Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory In There Are No Children Here

Through the perspectives of sociological criminology and psychiatric criminology, Andrea Yates crimes will be thoroughly explained. In 2002, she was initially charged and found guilty in the death of three her children; the crown did not try her on all five counts (Lezon, 2006, para. 3). In 2006, a jury in an appellate court the initial decision was reversed and Yates was not guilty by reason of insanity (CNN Library, 2016, para 1). Sociological criminology analyzes factors that include: race, gender, age, socio-economic status, and religion (Bartol, Bartol, 2016, p.7). This paper will specifically explain Yates crimes through a sociological lens accounting for various factors.

Agnew’s General Strain Theory in There Are No Children Here Introduction Throughout this semester, we have covered various criminological theories along with their strengths and limitations. These theoretical perspectives provide possible explanations to why individuals commit crimes. In addition to, these theories are indirectly woven within cultural objects such as song lyrics, movies, books, and television.

From Life to ‘Death Row Granny’ What comes to mind when thinking of grandmothers? Cookies, acts of spoiling, and love are just a few, but what does not come to mind may be something like arsenic killings. Yet, in Velma Barfield’s case, one might want to ponder this carefully. Obviously, arsenic poisoning is not something a normal grandmother would be known for, so it is not striking to assume some sort of strain took place in Barfield’s life.

The strain theory implies that crime may occur because of the stress or frustration placed on people when

Merton. 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.

While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the

She loses her job first then her unborn child. She can’t imagine not thinking about the death of her unborn child. She is not going to survive without a job. She can only think about leaving not only the town but also, the

Jessie Townsend May 3rd, 2016 Prof. Allen Wong ASOC283 Why Kids Get Life The documentary “When Kids Get Life” delves into four cases involving juveniles who are serving life without parole in Colorado prisons. All of these juveniles are serving this time due to first degree murder among other charges they have received. The ages of these juveniles at the time of their crimes range from fifteen to seventeen and all of them still currently remain incarcerated. By applying different delinquency theories to each case, there is a chance that one could explain or even rationalize why these juveniles committed the crimes that they did.

Strain or anomie theory “refers to the lack of social regulation in which the unrestricted appetites of the individual conscience are no longer held in check (“anything goes”); that is, a state of normalness where appropriate norms are not in place to inhibit deviant behaviour” (White & Perrone, 2010, p.73). “Merton argued that crime can be understood in relation to

Although there are numerous definitions for strain theory it is normally defined when one becomes strained or stress, which often times results to one committing a crime. According to Agnew 1992, often times strain theory is categorized into three separate categories. The categories are as follows, “The inability to achieve one goals, the loss of a stimuli (i.e the death of a friend or loss of possession), or the presentation of negative stimuli (i.e verbal and physical abuse). Andrea depicted step 2 of the strain theory throughout the case and its entirety by demonstrating that she was suffering from depression. Andrea was not only dealing with postpartum depression, following the birth of her fourth child Luke, following Lukes death Andrea experienced an unsuccessful suicide attempt.

For the general strain theory, the main limitations was the possible variation in evaluating an event or stimulus as a life strain or not. Gacy’s interpretation on what events and stimulus were strains on his life would be unknown, so it cannot be determined if a life strain is the reason Gacy committed crime. Though Gacy had strains at home within his family, it is allegedly said Gacy was quite popular in school. This means he would have had good bonds with his peers, but there is not enough evidence to show it could have made a difference. Lastly, Gacy’s childhood seemed apparent to have a vast amount of strains, however, when he became older, he left his family.

In the movie Scarface we view go in depth about some life events of Cuban refugee Tony Montana when he enters the United States and receives his green card. We also see what leads him to his criminal activities of becoming a national drug lord. In this film there are a number of different theories that can be applied. I will be using Cornish and Clarkes Rational Choice Theory, along with Robert Agnew’s Strain theory in order to analyze Tony’s reasoning behind committing these crimes. I will be using examples from the film Scarface in order to draw and link these theories with the film.

a. Use Strain Theory to define and explain the following: i. The theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person Using strain theory, the theft of a loaf of bread by a hungry person can be explained as a situation where an individual employs different means of success of getting fed, one that is against the agreeable ways in the society of getting money and feeding themselves. ii. Alcoholics Using strain theory, an alcohol has ultimately rejected the society’s goals of conforming to the societal values such as happiness and a stable job, such an individual essentially rejects the goals because they have been ultimately been unable to live up to the society’s standards. iii.

In 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.

Over the past decade, the world has changed drastically due to globalization. Although everybody experiences it, the third world countries are proven to be the most affected. Not only does it affect the economic, political and cultural aspects of the world, but it is also one of the main factors for the growth of crime rate. Although globalization may be sought to be an opportunity for developing countries to improve, those who benefit are minorities.