Robert Agnew's general strain theory proposes that strain or stressors experienced on an individual level can lead to criminal or delinquent behavior. The theory identifies three main types of strain or negative stimuli that can cause this: the failure to achieve positively valued goals, the removal of positive stimuli, and the presence of negative stimuli. Agnew suggests that strain resulting from the disjunction between goals and expectations or between expectations and achievements is more likely to produce negative emotions like anger and frustration which could then justify criminal behavior for the individual. The theory also posits that repetitive strain may overload coping mechanisms and increase hostility over time.

1. By: Laura Newberg
STRAIN THEORY

2. He proposed a general strain
theory that is no longer
structural or interpersonal, but
rather individual and emotional,
paying special attention to a
person's direct social
environment and negative
stimuli.
ROBERT AGNEW’S
GENERAL STRAIN
THEORY

3. Male Strain
•Concerned with material success – thus
higher rates of property and violent crime
•Face more conflict with peers and are likely
to be the victims of crime
•Failure to achieve goals may lead to property
and violent crime
•More likely to respond with anger, followed
by moral outrage
•Quick to blame others and are less
concerned about hurting others

4. Men tend to
be over-
represented
in arrests,
prisons, and
overall crime
statistics

5. Female Strain
•Concerned with creating and maintaining close
bonds and relationships with others
•Face negative treatment, such as
discrimination, high demands from family, and
restricted behavior
•Failure to achieve goals may lead to self-
destructive behavior
•More likely to respond with depression and
anger
•More likely to blame themselves and worry
about the effects of their anger

6. Strain can result from a person’s
failure to achieve one of three
positively valued goals.
The first of these is money. Money is
a cause of strain when it is not
available to the person through legal
means.
The second type of positive goal is
that of status and respect. This is an
especially important factor for males.
Autonomy, or the power over
oneself, is the third type of goal that
is valued in a society.

7. • Goal related strain results from
three types of disjunction, one
of which being between
aspirations and expectations.
• Another source of strain due to
goal blockage is the disjunction
between expectations and
actual achievements.
• The third type of disjunction
occurs when the actual
outcome that an individual
faces is not the just/fair
outcome that he/she felt was
deserved.

8. The removal of positive stimuli
can also cause strain. This loss
could manifest itself in the form
of a death, a broken relationship
with a friend or spouse, or the
theft of a valued object.
According to Agnew, the strain
that is felt by the individual due to
the loss could lead the individual
to delinquency as the individual
attempts to prevent its loss,
retrieve what was lost, or seek
revenge on those who caused the
loss (Agnew, 1992:57)

9. The presence of negative stimuli
• Some examples of negative stimuli that a young adult
might face are abuse, neglect, school difficulties such as
poor grades or bullying, neighborhood problems, and
homelessness (Agnew, 1992:58-59).
• Since its addition to Agnew’s general strain theory,
research has been done on this topic. A study by
Hoffmann and Miller (1998:106) found that negative life
events produce increasing delinquent behavior in
adolescents. Their findings include such factors as
parental unemployment, deaths in the family, and illness.

10. Anger and frustration may cause
the person to justify criminal acts.
Agnew stressed that individuals
who experience repetitive strain
may be more likely to commit
crime or delinquent acts.
This is due to the fact that other
coping strategies for the strain
are overloaded, the threshold for
negativity is pushed to the limit,
and the person may become
hostile or aggressive (Agnew,
1992:61)

11. References
• Agnew, Robert. (1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of
crime and delinquency. Criminology. 30(1), 47-87.
• Hoffmann, John and Alan Miller. (1998). A latent variable analysis of
general strain theory. Journal of quantitative criminology. 14(1), 83-
110.