General Strain Theory: An analysis of adult female criminality and self-destructive behavior (Robert Agnew).

摘要

This study examines the relationship between operationalized aspects of Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) and adult female crime and self-destructive behavior. The data used were collected from 650 crime-involved, cocaine-dependent women in the Miami, Florida, area during the time span from 1994 to 1998. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that experiencing abuse, losing positively valued stimuli, or perceiving a sense of disjuncture in one's life are the GST variables most consistently overlapping in the determinant effects on the commission of all types of crime and self-destructive behavior among the women in this study's sample. Several other GST constructs also produced significant linkages in these general models.; Race specific models further revealed that the GST variables had vastly varying effects on criminal involvement and self-destructive behavior committed by black versus white women. Interestingly, all of the black only sample models remained significant; yet, only the model predicting the commission of property crime remained significant for the white only sample.; As an aside akin to Agnew's theory, this unique dataset also allowed for an exploration of Katherine Newman's contention that one's birth place in the baby boomer generation (1946 to 1964) is a life perception strain in and of itself. Exploratory analyses revealed that being a baby boomer was significantly related only to involvement in self-destructive behavior in this sample.; This study's findings suggest that certain tenets of GST differentially spotlight key social predictors of adult female criminality and self-destructive behavior across categories of age and race. These results reconfirm the need for a closer examination of female crime, which encompasses more general and, at the same time refined, theories that acknowledge, explore, and emphasize greater attention to the interplay of age, race, and the multitude of life strains and stressors women encounter and cope with in their daily lives.