NCJ Number
226419
Journal
European Journal of Criminology Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 47-71
Date Published
January 2009
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study employed a new method for testing General Strain Theory (GST) built on two of Agnew’s recommendations for expanding the testing of GST.
Abstract
Results indicate that respondents assigned at random to experimental conditions involving strain as a disjunction between expected and actual outcome, or between fair and actual outcomes report significantly higher levels of situational anger; high levels of situational anger are significantly associated with a higher self-reported likelihood of engaging in theft from an employer and these relationships are not significantly conditioned by perceived social support. Two separate estimation methods yield support that these types of strain are associated with situational anger; situational anger is associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in crime, and these findings remain net of adjustments for self-control. However the results fail to support the prediction that these relationships are conditioned by social support. This study makes several contributions to the literature. First, although research suggests that stressful life events may promote crime, such events often have little to do with the socioeconomic issues that served as the foundation of Merton’s (1938) original theory. Second, given the robust and strong relationship that the present analyses unveil between situational anger and criminal intent, results call into question the assertions of Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) concerning the role of emotion in crime. Third, the study demonstrates the utility of employing experimental methods to test GST. Fourth, all but one of the models predicting situational anger and criminal intent failed to identify a sex effect. Participants were recruited from a variety of social science classes at two public universities in the United States in 2004. Tables, figure, and references