General Strain Theory

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

Domestic violence is a crime that occurs regularly within the United States. It claims millions of victims each year. There is not a specific cause to establish why domestic violence occurs. However, it has been documented that domestic violence is a product of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and any other forms of torture or torment that the particular abuser wishes to employ to gain control or power over their victims (Gosselin, 2005). Due to the complexity of this crime, many criminologists and socialologists have studied its causes and the effects in order to determine social policies and additional theories to better understand the causation of domestic violence. The social policies and theories that are developed from

Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on

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

In 1995, a very heinous, mysterious crime was committed the murder of two innocent boys by their mother. This crime was thought to be completely unexplainable. This mother convinced America that a black man had stole her car and kidnapped her children. Little did we know this suicidal woman would be capable of committing such a crime. There are many theories that you can apply to this case. However the theory that fits it most closely is the general strain theory.

The following report will analyse the patterns and trends of domestic abuse across 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14 and two main explanations for its occurrence within society. The addressed explanations are; feminism, which can arguably be theoretically underpinned by conflict theory and Social Learning Theory - devised by Bandura’s in 1977 as cited by Ray (2011) – underpinned by psychological positivism (Burke, 2011).

In the 1980’s, Criminologist, Robert Agnew, presented his theory of general strain, in which he covers a range of negative behaviors, especially how adolescents deal with stresses of strain. General strain theory focuses on the source, such as anything that changes in the individual’s life that causes strain. His theory provides a different outlook on social control and social learning theory for two reasons: the type of social relationship that leads to delinquency and the motivation for the delinquency (Agnew, 1992). He states that certain strains and stresses increase the likelihood for crime such as economic deprivation, child abuse, and discrimination. These factors can cause an increase of crime through a range of negative emotions. For some people it can take a lot of willpower to take a corrective action and try to deter away from committing crime in a way that they can relieve these negative emotions. When people cannot cope with the stresses of the strain, they turn to crime as a coping mechanism. Agnew also states, that not all people that experience the stresses of strain will go forward to committing crime and live a deviant life.

A theory is described, as an idea or set of ideas generally intended to explain, to prove facts or events. Theory can be an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true, that is not an ideas that relates to a particular subject (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Theory is an explanation of something. Theories in criminal behavior explains why an individual commits criminal and delinquent acts. This paper will compare and contrast two theories of crime or criminal activities that was discuss in this course.

Domestic violence has been an ongoing problem for many years women are often abused physically mentally and emotionally. When domestic violence occurs there are past reasons that the domestic partner is mentally capable of distributing this type of violence. Women have fallen victim to domestic abuse forever, domestic abuse is an undeserved issue that someone with sociological issues develops a violent rage and then acts and reacts in a violent manner. Over time domestic violence has increased and this increase can be attributed to the contribution of how people are treated as children, the examples that their parents set for them, as well as people and issues in their present situations that may also contribute to violent attributes.

My research question that I intend to explore is: How do the following strains listed in Robert Agnew’s strain theories affect people who are already mentally disabled or incapacitated to react in a way that society considers deviant? The strains I am going to focus on are: Abusive peer relations, work in secondary labor markets, unemployment, criminal victimization, parental rejection and homelessness – Agnew (2012) (p.655). Hart, Keith, Peterson, Skeem & Vidal (2010) It is estimated that 14%-31% of offenders have mental illnesses (p. 1217), which is up to a third of people who are incarcerated, being able to correlate factors that attribute to their motivations could possibly be helpful in preventing them to occur early on with

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

In 2016 alone, there were over 200,000 arrests made involving white collar crimes (UCR, 2016). Although white collar crime makes up less than 1% of all arrests made, it can cost its victims upwards of trillions of dollars in fiscal damages each year (ACFE, 2014). Despite its detrimental cost to its victims, very few theories are capable of explaining why white-collar crime takes place. General strain theory is one of the few theories capable of explaining the phenomenon of white collar crime, naming the presence of negative stimuli and goal blockage, among other factors, as central causes of criminality, despite the background or demographic of the offender. In The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort grew up in a middle-class family, and turned

According to Lilly, Cullen, and Ball (232) Feminist theory has been on the back burner of modern criminology until the late 19th century. As with the other criminology theories there are many thoughts and ideas on why females commit crimes. In the beginning the theories seem to revolve around the victimization of the female gender. Then criminologist took a look at female delinquency, prostitution, and gender inequality in the criminal justice system. Lilly (233) wrote that Lombroso used physiological traits to determine what type of women would commit crime. Lombroso also argued that the women that committed the most crime were more masculine then the women who did not commit crime. He used physiological immobility, and passivity to make the argument. Lilly (235) also wrote that Sigmund Freud believed the reason women committed crime was because they has “penis envy”. Since women were physical different than men, women would become more aggressive trying to act like the male counterpart in order to fit in with the status quo.

The way feminism relates to criminology shows it has had an impact, this has led to change as well as differences in opinion. Feminism was introduced as a way to focus on destroying the inequalities between men and women. According to the views and opinions on criminal or deviant behaviour in the 1970s is that the relations made lead to further information been discovered in the 1980s and 1990s. Also, different types of feminism were made known such as liberal, socialists, radical and bourgeois.

I believe that this train of thought addresses the cause of criminal behavior in women because many viewpoints that fall under the umbrella of feminism are given as different causes of criminal conduct in women .Feminist criminology lacks evidence of a woman’s crime. Women's activist theories not only strive to elucidate criminal wrong doing, exploitation and additionally join together theory with practice to create more impartial answers for the crime at hand.