| The aim of this project is to explore the relationship between employment/unemployment and crime amongst a street youth population. This project focuses on street youths' subjective interpretations of their objective social and economic positions (most notably homelessness and employment status), via Agnew's (1992, 2001) General Strain Theory (GST) and from a social control perspective. Essentially, this project aims to understand how street youth contextualize their current social and economic positions and how (or if) this influences their propensity for criminal activity. Based on semi-structured interviews with street youth in Toronto, this paper examines street youths' experiences in the labour market, means of income generation, perceptions of, and experiences in, employment training programs, and their suggestions for improvement for such programs. Results indicate that while few youth may obtain employment directly through their participation in these programs, the programs themselves offer many indirect benefits to youth, such as increasing one's human and social capital, which may assist them with improving their social and economic positions. Results also indicate that many youth internalized blame for their social and economic position and experienced emotions that are less associated with engaging in criminal activity. Moreover, the duration, frequency and recency, of unemployment and homelessness may influence how street youth deal with such objective strains, and may decrease social control, influencing criminal behaviour. Overall, results indicate that those who reported criminal income generation means were more apt to report negative family histories, had longer and distinct experiences on the street, experienced more precarious employment histories and were less successful in, and more critical of, employment training programs. |
