Work as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of Age, Employment, and Recidivism

By Christopher Uggen. American Sociological Review, 2000

1,145 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Sociologists have increasingly emphasized “turningpoints” in explaining behavioral change over the life course. Is work a turning point in the life course of criminal offenders? If criminals are provided with jobs, are they likely to stop committing crimes? Prior research is inconclusive because work effects have been biased by selectivity and obscured by the interaction of age and employment. This study yields more refined estimates by specifying event history models to analyze assignment to, eligibility for, and current participation in a national work experiment for criminal offenders. Age is found to interact with employment to affect the rate of self-reported recidivism: Those aged 27 or older are less likely to report crime and arrest when provided with marginal employment opportunities than when such opportunities are not provided. Among young participants, those in their teens and early twenties, the experimental job treatment had little effect on crime. Work thus appears to be a turning point for older, but not younger, offenders.

Subfields: Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/09b0486509b2be9845a4b1af0ea823186db0e06f

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Citations in the corpus

Evaluating the Long-Term Effects of Prisoner Reentry Services on Recidivism: What Types of Services Matter? (2016, background): “For example, a review of research indicates that employment and education programs can reduce recidivism or improve employment outcomes for certain subgroups of offenders (MacKenzie, 2006; Saylor & Gaes, 1997; Uggen, 2000; Uggen & Staff, 2001).”
Collateral consequences of sex offender residence restrictions (2008, background): “…lack of social support, and unemployment are associated with higher recidivism rates for criminal offenders in general and sex offenders specifically (Colorado Department of Public Safety, 2004; Hanson & Harris, 1998; Kruttschnitt et al., 2000; Uggen, 2002; Uggen, Manza, & Behrens, 2004).”
Employment After Prison: A Longitudinal Study of Former Prisoners (2011, background): “Similarly, older former prisoners have lower recidivism rates than younger prisoners (Rosenfeld, Wallman, & Fornango 2005) and may be more motivated to find a job to avoid the risks of criminal activity and adopt a conventional lifestyle upon their return to the community (Shover, 1985; Terry, 2003;”
The Role of Transformation Narratives in Desistance Among Released Lifers (2014, neutral): “…2013), as emphasized by life-course theorists (Bersani, Laub, & Nieuwbeerta, 2009; Cid & Marti, 2012; Ganem & Agnew, 2007; Laub & Sampson, 2003; Lopoo & Western, 2005; Sampson & Laub, 1993, 2003a, 2003b; Sampson, Laub, & Wimer, 2006; Uggen, 2000), or a resolution of an individual to change.”
Social Policies Designed to Prevent Sexual Violence (2007, background): “In numerous studies, researchers have concluded that social support and stability, including steady employment, are essential factors that decrease the risk of criminal recidivism (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005; Kruttschnitt et al., 2000; Petersilia, 2003; Uggen, 2002).”
Work as a Turning Point for Criminal Offenders: Critical Issues in Crime Reduction for Corrections (2001, background): “This effect is not necessarily a selection artifact arising from preexisting propensities of young workers, because some longitudinal evidence shows a strong effect of work hours on delinquency and substance use (Bachman and Schulenberg, 1993; McMorris & Uggen, 2000; Mihalic & Elliot, 1997;”
Doing time after time: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of reformed ex-prisoners' experiences of self-change, identity and career opportunities (2010, methodology): “The negative impact of exoffender stigmatization is well documented, demonstrating that ex-offenders are systematically devalued and excluded from a vast range of social domains and relationships (Pager & Quillian, 2005; Uggen, 2000).”
Men, Women, and Postrelease Offending (2012, background): “…we were not able to gain information on the quality or nature of the employment, including data on wages, job type, or length of job; however, research suggests that even low-wage employment can have positive implications for older (greater than 27 years of age) adult workers (Uggen, 2000).”