Work and Desistance: An Intersectional Test of Age-Graded Social Control Theory

• In Event: Work, Opportunity, and Inequality in the Desistance Process

Abstract

Age-graded theory of informal social control posits that stable employment can function as a turning point that promotes desistance from crime. Yet it remains unclear whether employment operates similarly for individuals embedded in unequal labor market structures. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Roads to Desistance study, this paper provides an intersectional test of the employment component of age-graded theory of informal social control. Multilevel models indicate that greater engagement in work is associated with lower odds of arrest in the subsequent period. This protective effect of work does not differ across intersections of race and gender in the quantitative analysis. However, qualitative interviews reveal substantial inequalities in the types of jobs participants obtain. Women and non-White participants more often describe unstable, low-wage, and precarious work compared to White men. These findings suggest that while employment may broadly support desistance, the quality and conditions of work remain stratified across intersectional lines.

Authors

• Rachel Novick, University of New Haven

• Rachel Van Etten, University of Cincinnati

• Mariah Robles, University of New Haven

• Audrey Hickert, University of Cincinnati