Strain, Impulse, and Selfishness Theory: An Integrated Theory of General Offending

• In Event: Beyond Theory Testing: New Applications of Strain, Learning, and Control Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper introduces and tests a new integrated criminological theory (strain, impulse, and selfishness theory) in relation to future general offending. There are three assumptions of this theory: Experiencing strain, impulse, or selfishness is associated with offending. If a person experiences the interaction between two of these three elements, it makes them more likely to commit crimes than experiencing only one of the elements. Lastly, experiencing the interaction of all three elements makes a person more likely to commit offenses than if they were only experiencing one or two of the elements. To gather data, a survey was conducted with a sample of 511 adults. A series of negative binomial regressions were conducted to test the theory. The findings do not show support for strain, impulse, and selfishness theory in relation to general future offending, as none of the interaction terms were significant. However, impulse and selfishness as independent variables remained significant throughout all models they were included in. Due to the high mean age of the sample, it is recommended to retest the theory with an adolescent sample.

Author

• Victoria Lynn Rapp, Mississippi State University - NSPARC