Specifying General Strain Theory: An Ethnically Relevant Approach

The current study incorporated principles from the acculturation literature to specify an ethnically relevant general strain theory (GST). This study argues that the acculturation process exposes Hispanics to unique types of strain (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) that may increase the likelihood of delinquency. Further varying levels of Hispanic concentration can moderate the effect of acculturative strain on delinquency, whereby the effect of ethnic-specific strains may be more pronounced where ethnic concentration is low. Responses from self-administered questionnaires of 1,729 Hispanic adolescents were analyzed to test various hypotheses regarding the effects of traditional and acculturation-related strains on violent delinquency. The findings indicated that GST is generalizable to Hispanic adolescents. The analyses also found support for the prediction that, conditional on the level of Hispanic concentration, ethnic-specific strain measures increased the likelihood of violent delinquency among Hispanic adolescents. This study provided a foundation for future empirical analyses of criminological theories among Hispanic populations.     

Street Youth,Gender, Financial Strain,and Crime: Exploring Broidy and Agnew's Extension to General Strain Theory

General strain theory posits that adversive circumstances experienced by youths increase the likelihood of criminal behavior. Broidy and Agnew argue that while the underlying process identified in the general strain model will be applicable to both male and female crime different models of strain may be required to highlight gender differences in the underlying process. Utilizing a “high risk” sample of 400 homeless street youths the study examines how socioeconomic strain in the forms of homelessness, monetary dissatisfaction, and relative deprivation may be differentially linked to property and violent crime depending on gender. The conditioning effects of deviant attitudes, deviant peers, attributions, self-efficacy, and self-esteem are also examined. The results reveal few gender differences in the main effects of the different types of strain on crime. There are, however, gender differences in the way the conditioning variables impact the link between forms of strain and crime.     

Suicide Ideation among Adolescent American Indians: An Application of General Strain Theory

The objective of this study is to compare suicidal thoughts among American Indian/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) to a series of non-AI/AN comparison groups, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. This study uses general strain theory as the guiding framework for understanding differences between racial groups in their suicidal ideation. A statistically significant difference is present between AI/AN and comparisons in suicidal ideation. The factors that may explain these differences addressed in this study include: alcohol abuse, exposure to suicidal behavior of friends and family, depression, and gun access. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.     

广义紧张理论研究的新进展

美国学者Agnew(1992)在古典紧张理论的基础上，充分借鉴心理学对攻击研究、社会心理学对公平研究、医学心理学对压力研究的成果，提出了广义紧张理论(general strain theory)。广义紧张理论认为个体经历的紧张和压力是犯罪的原因，该理论自提出后引起众多犯罪研究者的关注和兴趣，经过近几年的实证研究，理论有较大的进展，现将广义紧张理论的研究现状作一介绍，以期对国内的研究有所启示。     

Whistle-Blowing from the Perspective of General Strain Theory

Authorities in many countries rely on whistle-blowing systems to boost control of organizational deviance. It can hardly be answered whether this practice is legitimate and efficient without knowing the patterns of whistle-blower behavior. So far, little is known about the development process as an interaction of specific individual, organizational, and situational conditions that spawns especially external reports. This article reconstructs such typical progressions based on interviews with whistle-blowers in Germany and from the perspective of the General Strain Theory. It turns out that external whistle-blowing is often the result of an escalating conflict that can be interpreted as a very personal experience of strain.     

Connecting Opportunity and Strain to Understand Deviant Behavior: A Test of General Strain Theory

This study examined the connection of general strain theory to opportunity, as defined by one’s desire and ability to engage in criminal or deviant behavior. Over 1,000 undergraduate students completed the electronic survey with a response rate of 12.85%. Regression analyses showed removal of positive stimuli predicted deviant behavior in all models, but anger and other affective states were significant only in some models. Peer deviance, social bonds, and opportunity were important significant predictors. This study supports Agnew’s assertions that strain theory works in conjunction with social learning, social control, and, per this study, opportunity theories.     

General Issue (G.I.) Strain: Applying Strain Theory to Military Offending

This article explores possible causes of military offending through application of strain theory to a small sample of current U.S. Army personnel. The military provides a unique social environment given the organization and culture of the institution. Criminal behavior of those inside this institution has recently received much media attention, yet has not received much academic attention. Prior research focuses on military-specific crimes and/or the military experiences of current offenders. Through in-depth interviews, measures of strain theory were examined and then applied to reports of offending, ultimately providing insight into strain theory, military offending, and offending in general.     

When the Unreal is More Likely Than the Real: Post Hoc Probability Judgements and Counterfactual Closeness

Occasionally, people are called upon to estimate probabilities after an event has occurred. In hindsight, was this an outcome we could have expected? Could things easily have turned out differently? One strategy for performing post hoc probability judgements would be to mentally turn the clock back and reconstruct one's expectations before the event. But if asked about the probability of an alternative, counterfactual outcome, a simpler strategy is available, based on this outcome's perceived closeness to what actually happened. The article presents five studies exploring the relationship between counterfactual closeness and counterfactual probability. The first study indicates that post hoc probabilities typically refer to the counterfactual rather than the factual outcome. Studies 2-5 show that physical, temporal, or conceptual proximity play a decisive role for post hoc probability assessments of counterfactual events. When margins are narrow, the probabilities of, for instance, winning a match (when losing), and of losing (when actually winning) may even be rated higher than the corresponding probabilities of what really happened. Closeness is also more often referred to, and rated to be a better reason for believing there is a “good chance” of the counterfactual rather than of the factual result occurring. Finally, the closeness of the alternative outcome in success and failure stories is shown to be significantly correlated to its rated probability.     

When Group Influence Is More or Less Likely: The Case of Moral Judgments

We investigated whether group influence can change judgments even for high-consensus (i.e., unambiguous) moral norms. We found that participants often matched the judgment of the other current group members even when this moral judgment was normatively incorrect (nonstandard), and this occurred more for more ambiguous issues. Moreover, this social influence on public judgments was generally followed by private agreement and re-interpreting general values to be consistent with those judgements. We also found that participants who experienced a fit between their regulatory focus and their feelings of power (i.e., promotion/high power; prevention/low power) were less influenced by the group.     

Retracted: The Three-Step Theory of Suicide: An Independent Replication and Conceptual Extension

Retraction: Christopher R. Hagan PhD, Jennifer J. Muehlenkamp PhD, “The Three-Step Theory of Suicide: An Independent Replication and Conceptual Extension,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, Wiley, © American Association of Suicidology The above article, published online on 30 September 2019 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Thomas Joiner, PhD, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed due to errors in variable calculation and a post-publication reviewer's concerns that some analyses did not accurately test the theoretical model. An updated version of this article will soon undergo review for publication at Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and if accepted for publication, will be accompanied by an editorial from the Editor-in-Chief.     

Understanding the Effects of Victimization: Applying General Strain Theory to the Experiences of LGBQ Youth

Using a statewide probability sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth (N = 484), this study uses a general strain theory framework to better understand the processes that connect LGBQ youths’ experiences with victimization, negative outcomes, and social support. Results show that while victimization reliably predicts negative outcomes, including poor academic performance, substance use, and suicidality, the moderating effects of social support are unreliable and contrary to theoretical expectations. Reconceptualizing social support from a moderating variable to social isolation, an independent variable, helps elucidate the role of social support in LGBQ youths’ experiences with negative outcomes. Implications are discussed.     

Negative Affective Responses to Stress among Urban Police Officers: A General Strain Theory Approach

ABSTRACT

The larger literature on police stress indicates that much of their stress emanates from two sources: organizational and environmental. These sources coexist in officers’ lives but function differently across police agencies. Officer experiences with stress also tend to lead to emotional reactions, some of which can be negative and increase the risk of misconduct. Agnew’s general strain theory provides one useful theoretical framework within which the relationship between officer strain and negative emotions can be investigated. Using data from three urban Texas police agencies, this study investigates the main sources of police strain as predictors of anger, depression, and burnout. Further, differences in negative emotions across agencies are also examined. Results show that organizational stress is significantly related to all three negative emotions across agencies. Implications and future research directions are highlighted.     

General Strain Theory,Religiosity, and Delinquency among Young Latino Americans

Utilizing general strain theory and drawing from contemporary racial stratification literature and the sociology of religion, I contend general strain theory is salient among young Latinos. Additionally, I hypothesize religiosity is negatively correlated with delinquency, and attenuates the effects of strain on negative emotions and those of negative emotions on delinquency. Moreover, I hypothesize the impact of religiosity is more salient for foreign born than native born Latino youth. I test these hypotheses using data from the first two waves of Add Health. Results generally provide support for my hypotheses. The implications of these results and directions for future studies are discussed.     

General Strain Theory and the Relationship Between Early Victimization and Drug Use

This study uses general strain theory to examine the direct and indirect relationship between early victimization and drug use. Few previous studies measure strain as victimization. Also, past studies tend to combine drug use measures with delinquency measures. This study expands this research by operationalizing strain as early victimization and using measures of both frequency and onset of drug use. National Survey of Adolescents data is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that when youth are victimized they will use drugs more frequently and use drugs at a younger age. These relationships were only partially mediated by social bonds and negative emotions.     

On the Variability of Anger Cross-Culturally: An Assessment of General Strain Theory's Primary Mediator

This article assesses general strain theory's (GST) primary mediator, anger, as a process that exhibits important variability across cultures. It presents data from structured interviews and fieldwork in India and the United States that suggest variations in the understanding and experience of anger across three samples: Americans, lay Tibetans, and Tibetan Buddhist clergy. Findings suggest cultural differences in normative social approval of anger, perceived effects for self of becoming angry, reaction tendencies, and emotional memory. Future research should test and map variations in anger across and within populations and explore implications for macro-level GST in explaining cross-cultural differences in crime.     

Unpacking the Racial Disparity in Crime from a Racialized General Strain Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT

Criminologists have long theorized the relationship between race and crime using traditional criminological theories, suggesting that Blacks simply experience more factors conducive to crime than Whites. Race scholars have criticized this “add and stir” approach and, instead, argue for race-based explanations. Racialized General Strain Theory (RGST) is the first traditional approach to address this call to action. To date, however, little research has fully assessed RGST’s propositions. Using the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we find mixed support for RGST. Findings also suggest racial differences in experiences and responses to strain are much more complicated than originally theorized.     

Evaluating Child Coping Competence: Theory and Measurement

Much of the research on children’s coping styles is based on a downward extension of adult coping theories. In a departure from this approach, coping competence theory seeks to account for children’s ability to cope with daily challenges on the basis of developmental research. The theory, which states that challenges call for distinct coping skills in the affective, social, and achievement domains, was evaluated with an ethnically diverse sample of preschoolers. The study relied on confirmatory factor analysis of a parent-completed measure of coping to test the 3-factor model underlying the theory, and related those factors to parent and teacher measures of child functioning. Results supported the 3-factor model of coping competence and showed that each domain of coping was negatively correlated with parent and teacher ratings of child disruptive behavior. Coping competence theory held across child sex and age. Findings provide support for a 3-factor model of coping competence in early childhood and for the validity of the new parent-completed measure of children’s coping styles refined in this study.