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General strain theory is a theory of criminology developed by Robert Agnew. Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory is considered to be a solid theory, and has accumulated a significant amount of empirical evidence, and has also expanded its primary scope by offering explanations of phenomena outside of criminal behavior.〔Froggio, G. (2007). Strain and Juvenile Delinquency: A Critical Review of Agnew's General Strain Theory. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 12(4), 383-418. 〕 Agnew recognized that strain theory originally put forward by Robert King Merton was limited in terms of fully conceptualizing the range of possible sources of strain in society, especially among youth. According to Merton, innovation occurs when society emphasizes socially desirable and approved goals but at the same time provides inadequate opportunity to achieve these goals with the legitimate institutionalized means. In other words those members of society, who find themselves in a position of financial strain yet wish to achieve material success, resort to crime in order to achieve socially desirable goals. Agnew supports this assumption but he also believes dealing with youth there are other factors that incite criminal behaviour. He suggests that negative experiences can lead to stress not only that are financially induced. Agnew's 3 categories of strains: The inability to achieve positively valued goals The removal or the threat to remove positively valued stimuli To present a threat to one with noxious or negatively valued stimuli In an attempt to explain the high rate of male delinquency as compared to female delinquency, Agnew and Broidy analyzed the gender differences between the perception of strain and the responses to strain. The first area that was explored was the amount of strain that each gender experiences. According to stress research that Agnew and Broidy complied, females tend to experience as much or more strain than males. Also, females tend to be higher in subjective strain as well. Since females experience more strain and commit less crime, Agnew and Broidy investigated the different types of strain that males and females experience. Their findings are listed below: Source: O Grady Agnew and Broidy next hypothesized that there may be differences not only in the types of strain, but in the emotional response to strain as well: Source: O Grady Research indicated that females might lack the confidence and the self-esteem that may be conducive to committing crime and employ escape and avoidance methods to relieve the strain. Females may, however, have stronger relational ties that might help to reduce strain. Males are said to be lower in social control, and they socialize in large groups. Females, on the other hand, form close social bonds in small groups. Therefore, males are more likely to respond to strain with crime. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「General strain theory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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