Employment and the transition to adulthood: The importance of meaningful work for desistance.

• In Event: Deviance and Desistance in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Objective: For young people entangled in the justice system, employment affords an opportunity to embrace “aging out” of crime. How young people pursue employment, including expectations for work, is theorized to have shifted from past generations towards an emphasis on meaningful employment.

Data/Methods: To examine this, narrative interviews were conducted with 30 young people. Approximately half of these participants had histories of justice system involvement.

Results: Findings indicate that young people with and without system involvement share common goals for employment, including an emphasis on finding meaningful and fulfilling work.

Conclusions/Implications: These findings have practical implications for how the justice system and community-based supports can facilitate the “aging out” process.

Author

• Elias Nader, Kent State University