The Empirical Status of General Strain Theory: A Meta-analysis

• In Event: Research on the Impact of School Conditions, the Role of Cultural Factors, the Conditioning Hypotheses, and the Empirical Evidence of General Strain Theory

Abstract

General strain theory (GST) has acquired substantial attentiveness from criminological scholars since its emergence in the 1990s. According to GST, a set of strains increases the probability of crime. Specifically, Agnew (1992) argued that strains such as failures to achieve positively valued goals, removals of positively valued stimuli, and presentations of negative stimuli all can contribute to individual criminal behaviors. Ample empirical research has been conducted to test the efficacy of GST. The results of these studies are encouraging and provide strong supports for GST. Even though abundant studies have been done, a systematic review of the general empirical status of GST is still absent. Utilizing the categories that Agnew (1922) as well as the different domains categorized by the current study, the current study attempts to use the meta-analysis technique to synthesize the empirical findings of GST, especially looking at the strength of different types of strain that Agnew (1992) has proposed.

Authors

• Yudu Li, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• Yan Zhang, Sam Houston State University

• Todd Armstrong, University of Nebraska at Omaha