Agnew's General Strain Theory Analysis
Many theories attempt to explain why individuals commit crime and delinquency acts. Sociologists and criminologists alike utilize empirical evidence to support theories that best explain criminal and deviant behavior. Criminology theories introduced decades ago continue to be hypothesized and tested with current and relevant data to disprove, support, and build upon traditional criminology theories. One such theory, Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST), was derived from classic strain theory ideas developed from such criminologists as Merton, Cohen, Cloward, and Ohlin who implied that “blocked opportunities to attain successful goals generate a pressure that leads to criminality” (Froggio, 2007, p. 383). Since being introduced in 1992, GST continues …show more content…
656).
In other words, anger is the outcome when individuals attribute their misfortunes or problems onto others or external circumstances. Hoffmann and Spense (2010) argued that when strain is blamed on an external factor (e.g., parent, teacher, economic disadvantages, etc.), youth are more likely to get angry enough to react in delinquent ways whereas, youth that do not blame the strain on others or external circumstances do not tend to get angry enough to engage in criminal offenses.
The strong connection between anger and unjust treatment has been the focus in many studies. Scheuerman’s (2013) research indicated that anger is the mediator between the relationship of injustice and crime. Two separate studies conducted by Brezina indicated that anger motivates youth to commit delinquent acts because they feel their autonomy is jeopardized or their esteemed stimuli is in need of being guarded or recovered (Hoffman & Spense, 2010). GST Policy
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Decrease exposure to strain. Although it is impossible to eliminate all exposure to strain, by focusing on the strains identified by GST’s strain criteria (e.g., unjust, high in magnitude, low in social control, create pressure or incentive to engage in crime), policy interventions can be implemented in an attempt to decrease identified strains (Agnew, 2013). For example, parent training and school based programs can be instituted to reduce the strain disciplinary actions are enforced to adolescents and decrease the potential for criminal
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Summary Of Monster: The Autobiography Of An L. A. Gang Member
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2124 Words | 9 PagesIn 1985 Robert Agnew a sociologist come to an interest of studying the theory and finds a potential for the theory in explaining several causes of crime in society, but due to its limitation he developed and reformulated the theory to widen its dimension or scope. After revising the theory he come up into General strain theory of crime and builds its foundation in 1992. General strain theory argues that frustrations and anger leads someone to deviance and may result into committing a crime (Agnew, 1992). GST defines strains as negative life events and conditions which are commonly disliked by the people who experience it or negative experiences of a person in a given group (Agnew, 1992; 2001; 2006). Strain is often classified in two distinct types, the Objective Strain and the Subjective Strain.
Example Of General Strain Theory
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565 Words | 3 PagesStrain theory is a crime theory that was developed by Robert Merton, an American sociologist. According to Robert, strain can be defined as the discrepancies that result from the goals that are culturally defined in reference to the means that are institutionalized and available to meet the set goals. As proposed by Merton, there exists a typological deviance that is based on two criteria; an individual’s belief in how the goals should be attained and an individual’s adherence or motivation to cultural goals. According to the theory, certain stressors or strains are responsible in increasing the likelihood of crime activities around the world.
Merton's Theory Of Gang Formation
908 Words | 4 PagesThis paper draws on existing sociological research in identifying a number of theories used in explaining the formation of gangs. The theories discussed are social structure theories, social conflict theory, and social process theories all of which highlight elements of strain in different forms as they relates to gang formation. According to Merton, (as cited in Schneider & Tilly, 2004) structural theories significantly emphasize the role of social and economic structures as the causes of delinquent behavior and tend to treat criminal behavior as the result of the undesirable and dysfunctional structures (P. 3.).
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1894 Words | 8 PagesMerton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream) though they lack the means, this leads to strain which may lead the individuals to commit crimes. Two major concerns in strain theory are the sources of the strain, stress or how people adapt to the strain. Positivism are theories of social and structure are strain theories.
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