Conditioning Influences on Strain-Crime Nexus among Chinese Incarcerated Women

• In Event: Research on the Conditioning, Mediating, and Moderating Effects of General Strain Theory

Abstract

One of the key assumptions of Agnew's general strain theory (GST) is that various factors condition the effect of strain on crime and delinquency. Past research have examined this question, however, they tended to focus on youth samples and employ gender only as a control variable, failing to explore the strain-crime relationship and conditioning hypothesis on at-risk female group. In the current examination, the strain-crime relationship, together with the conditioning influence from family ties and delinquent peers on this relationship, were investigated based on a survey of Chinese at-risk females. Logistics regression results revealed support for the primary strain-crime relationship derived from GST, and partial support for the conditioning hypothesis. Different types of strain were related to different crimes. Types of strain exerted various effects both regarding the magnitudes and directions of different crime types. Delinquent peers mainly magnified the effects of strain on crime, whereas two family ties merely influenced the effects of strain on crime.

Author

• Lin Liu, University of Delaware