Strain, anger, and delinquent adaptations Specifying general strain theory

Abstract

Agnew's general strain theory has been one of the more significant developments in theoretical criminology over the past decade. To extend the emerging empirical literature assessing this perspective, the current study presented original data collected from a sample of high school-aged youths in the 1990s, included a measure of anger that a number of previous tests overlooked, and examined a number of different delinquent adaptations to strain. The analysis focused directly on the relationships between exposure to strain, anger, and delinquent behavior. An examination was conducted into whether strain has direct or indirect effects, through the mediating effects of anger, on three types of delinquent outcomes: violence, drug use, and school-related deviance. The findings reveal that strain has direct (i.e., independent) effects on violence even after controlling for other influences, but exposure to strain is not related to illicit drug use or school-related deviance independently. The results reveal that the criminogenic effects of strain on drug use are conditional on weak social bonds and exposure to deviant affiliations. In addition, the results reveal that anger does not mediate the effects of strain on delinquent outcomes. The results for models predicting violence reveal that the criminogenic effects of anger operate through strain. The results are consistent with the view that youth with high levels of anger disproportionately experience and/or perceive strainful circumstances or events that can lead to violence. Explanations on why strain and anger appear to have differential effects on varied delinquent outcomes were offered.