The empirical status of General Strain Theory: Racial differences in response to strain.

Abstract

Agnew (1992) argued that interpersonal strain predisposes the individual toward corrective action, which may include involvement in delinquency/crime or drug use. He also states that it may be the case that different types of strain are relevant to different subgroups in this process (Agnew, 1992). This research examined this supposition where subgroups were defined by race. The results of this study are consistent with the view offered by strain theory (Agnew, 1992). General Strain Theory predicts that interpersonal strain will affect individual adaptations to the social environment (Agnew, 1992). The adaptation chosen is said to be conditioned by such variables as personal resources and emotional response. The current research examined these predictions when the data were disaggregated by race, and the findings tend to support the theory across groups. Interestingly, there were significant differences between groups on selected theoretical variables indicating that different types of strain and the role of the personal resources significantly differ in their association with negative affective states, delinquency/crime, and drug use for the groups.