NCJ Number
226749
Journal
Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 131-176
Date Published
February 2009
Length
46 pages
Annotation
Using random samples of Russian, Ukrainian, and Greek respondents, this study tested hypotheses about linkages among objective strain, subjective strain, anger, and criminal probability specified by general strain theory (GST), and investigated the conditioning effects of religiosity and self-control on each link of the causal mechanism specified by GST.
Abstract
Findings indicate limited support for the general strain theory (GST), with all supportive results being among the Ukrainian sample. Also, using a measure of subjective strain generally did not improve the predictive ability of strain, whereas self-control and religiosity did not seem to condition the effects of strain on criminal probability in any of the three countries examined. The results suggest that the effects of strain on behavioral outcomes were context specific, possibly mandating additional theorizing about the conditions under which strain helps explain criminal behavior. GST elaborates notions of strain set forth in previous research. According to GST, people faced with adverse conditions experience a variety of negative emotions prompting adaptive behaviors or other responses designed to alleviate strain or negative emotions. The purpose of this study was to explore the generality of the basic causal process of GST using adult crime data from three countries: Russia, Ukraine, and Greece, to add to the limited literature concerning linkages among all of the central variables of GST: objective strain, subjective strain, negative emotions, and crime, and to examine the conditioning effects on the strain, crime link of two inclusive variables: self control and religiosity. Tables, references and appendixes A-C