Gender Differences in Strain, Negative Emotions, and Coping Behaviors: A General Strain Theory Approach

• NCJ Number: 219918
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 523-553
• Author(s): Sung Joon Jang
• Date Published: September 2007
• Length: 31 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated the application of general strain theory (GST) in explaining gender differences in crime and deviance.

Abstract

The overall findings tend to provide general support for Broidy and Agnew’s first two propositions but only limited support for the third. To explain the higher rate of crime among men than women using Agnew’s (1992) GST, Broidy and Agnew (1997) advanced three propositions, since GST in its original form does not provide an immediate explanation. GST posits that strain generates negative emotions that provide motivation for criminal acts as a behavioral coping strategy. In their propositions Broidy and Agnew state that men and women are different not only in the rate but also in the forms of crime they commit because they differ in the types of strain they tend to experience, emotional responses to strain, and factors conditioning the use of criminal versus noncriminal adaptations of strain and distress. The first proposition that males and females tend to experience different types of strain generally received empirical support. African-American women were more likely than African-American men to report strains, that is, strains related to physical health, interpersonal relations, and gender roles in the family, and less likely to mention male strains, except for financial strain. The second proposition that males and females differ in their emotional and behavioral responses to strain received support. African-American women were less likely than African-American men to turn to deviant coping strategies when they experienced strain partly because their strains were more likely to generate self-directed emotions, such as depression and anxiety. Like previous research on general strain theory (GST), the least empirical evidence was found for the third proposition that conditioning factors help gender differences in types of emotional and behavioral response to strain. Tables, references