but constituted a
variety of races and ethnicities. They were between 14 and 17 years of
age when they were convicted of a felony or similarly serious non-felony
offense.
Interviews were conducted in a facility if the
juvenile was confined, in the juvenile's home, or at a mutually
agreed-upon location. They were conducted every six months for three
years and annually from then on. During the follow-up interviews, the
youths created "life calendars" that documented important information
about each month since the previous interview. Participants used this
opportunity to discuss issues in their school and home lives.
Several
factors limited the research. The sample population represented
juvenile offenders, not high-risk youth overall, most of whom do not
display the same types of antisocial behavior. In the same vein, the
behaviors studied were serious indicators of anti-sociality, while
examining less serious antisocial behavior could reveal different
findings. And while researchers did all they could to minimize memory
recall issues, there is still the potential for recall bias in the life
calendar data.
The Takeaway
The
"idle hands" theory seeks to give at-risk youths outlets through which
to contribute to society in a meaningful way. However, this goal can
really only be accomplished once adolescents have reached maturity. The
researchers caution against pushing these juvenile offenders into
employment before they are ready.
"As an intervention strategy
during young adulthood, placing juvenile offenders in jobs may be a wise
idea. But for adolescents of high school age, placing juvenile
offenders in jobs without ensuring that they also attend school may
exacerbate, rather than diminish, their antisocial behavior," the
researchers said.
Other Research
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health reports a significant positive relationship between some school-year employment and GPA for adolescents, but the correlation could also be caused by characteristics of the individuals themselves.
Again showing that moderation is key, this study from the Journal of Business and Psychology found that youth do benefit from some employment while in school. Researchers sought to determine appropriate work hours and the kinds of jobs that adolescents wanted.
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