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Title: School Status, Employment Status, and Criminal Activity in a Large-Scale National Probability Sample
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Jarjoura, G. Roger |
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School Status, Employment Status, and Criminal Activity in a Large-Scale National Probability Sample Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Maryland, 1990 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Delinquency/Gang Activity; Drug Use; Employment; Employment, Youth; High School Dropouts; Illegal Activities; Labor Force Participation; Self-Reporting Using a major longitudinal survey, the analysis examines the association between dropping out of high school and later involvement in crime while controlling for preceding factors as well as postschool experiences. The primary contribution of the study is the degree of specificity with which it examines the dropout-delinquency relationship. There are several ways in which this study achieves greater specificity over previous research. First, the population of dropouts is divided into subgroups based on self-reported reasons for leaving school. This should provide information about the characteristics of dropping out which may lead to delinquent involvement. Little is known about these characteristics from previous research in this area. Second, rather than a general measure of delinquent participation, the dependent variable in this study will consist of three measures which indicate participation in specific categories of offending: violence, theft, and selling drugs. Finally, the analysis controls for potential alternative explanations of the dropout-delinquency relationship. This includes experiences prior to as well as after dropping out. Special attention is paid to the role of postschool labor market experiences. The data used in the study comprise the first two waves of the NLSY. Cases were left out of the analysis if the youth was in the military or still in high school. Overall, the results support the position that dropping out of high school does not increase the likelihood of criminality, although for a few groups of dropouts, this conclusion may be premature. Most importantly, the study provides evidence to support the position that the observed dropout-delinquency relationship is largely due to other factors which have been neglected as control variables in previous studies. Primarily, these other factors include measures of prior misconduct and demographic characteristics. |
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Bibliography Citation
Jarjoura, G. Roger. School Status, Employment Status, and Criminal Activity in a Large-Scale National Probability Sample. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Maryland, 1990. |