Using Strain Theory to Explain How Victimisation Can Lead to Offending and Other Negative Behaviour

Strain theory is based on the notion that while the vast majority of individuals abide by the presiding values in society and the desire for status, prosperity, and material success, a large element of society lacks legitimate means to fulfill these desires.

Theorists differed in their focus on the importance of variables affecting both motivating factors for criminal behavior and variables affecting access to legitimate means.

Merton (1938) theorised that monetary success was the dominant motivating factor for criminal behavior and that the belief that success could be rightly expected by those with ability was down to being socialized by American culture. Cohen (1955) built on this idea by adding a focus on the importance of social class. There was a revengeful undertone to Cohen’s line of thinking. He stated that “the delinquent’s conduct is right, by the standards of his subculture, precisely because it is wrong by the norms of the larger culture” (Cohen, 1955, p. 28). Some theorists diverged from Cohen in pinpointing the degree in which subcultures play a role in the types of delinquent behaviour an individual might decide to partake in. For example, Cloward and Ohlin’s theory focused heavily on subcultures and availability of opportunities, both legitimate and delinquent. The actual neighbourhood young people lived in was of upmost importance to Cloward and Ohlin. There was also an evolutionary element to their theory in that they also focused on the existing criminal subcultures in the given area.

According to Cloward and Ohlin (1960), criminal subcultures were maintained in a given area, through the recruitment of young people into previously existing, larger adult subcultures. They detailed three types of delinquent subcultures: conflict, criminal, and retreatist. If legitimate opportunities are limited, individuals found themselves recruited into one of these subcultures, depending on how the delinquent values were transmitted within a particular culture. For example, violence and instability are common in conflict subcultures, while property crime and higher levels of stability are common in criminal subcultures. On the other hand, drug use prevails amongst those partaking in a retreatist subculture, which individuals usually find themselves in because they are lacking in both criminal opportunities and the capacity for conflict (Jones, 2006).

In 1992, Agnew and White, proposed an even broader encapsulation of strains, the General Strain Theory. General Strain Theory was a cumulative revision of previous strain theories that offered yet another new focus, the avoidance of painful situations.

Agnew (1985) stated that some members of society may not only have less access to legitimate means of achievement, but also, less access to ways that painful situations can be avoided. The aggravation involved in this denial of access may also lead to frustration and anger, which in turn, may lead to delinquency. Agnew (1985) also pointed out that the difficulties surrounding access to ways of avoiding painful situations are often not independent of those surrounding the achievement of goals set out by society. When young people are considered, it is easy to see how both of these types of limited access can cause anger and frustration. For example, if a young person is constantly being beaten up at school, they may be doubly affected since this would also interfere with achieving academic success, a societal goal.

General Strain Theory states that there may be a host of sources of strain, including the inability to succeed in achieving goals, the valued goals, the removal of valued incentives, and presence of undesirable stimuli, or the threat of same (Agnew & White, 1992). All of these sources of strain are linked to a potentially negative relationship with other individuals. Research has been undertaken in order to identify the types of strains that are most likely to lead to delinquency (Agnew, 2001), which has led to the identification of a variety of strains. For example, types of strains linked to delinquency vary from problems at home, problems at school, victimization, and difficulties with peers. Furthermore, research undertaken by Byongook, Hwang, and McCluskey (2011) found that a variety of strains generated within the school setting such as punishment by teachers and strain caused by examinations had a significant effect on bullying experiences, while Moon, Blurton, and McCluskey (2008)

highlighted the limitations caused by the over-reliance of secondary data sets by previous research, namely the failure to identify abuse by peers and negative teacher relationships as key strains. Aseltine, Gore, and Gordon, J. (2000) focused their research on strains caused by stressful life events and difficulties within relationships and used a variety of delinquency measures including both violent/nonviolent acts and marijuana use. Results revealed a link between negative life events leading to hostile and angry responses, which in turn, led to increases in more aggressive types of delinquency. There was no significant relationship found between negative life events and marijuana use or nonaggressive delinquency. Similarly, negative motivations increased by strains such as negative parenting, conflict in the family, and the lack of close, positive bonds between children and their parents have also been shown to lead to negative outcomes (Bean, Barber, & Crane, 2006; Hirschi, 2002).

All the various sources of strain will not be considered further here. However, Agnew (1992) has highlighted several categorical adaptations to strain that young people may engage in as part of their daily lives. These can be summarized as follows:

1) Ignoring or minimizing the importance of the strain, but reducing the significance of the values that the strain affects.

2) Maximizing positive outcomes and minimizing negative outcomes.

3) Acceptance of responsibility for the strain through convincing yourself that you deserve the strain you are experiencing.

4) Engaging in vengeful behaviour to put an end to the strain that others are being blamed for.

Both delinquent and criminal behaviours are possible adaptations to these strains, but positive adaptations are also a possibility. The point is that there is a choice, and there are several factors that influence this choice, for a young person experiencing strain.

Young people will either choose to engage in delinquent or non-delinquent forms of coping, depending on societal constraints and individual constraints such as values, goals, identities, interpersonal skills, intelligence, and self-esteem (Agnew & White, 1992).

4.5 Using Rational Choice Theory and Situational Crime Prevention to Limit