TY - JOUR
T1 - Work, income support, and crime in the Dutch welfare state: A longitudinal study following vulnerable youth into adulthood
AU - Verbruggen, J.
AU - Apel, R.
AU - van der Geest, V.R.
AU - Blokland, A.A.J.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Life-course criminological research has consistently suggested that employment can reduce criminal behavior. However, it is unclear whether the financial aspects of employment or the social control that inheres in employment best explains the relationship between employment and reduced offending. By using longitudinal information on a sample of men and women (N = 540) who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution in the 1990s, this study examines the effects of employment as well as the different types of income support on crime. Random- and fixed-effects models show that for men, both work and income support are associated with a reduction in the rate of offending. For women, however, although employment is correlated with a lower offending rate, receiving income support, and in particular disability benefits, is correlated with a higher offending rate. The findings support both theories that stress the financial motivation for crime as well as theories that emphasize the importance of informal social control for reducing offending.
AB - Life-course criminological research has consistently suggested that employment can reduce criminal behavior. However, it is unclear whether the financial aspects of employment or the social control that inheres in employment best explains the relationship between employment and reduced offending. By using longitudinal information on a sample of men and women (N = 540) who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution in the 1990s, this study examines the effects of employment as well as the different types of income support on crime. Random- and fixed-effects models show that for men, both work and income support are associated with a reduction in the rate of offending. For women, however, although employment is correlated with a lower offending rate, receiving income support, and in particular disability benefits, is correlated with a higher offending rate. The findings support both theories that stress the financial motivation for crime as well as theories that emphasize the importance of informal social control for reducing offending.
U2 - 10.1111/1745-9125.12080
DO - 10.1111/1745-9125.12080
M3 - Article
SN - 1745-9125
VL - 2015
SP - 545
EP - 570
JO - Criminology
JF - Criminology
IS - 53 (4)
ER -