General Strain Theory And Its Effects On Adolescent Delinquency

This paper explores Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory by helping to explain what it is as well as research that has been conducted to support it. A majority of the articles used in this paper help try and explain or define what GST is as well as attempt to define its components. This paper will then help better understand some of the research that has been done regarding GST. These studies will help explain why certain types of strain lead to criminal acts as well as the effect of negative emotions leading to crime. Another aspect introduces the matter of how people cope with certain strains by committing crime and reasons behind it. The importance of strains leading to juvenile delinquency is briefly explained. Next, some limitations on the theory are provided. These will include recommendations for further studies on the GST along with explanations as to why policy applications are difficult for this theory. Naturally, weaknesses of the theory will also be provided within the limitations section. Finally, an application of the general strain theory will be provided for the film “Bernie.”

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

When a juvenile commits a crime, it is not considered a crime, however it is considered juvenile delinquency. A massive problem throughout the US is juvenile delinquent acts. Juveniles acting out in a delinquent manner can be caused by many things. However, there is not just one reason why a juvenile may commit these acts. Instead there are many reasons that could lead up to delinquency. In this essay, I will be discussing a few theories as well as ways juveniles may receive treatment.

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.

“The so-called traditional family, with a male breadwinner and a female who cares for the home, is a thing of the past” (Siegel, Welsh, & Senna, 2003, p. 194). This particular type of family structure can no longer be considered normal. Sex role changes have created a family in which the mother now plays a greater role in society and the economic process. The number of households that have children living with both parents has substantially declined. “Early social science researchers asserted that the “broken home” was the single most important factor in understanding delinquency” (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2011, p. 185). Less than half of the children born today will live continuously with their mother and father throughout their childhood. A disturbed home environment is believed to have a significant impact on delinquency. Family is the contributing unit towards children’s values and attitudes that mark the paths throughout their lives.

This research is important because understanding what makes a juvenile delinquent is necessary to know. Parents can be educated on what is affecting their teen to contribute to delinquent behavior. The family structure has been avoided by many citizens. Educating the public on the family structure can make a different in a teen’s life.

The general strain theory is an established theory that provides a basic understanding relating to different elements leading to specific criminal behaviors. The theory has been of importance in trying to map criminal patterns among individuals involved in criminal behavior, thereby creating a platform for their rehabilitation. The general strain theory has had a close connection to juvenile delinquency, as it creates a platform where psychologists can define some of the key factors prompting teenagers and youths to engage in criminal behaviors. According to Zhang (2008), teenagers and youths tend to become highly vulnerable to lack of emotional control attributed to an aspect of negative emotions, which do not include anger, thereby creating a platform for them to engage in behaviors that would be characterized as criminal. The main research problem of this report is to create a connection between the general strain theory and juvenile delinquency.

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).

Strain Theory could have a strong influence on a youth’s lifestyle and be a theory explaining why juveniles have turned towards delinquency as a building block in the direction of adulthood. The following essay will be introducing a belief on why strain theory is one of the foremost concepts leading to misbehavior in adolescents.

One of the biggest causes of delinquency is the lack of stable family structure. For instance, a child could be hurt, if not receiving passionate love and care from their parents. Those not receiving love from their parents or their guardian as a child will probably act out for attention or start creating bad behavioral habits. I know every family is not a perfect and not every child is fortunate to have their parents in their lives. In this paper there are four objectives that I will talk about the lack of stable

If the family structure is broken, teens face low level of parental attachment and supervision, as single-parent living environments also reduce social control thus leading to deviance in teens. In the community aspect, parents should teach values to their children that are accepted in school. If these values are not taught, a teens school bond is broken and cause their academic performance to suffer. If there are no strong bonds that the teen has for his school life, he or she will most likely associate with other deviant peers. Deviant friends pressure teens to continue to partake in deviant actions. Overall, Carlson tries show that the point is that when a child has a weak bond with their parents or the community, their self-control is decreased and social disorganization

Before we embark on description and analysis of a General Strain Theory of criminology, it is important to, first of all, understand the meaning of the term "criminology". Criminology, as defined by the two social theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham of Italy and England respectively in their classical school of criminology, is the scientific study of crime, its causes, law enforcement as well as prevention measures taken to curb and control the crime in this case. Despite the fact that criminology has lots of fields including sociology, economics, psychology, biology, psychiatry, statistics and even anthropology, the term also has various theories explaining the real concepts surrounding crime, criminal and criminologist. The reason as to why these theories are many is that criminologists are trying as much as possible to seek the best solutions for reducing the levels and types of crimes. In this regards, the specific theory of criminology that will be described and analyzed in this paper is the General Strain Theory.

From research, one of the most controversial studies on child deviant behavior involved the parents and/or guardians acting as the key component of informal social control. When a family separation occurs, there are no mechanisms in place to control children from becoming involved in antisocial behavior and a broken home is a strong indicator of a child’s law violating activities. A broken home is defined as a

Across the nation, social scientists and criminologists have researched and hypothesized the main contributing factors that promote juvenile delinquency. The Strain/ Anomie theory introduced by Robert Merton and later revised by several other theorists, attempts to explain why juvenile subculture tend to behave certain ways when confronted with pressures from everyday life. Revised by other theorists, the Strain theory attempts to provide the framework of juvenile delinquency and its sources in order to analyze the effectiveness of this assumption, as well as to implement certain crime prevention policies and programs to curb this problem. This paper is going to analyze how the Strain theory contributes it’s principles of delinquency

Through an understanding of causes of juvenile delinquency society may come to deal preventively with delinquency; certainly treatment of the offender needs to be based upon an understanding of the causal mechanisms that have produced him. In this paper we'll describe three theories of juvenile delinquency such as Social Learning Theory, General Strain Theory and Behavioral Theory and discuss appropriate preventive programs based upon these theories.