Do Types of Employment Matter in Explaining Juvenile Delinquency? A Longitudinal Study of South Korean Youth
| Author | Byung Jun Cho,Hee Jung Lee |
| DOI | 10.1177/0093854818793176 |
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2018
Do Types of employmenT maTTer in
explaining Juvenile Delinquency?
a longitudinal study of south Korean youth
HEE JUNg LEE
Ministry of Justice
ByUNg JUN CHO
Westfield State University
This study examines the effects of job type on crime and substance use. The longitudinal panel data from the Korean youth
Panel Survey conducted by the National youth Policy Institute are utilized to explore this question. Results from the fixed
effects models show that a job status change from nonworker to worker holding an informal job increases the chance of
participating in crime and substance use. Interestingly, a job status change from nonworker to worker holding a formal job is
not associated with an involvement in crime and delinquency. In addition, it shows that the effects of job type on crime and
delinquency are not varied by gender except for an intensive female worker who holds a formal job.
Keywords: employment; youth; longitudinal; delinquency; substance use
Juvenile employmenT
Traditionally, the number of working youth in South Korea is few. Doing nonacademic
activities such as having a job has been regarded as undesirable or nonconforming behavior
during middle and high school years (South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor,
2006). As affected by Confucianism (Aoki, 2008), academic achievement has been viewed
as the most important and reliable way to attain a good occupation and high socioeconomic
status in South Korea. This Korean culture that regards youth holding employment as an
undesirable social act is quite a contrast to the cultural norm of the United States, where it
is believed that both academic and nonacademic work provide juveniles with an important
developmental context during their school years (Apel, Bushway, Paternoster, Brame, &
Sweeten, 2008).
Despite the negative view on juvenile employment, South Korean society has recently
experienced a rapid increase of youth who are holding nonacademic jobs since the year of
2000. The most important reason for the recent increase in juvenile employment in South
auThors’ noTe: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Hee Jung Lee, Ministry of
Justice, 47 Gwanmun-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 13809, South Korea; e-mail: neoich76@gmail.com.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2018, Vol. 45, No. 12, December 2018, 1871 –1887.
DOI: 10.1177/0093854818793176
https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818793176
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions
© 2018 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
1871
1872 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR
Korea is the gap between their daily life as consumers and their purchasing power (Moon,
2003). Due to westernization, South Korean youth have strong material desires compared
to the past. The number of items they want to purchase such as smart phones or game sup-
plies has increased (Moon, 2003). Thus, they begin to find jobs so as to have purchasing
power without parental meddling. Another factor is the market needs for inexpensive and
temporary labor in South Korea. As South Korea has become more westernized, the service
sector of the economy such as cafes, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants has
grown. According to the South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (2006), most
youth are employed at simple service sector (e.g., giving out ad-fliers or serving in a restau-
rant). As the number of working youth has increased, the labor law in South Korea has been
revised to include provisions that specify the age (15 years old) and maximum hours (no
more than 42 h per week) to protect them from work-related problems (e.g., overdue wages
and wage exploitation). Despite its recent growth in South Korea, research involving juve-
nile employment has not received much attention.
While there have been a number of U.S. studies that examine the relationship between
juvenile employment and delinquency, these studies report inconsistent results with regard
to the effects of juvenile employment on delinquency (Bachman, Safron, Sy, & Schulenberg,
2003; Kouvonen & Kivivuori, 2001; Longest & Shanahan, 2007; Ploeger, 1997; Safron,
Schulenberg, & Bachman, 2001; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Wright, Cullen, & Williams,
1997). The majority of these studies show that juvenile employment increases the risk of
participating in delinquency. Other studies that control preexisting individual differences,
however, report that juvenile employment has no effect on delinquency in recent years
(Apel et al., 2007; Apel et al., 2008; Apel, Paternoster, Bushway, & Brame, 2006; Paternoster,
Bushway, Brame, & Apel, 2003; Rocheleau & Swisher, 2012; Staff & Uggen, 2003).
Compared to other areas of delinquency research (e.g., a peer and delinquency relation-
ship), the empirical evidence of these findings is weak. Furthermore, there are relatively
small numbers of studies that examine the effects of other aspects of juvenile employment
on delinquency (i.e., types of juvenile jobs).
The current study examines the effects of various types of juvenile work on delinquency
by using a series of fixed effects models to address preexisting individual differences.
Particularly, it examines the effects of job type and work hours on crime and substance use
based on the longitudinal data from the Korean youth Panel Survey conducted by the
National youth Policy Institute (2010). This study contributes to the study of juvenile
employment and delinquency outside the United States, since the data were collected in a
country with a different culture and tradition.
pasT research
Early work experience may open up an opportunity for a juvenile to participate in an
unstructured social activity (e.g., drug use, smoking, gambling, class cutting, or/and skip-
ping school). In particular, it is difficult for an intensive youthful worker to create a good
balance between two different roles—as a student and an employee (Warren, 2002). More
importantly, his or her level of social control can be weakened (Hirschi, 1969). Bachman
et al. (2003) also argue that youth who work long hours are more likely to show interper-
sonal aggression. McMorris and Uggen (2000) report that high school students who work
more than 20 h per week are more likely to use alcohol. Kouvonen and Kivivuori (2001)
Lee, Cho / EMPLOyMENT AND DELINqUENCy 1873
examine the relationship between work hours and delinquency in Finland and conclude that
intensive work (i.e., working more than 20 h) is positively related to deviance (e.g., beating
up someone, driving without a license, buying stolen goods, vandalism at school, and drunk
driving). Interestingly, they find no significant effect on delinquency for youth who work
moderate hours. Longest and Shanahan (2007), however, find that regardless of the length
of working hours—whether youth are working moderately (1-20 h per week) or intensively
(more than 20 h per week)—employed youth are more likely to use alcohol than their
counterparts.
Nevertheless, the positive relationship between juvenile employment and delinquency
is still in dispute. A handful of studies find that a positive association exists between
juvenile employment and delinquency because of preexisting differences in individuals
(Apel et al., 2007; Apel et al., 2008; Paternoster et al., 2003; Rocheleau & Swisher,
2012; Staff & Uggen, 2003). In particular, differences in individuals (i.e., poor relation-
ships with parents and teachers, lower grades, delinquent peer associations, and status
offenses/substance use history) come before they start working, and these preexisting
differences in individuals influence their participation in delinquency or other problem-
atic behaviors. For instance, based on the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of
youth (NLSy), Paternoster et al. (2003) find no effects of long work hours on delin-
quency, using fixed effects models. Apel et al. (2007) also report that there are no effects
of employment on delinquency and substance use after controlling for preexisting differ-
ences between workers and nonworkers. Apel et al. (2008) argue that the effects of work
intensity are limited to an association between school dropout and substance use. Based
on the first and second Wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health,
Rocheleaus and Swisher (2012) also show that there are no effects of work hours on
alcohol use.
Past research examines the link between youth employment and deviance (i.e., the effects
of working hours on delinquency). However, it is assumed that certain job type may gener-
ate more criminal opportunities, thus it is necessary to examine the effects of job type on
deviance. Only a handful of studies explore the relationship between job type and delin-
quency (Apel et al., 2007; Apel et al., 2008; Apel et al., 2006; Brame, Bushway, Paternoster,
& Apel, 2004; Kouvonen & Kivivuori, 2001; Mortimer, 2003; Staff & Uggen, 2003; Wright
& Cullen, 2000, 2004; Wright et al., 1997).
While full-time employment is regarded as normative among adults, juvenile employ-
ment is typically viewed as voluntary or part-time as there is a consensus that school-related
activities should be a top priority during adolescence (Apel et al., 2006; Wright et al., 1997).
In this regard, adolescent jobs that are compatible with student roles are considered as desir-
able and beneficial because they are more likely to provide...
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