NCJ Number
230688
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 26 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 167-185
Date Published
May 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether different types of strain cause different types of negative emotion and whether different types of negative emotion cause different types of crime.
Abstract
General strain theory (GST) argues that strain (i.e., stress) leads to negative emotion and that negative emotion leads to criminal behavior. Though GST has received a significant amount of empirical support, tests of GST have focused primarily on the relationship between stress, anger, and interpersonal aggression. Much of past GST research has therefore neglected the idea that different types of strain might produce different negative emotions aside from anger and that different negative emotions might produce different types of criminal involvement aside from interpersonal aggression. This article investigates these possibilities. Literature from the social psychology of emotion is used to develop hypotheses that are tested through a vignette study. Results indicate that certain situations produce certain emotions more so than others but that negative emotions often co-occur. Some negative emotions precipitate criminal involvement, whereas others inhibit criminal tendencies. Tables, appendix, and references (Published Abstract)