Understanding Career Doubling Up: Why Men Combine Legal Work and Income Generating Crime

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2025-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

Studies have shown that career doublers, those who engage in income-generating crime while also working a legal job, do so because the illegal work is lucrative. Few studies research the motivations for continuing legal work and those that do tend to focus on the monetary gains and benefits associated with legitimate work. After interviewing 100 incarcerated men in Ohio, our data found that people are just as inclined to keep their legal jobs if there are intrinsic rewards associated with the work. Specific answers varied from personal pride to enjoyment of work, but they all supported the finding that money is not the sole motivation for working. Instead, identity characteristics can motivate a person to desist from future criminal activity. Previous research provides a foundation for understanding career doubling, while our study expands upon it, arguing for additional research on the connection between internal motivations for career doublers and desisting from crime.

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career doublers, instrumental rationales, expressive rationales, crime, employment

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