Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory

Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This

The general strain theory of wrongdoing states strain or anxiety is an important source or criminal inspiration. For a superior comprehension, this theory contends that wrongdoing is a consequence of dissatisfaction and annoyance of lower class created by a strain in the middle of desires and society of living in a center class world and the truth that those desires can't be met. The general strain theory contracts more with the single person. Robert Agnew distinguished three sorts of strain that create deviation in an individual: failure to achieve goals, removal of positive stimuli, and confrontation with negative stimuli. Each type of strain theory improves the probability of people encountering with one or more aggressive

By applying both classical and strain theory to the crime problem of drug trafficking we can identify and compare their strengths to evaluate which theory is more useful in explaining this crime. Starting with Classical theory, this theory holds some strengths in relation to this crime problem, namely, it’s easy applicability/transferability and the clear definiteness of their answers. Classical theory is able to provide definite answers and solutions to drug trafficking (i.e. it was individual A who committed the crime, the law violated in response to this crime is this, and the violation of this law carries the pre-determined punishment of this) without having to apply consideration for such variables as mitigating circumstances since the

Social Strain Theory and criminal offending are seen by most theorist as a way of understanding what could be the causes of youth committing crimes. Theorist are very concern if social strain theory really does have the answer to why this is happening, but they also believe that the result may be inconclusive, because of all the different variables and independent variables that could be used in their research. We will take a look at this theory, and see if they and ask our participants from the state of Georgia inner-city neighborhoods a few question that they will supply their own answer to, and then ask them an open-ending question face to face and ask them to choose the answer that best state why they might commit a crime or not. If we are able to understand the results then we hope we can implement it into policy. And by incorporating it into policy, then we might be able to design a strategy that will help LEOs or other agencies to reduce youth offending, deter criminal acts and future crimes. Lastly, so with the implementation of social strain theory into the policy and the evaluation of the data, discussion and the questions we can create a foundation for further research studies to build on our results.

Prison gangs, not much unlike street gangs; a social entity devised to bring a sense of belonging, a sense of brotherhood. Prison gangs are found all over the world, consisting mostly of males with the majority of prison gangs made up of Caucasians. Although, the Latino gang population is steadily increasing. To help us understand prison gangs, we take a look at Robert Agnew’s theory called General Strain theory, in which an individual commits a crime or violence based off of 3 main sources: 1), an individual is stopped from reaching a goal, 2), something an individual possesses or valued is removed or threatened, 3), or something negative or unwanted is imposed on an individual (Alvarez & Bachman, 2017). Using this theory, we will dive in to understanding what has helped the Aryan Brotherhood rise to become one of the most notorious prison gangs our world has ever seen.

Exploring the role of negative emotions among murderers in a population of federal offenders: the General Strain Theory

In 1992, Robert Agnew wrote his now famous work the Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency, which focuses on the causes of delinquency, particularly strain and social control theories. Building on the Merton's traditional Stain Theory, and the single concept that strain refers to individuals that are unable to achieve their goals, Agnew goes on and refers to stain as also the "relationship in which others are not treating the individual as he or she would like to be treated" (1992, 48). In other words, Robert Agnew with his General Strain Theory, has sought to introduce a variety of other factors that can influence strain such as, the removal (or loss) of positive stimuli from an individual or environment, blocked opportunities, and the introduction of negative stimuli to an individual or into an environment; and the role such relationships represent concerning subsequent criminal activity and delinquency (Agnew, 1992). This can ultimately increase the possibility that an individual will experience one or more ranges of negative emotions connected with the three types of strain. According to Agnew (1992) disappointment, depression, and fear are mostly connected with the three type of strain, however anger is said to be the most dangerous emotional reaction for the purpose of the General Strain Theory.

This article focuses on providing answers for two main questions of gender and crime by analyzing various concepts of Robert Agnew’s general strain theory: “How can we explain the higher rate of crime among males? and (2) How can we explain why females engage in crime?” (Broidy and Agnew 275). Research conducted by the author provides information to answer the two main questions of gender and crime. Both questions can be explained from ideas of Agnew’s general strain theory.

Over the course of time crime rates have fluctuated heavily throughout the United States, raising concerns for the general public. With that in mind many Criminologists have come together attempting to explain why, as well as how crime occurs. Dr. Robert Agnew has lead the charge in this field in regards to his affiliation with something called: The Strain Theory. The word, “Strain” in this instance can be defined simply as, “anger or frustration that results from negative relationships or experiences” (Hackworth 3). Now when making the correlation between criminology and this particular theory one must consider all aspects of a criminal’s life. Agnew explains this ideal further in his article, “Building on the Foundation of General Strain

The strain theory, developed by Robert K. Merton in 1957 is not only a criminology theory but it is a sociology theory as well stating that individuals do indulge in crimes because the society exerts pressure and puts a lot of strain on them while they are on the process of achieving socially acceptable goals. A good example of this socially acceptable goal is the American Dream whereas examples of crimes committed under strain theory include

Introduction: Throughout history there have always been many different theories of crime and why people commit crimes. In the late 1930s a new theory rose to the forefront; this theory was called the anomie theory. Anomie means a lack of ethical standards. The anomie theory was proposed by Roberton Merton. It stated that society, as a whole, generally shares the same goals relating to having success in life; whether that is having a family, wealth, power, or just happiness. Society generally agrees that these are things that are to be sought after. Furthermore, Merton proposed that society, as a whole, also has a list of generally accepted ways to achieve such goals (Merton, 1938). Criminal activity, such as robbery, murder, and corruption, are among the things that are not accepted by society as appropriate means to achieve these goals. Merton’s anomie theory was built upon in 1992 by Robert Agnew who developed the general strain theory. General strain theory argues that when members of society are unable to achieve the general goals that society has set forth, they will, in order to avoid further rejection, further alienate themselves from society. Agnew also argued that if these individuals feel as if their shortcomings were a result of their environment failing them they will likely develop very negative feelings towards society, causing them to

Agnew, R. (1992). Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency. Criminology. 30(1), 47-87.

Social Control Theory presents the idea that all humans maintain an inclination to act in a violent manner and the sole thing that prevents an individual from conceding to that inclination is the social connection they have with others; when this connection is hindered by abuse or neglect, the child is driven toward his or her impulse of violence and crime (Currie and Tekin 4). The last theory, Social-Psychological Strain Theory, suggests that the stress that is caused by abuse also has a role in driving an individual towards criminal activity (Currie and Tekin 4).

When it comes to juvenile delinquency an adolescent personality is usually impacted from different factors such as early child hood experiences of witnessing a crime, seeing a violent act, being the victim of a crime, or being around others or family who engaged in criminal activity, these factors can either create an adolescent with a positive or negative attitude, or an anti-social behavior which could create a path for a delinquent behavior (Wilson, p. 34). A study has shown that family interactions accounts for about 40 percent of the cause of an adolescent with an anti-social behavior, the study also shown that aggressiveness which is a common trait of adolescent who engage in delinquent acts is usually created from peer influences (Wilson, p. 34).

Developed in 1957, by Robert Merton, strain theory originates from Emile Durkheim’s conceptualization of anomie. According to the strain theory, criminal offenders are those who experience the strain to anomie, or, “the disconnection between goals and the means of goal attainment,” (McLaughlin, November 2016, no pagination). While the theory of anomie focused on the mismatch between social norms and individual or group circumstances, strain theory expands upon this explaining that this strain to anomie can cause someone to commit crimes in order to achieve societal goals (Star, Bowker, & Neumann, 1997, no pagination). In accordance with Durkheim’s conceptualization of anomie, Merton considered crime as a normal response to society’s social