Thesis advisor: Andrew Beauchamp / This dissertation examines how some policies, though not intended to, can influence youth crime. The first chapter studies the minimum dropout age (MDA), a compulsory schooling policy. This paper exploits state-level policy variation to identify the immediate and long-run effects of the MDA on crime. I find that higher compulsory schooling ages decrease male property crime while individuals are forced to be in school, but this effect dissipates in early adulthood. Male drug crime, however, experiences a decrease in both the short and long-run. These results provide further evidence for the incapacitation effect of schooling. The inconsistent long-run effect, however, calls into question the size of compulsory schooling's human capital effect on crime. The evidence indicates that, rather than a human capital effect, long-run decreases in crime may be explained by a dynamic incapacitation effect that is stronger for certain crimes, e.g., drug vs. property crimes. These findings have policy implications for crime deterrence and our understanding of criminal career development. The second chapter (co-authored with Drew Beauchamp) investigates how increases in the minimum wage impact the criminal behavior of affected workers. A growing body of empirical evidence indicates that increases in the minimum wage have a displacement effect on low-skilled workers. We use detailed panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to examine the effect of increases in the minimum wage on self-reported criminal activity and test the employment-crime substitution hypothesis. Exploiting changes in state and federal minimum wage laws from 1997 to 2010, we find that workers who are affected by a change in the minimum wage are more likely to become idle and unemployed. Further, there is an increase of property theft among both the unemployed and employed, suggesting that substitution between employment and crime is stronger than the income effect. These findings have implications for policy regarding both the low-wage labor market and criminal activity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

This dissertation traces debates about youth crime and justice in Canada. On a substantive level, I ask how the social problem of youth crime and justice is constructed, focusing specifically on debates over the culpability of young offenders. I also examine debates over the degree and severity of youth crime and connect the divergent positions on this question to how young offenders are conceptualized. Related to these debates, I examine the search for solutions to youth crime. I argue that positions regarding how to address youth crime are rendered ambiguous given the creation of a hybridized youth justice context which combines various competing goals. On a theoretical level, I explore the relationship between how formulations of "deviant identities" (in this case "young offenders") are related to other areas of advocacy over a social problem. I explore the dynamics of a social problem debate which persists without resolution over an extended period of time. I also address the ways in which social context impacts upon claims made over a social problem. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

V diplomové práci se autor zabývá problematikou trestné činnosti dětí a mládeže, a to z úhlu pohledu příčin ke kriminalitě vedoucích. Jedná se o téma v odborné literatuře často diskutované. Práce nabízí přiblížení a zmapování současné situace v konkrétní oblasti Karlovarského kraje, na Sokolovsku. Předkládá porovnání výzkumného vzorku dospělých, prokazatelně kriminalitu vykazujících jedinců, se vzorkem mládeže, aktuálně bez výrazněji manifestované sociálně patologické zátěže. Vyslovené hypotézy se soustřeďují na ověření a potvrzení vzájemné souvislosti mezi některými rizikovými faktory a poruchami chování, dále souvislostí poruch chování u dětí a mládeže a trestnou činností. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how young people's current identity is affected by their criminal background. We also want to understand the impact of resources in these young people’s social networks (that is their social capital) on their life course and formation and reformation of their identity. The theoretical frameworks used (as a tool to be able to analyze the empirical data) are theories of stigma, identity and social capital. The empirical study was conducted using semi-structured interviews that focused on questions about the life-story of informants. The empirical data is divided into different themes such as the informants' family relationships, neighborhood, friendship as well as their schooling. Further described is the informants’ first offense and the time spent at the prisons / "youth homes". We also discuss the informants’ distance from crime, the informants’ self-images at present and their idea about the future. Finally, we discuss how various factors during the life course shape and reshape the young criminal's identities, the factors that contributes to a break from criminal acts and the difficulties they encounter while dissociating from previous networks and life style.

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore how the police and the social services work to prevent youth crime. The aim of this study was also to explore how the police and the social service collaborate with each other in the work that they do with youth crime and also to explore which factors are obstelcos and which are considered as success factors in the collaboration between the two authorities. In this study we used a qualitative method in which six interviewers with the police and social services were performed. The result of this study showed that the police and the social service collaborate with each other in many ways, for example in different forums where they can exchange information. The result of the study also showed that there can be some obstacles in the way of the two authorities' collaboration for example the secrecy law, lack of time, lack of understanding for each other's work and lack of communication. The success factors were identified as good comunicacion, an open dialog, an understanding of each other's work and common goals. The result also showed that both authorities are working preventively with youth crime in many ways. Some of the efforts are made on a general level while some are more selective.

The primary objective of this thesis was to examine the relevance of intergovernmental decisions and western risk-focused social crime prevention to reducing youth crime within Chongqing, China. This involved a review of the existing literature that might be relevant to: (i) the current youth crime situation in the city of Chongqing, (ii) risk factors that might contribute to youth crime within Chongqing, (iii) the scientific evaluations of ‘evidence-based’ risk-focused crime prevention strategies for different age groups of youth, and (iv) implementation strategies for evidence-based innovations to reduce youth crime. Based on this knowledge, interviews with six key stakeholders of Chongqing were conducted for the purpose of obtaining initial perceptions regarding the utility and practicality of crime prevention through social development within Chongqing. Ultimately, this study demonstrates the preliminary relevance of western studies and action, recalls China’s endorsement of intergovernmental recommendations, and provides a foundation for further research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Latino youth experience factors unique to their own ethnicity, and it is partly these factors which play a significant role in their decision to engage in delinquent activity. Perpetual bias, criminalization, and punitive punishment at the hands of those with authoritative power also contribute to Latino youth’s decisions to engage in delinquent activity as a coping mechanism. Although trends in Latino youth crime have been decreasing and are presently at historic lows, an analysis of the factors that drive the respective trends will allow insight into creating policy suggestions to benefit the growing Latino community as a whole. Motivation to reduce trends in Latino youth crime primarily through a deep understanding of the culture include utilized its strengths to successfully rehabilitate and nurture at-risk youth. Implementation of community-based groups in at-risk neighborhoods should be the first step to laying the groundwork of reducing Latino youth crime.

The primary objective of this thesis was to examine the relevance of intergovernmental decisions and western risk-focused social crime prevention to reducing youth crime within Chongqing, China. This involved a review of the existing literature that might be relevant to: (i) the current youth crime situation in the city of Chongqing, (ii) risk factors that might contribute to youth crime within Chongqing, (iii) the scientific evaluations of ‘evidence-based’ risk-focused crime prevention strategies for different age groups of youth, and (iv) implementation strategies for evidence-based innovations to reduce youth crime. Based on this knowledge, interviews with six key stakeholders of Chongqing were conducted for the purpose of obtaining initial perceptions regarding the utility and practicality of crime prevention through social development within Chongqing. Ultimately, this study demonstrates the preliminary relevance of western studies and action, recalls China’s endorsement of intergovernmental recommendations, and provides a foundation for further research.

This thesis explores eight professionals’ views on the use of the multi-agency approach to assist young people involved in violent and offending behaviour. Parallel to this overall purpose, this thesis also examines the professionals’ views on possible risk factors for the involvement in such behaviour, and their perception of possible improvements to this particular approach. As a result of the policy changes during the 90’s, multi agency approaches became a popular way to deal with crime. In recent years, new frameworks and programs for multi-agency approaches have been introduced. Focus on a more streamlined multi-agency approach, as a way of targeting young people involved in violent and offending behavior, has been implemented by sharing information and working together across agencies for the benefit of children and young people. The method of this thesis applied semi-structured interviews, all of them with 13 prepared questions, to obtain the data necessary, and used snowball sampling to expand the network of informants. The results showed that most agencies saw benefits with the multi-agency approach primarily because of the way in which one can better obtain the needs of the child/youth and accommodate these on different levels thanks to the close interaction of the agencies. Moreover, the informants displayed a unified understanding of the underlying risk factors that might contribute to the involvement in violent or offending behaviour. Primarily, the informants addressed five risk factor themes: family, drugs and alcohol, gang culture and peer pressure, deprivation, and education. As for improvements, the informants saw the biggest need for such in the area of communication, not only between agencies, but also on a societal and political level where social issues must be addressed in policy making and resource funding.