Labor Markets, Delinquency, and Social Control Theory: An Empirical Assessment of the Mediating Process

Abstract

The emerging labor market stratification and crime perspective has drawn on dual labor market theory and social control theory to examine the influence of labor market stratification and resulting job characteristics on criminal behavior. With empirical studies finding consistent support for this relationship, it has been suggested that parents' work experience may also influence their children's law-violating behavior. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, the current research examines whether parents' job characteristics, indicative of the primary- and secondary-sector labor market division, influence children's bonds to conformity and resulting levels of delinquency. The findings suggest that parents' job characteristics have significant effects on levels of parental supervision, children's feelings of attachment and efficacy, as well as educational aspirations and grade point averages, all of which directly or indirectly affect levels of delinquency