Analysis of the relationship between employment and crime has been undertaken in several different disciplines. Included among these are economics, sociology, anthropology, and manpower program evaluations for criminal justice populations. Examination of economic perspectives on employment and crime reveals two competing views of their interrelationship. First, there is the view that crime is itself a form of work and that the allocation of time to criminal activity can be modeled on the same formal basis as allocation of time to legal work. On the other hand, the segmented labor market theory explains labor market success through a focus on specific economic groups and on the historical and institutional influences shaping concrete economic arrangements. Among those factors considered in the anthropological and sociological perspective on employment and crime are the following: family, education, age, subculture, and the social and cultural factors within concrete community settings that determine the kind and extent of opportunities available to youth. Evaluation of such manpower programs as pretrial diversion programs, the Court Employment Project, the Job Corps, supported work programs, and financial aid to released prisoners suggests that more must be learned about specific program processes to enhance future policy formation and program planning. (MN)