THEORIES OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: STRAIN THEORY

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Subject

JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY

Submitted to:

Professor ANGEL M. CALIGUIRAN, Ph.D., CSP

Submitted by:

RENATO M. ALVIOR JR.

TOPIC: ““Theories of Crime and Delinquency: Strain Theory”

REPORTER: Alvior, Renato Jr., M.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Discuss the concept of juvenile delinquency;

2. Discuss the Strain Theory; and

3. Discuss Agnew’s General Strain Theory.

JUVENILE refers to a person of tender year; a minor, a youth or those

who are not emancipated by law; those who are below the age of majority ; a

person below 18 years of age or those but are unable to fully take care of

themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of

physical or mental disability or conditions.

DELINQUENT refers to one whose behavior has brought a minor or child

in repeated conflict with the law; one who has committed an offense that violated

the approved norms of conduct is guilty of misdeed.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY refers to an anti-social act or behavior of a

minor which deviates from the normal pattern of rules and regulations, custom

and culture which society does not accept and which there justifies some kind of
punishment or corrective measures; youth behavior which is against the norms

and regulations of society which if left unchecked would give rise to criminality;

an act or omission committed by a minor which is not in conformity with the

norms of society; any act, behavior or conduct of a minor which might be brought

to court and judged whether such, is a violation of a law.

STRAIN THEORY holds that crime is a function of the conflict between

the goals people have and the means they can use to legally obtain them. It

argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent: members of the

lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to those

belonging to the upper class. Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and

resentment, referred to as STRAIN. The commission of crimes with the aim of

achieving these goals results from this conflict.

ROBERT AGNEW’s GENERAL STRAIN THEORY states that anger has

a significant impact on all measures of crime and deviance. (Strain > Anger >

Criminal Behavior) When people get mad, they act bad.

According to Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory, strain is based on

three different factors: (1) Failure to achieve a goal,(2) The removal of positive

impulses, and (3) The existence of harmful impulses. Stress leads to negative

emotional states such as anger (violent behavior) or depression (use of drugs),

which are conductive to different delinquent behavior without adequate coping

skills.

REFERENCES:

1. Agnew, Robert. (1985). A revised strain theory of delinquency. Social

forces. 64(1), 151-167.

2. Agnew, Robert. (1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of crime

and delinquency. Criminology. 30(1), 47-87.

3. Brown, S., Esbensen, F.-A., Geis, G. (2010): Criminology. Explaining

Crime and It’s Context. S. 249-251.

4. Vito, G./Maahs, J./Holmes, R. (2007): Criminology. Theory, Research, and

Policy. S. 157f.