Adapting to Strain: An Examination of Delinquent Coping Responses

• NCJ Number: 163186
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1996) Pages: 39-60
• Author(s): T Brezina
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Earlier version of paper presented at the 1995 meetings of the Southern Sociological Society

Annotation

This study explored ways in which delinquency enabled adolescents to deal with strain using national survey data on the coping effectiveness of delinquent behavior.

Abstract

Strain theories have conceptualized delinquency as a form of adaptive, problem-solving behavior in response to problems associated with frustrating and undesirable social environments. A recent version of strain theory, Agnew's general strain theory, provides a complex formulation of this argument by suggesting that delinquent behavior enables adolescents to cope with socioemotional problems generated by negative social relations. To date, however, the actual coping effectiveness of delinquency remains unexamined. The current study was conducted to determine if delinquency represented an adaptive and effective problem- solving response to aversive environments. Forms of delinquent adaptation were explored, including escape-avoidance, compensation, and retaliation. Scales measuring various dimensions of negative affect were employed to assess anger, resentment, anxiety, and depression. Findings indicated that delinquency enabled adolescents to minimize negative emotional consequences of strain and provided empirical support for the interpretation of delinquency as an adaptive response to aversive environments. Implications of the results for criminological theory are discussed. A delinquency scale is appended that contains questions on escape behavior, theft, vandalism, and interpersonal aggression. 30 references and 5 tables