Lecture 7 - Agnew General Strain Theory- Stress - part of frustration- someone else might interfere your reaching to your goal- crime is a way dealing with those frustrations in life: frustrations or goal blocking- criminal ways of coping with strains- strain theory is a micro level theory - focus more on individual problem- strain is a personal problem- Three phases: major types of strains which a person goes through- strains might motivate a person to commit a crime- where in time does strain occur- observe the relationship between strain and the goal a person may be pursuing- the goal and the strain toward the goal- major types of strains: experienced strain1. strain as the failure to achieve positively valued goalso Strain as the disjunction between aspirations and expectations / actual achievements a person decided to become a criminal lawyer: low expectation. His goal is blocked. The future looks very bleak for him strain in ones present circumstances:things are happening right now are most concerned of teenagers - present anxietyo Strain as the disjunction between expectations and actual achievements if a person sees that he's not getting what everyone else is getting, that person isexperiencing strain if a person is not having what he expect to have, he's in straino Strain as the disjunction between just/fair outcomes and actual outcomes social comparison justice principle if two people put in same amount of effort but they don't get equal outcome, the person who fail will experience a strain2. Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individualo losing any of these things does not affect a person to achieve long-term goal. These are present strain. No goal blockage3. Strain as the presentation of negative stimulio bullying from peers, bad relationship with parentso Anticipated strain: a person hasn't experiencing a strain yet he knows that he has a good chance too Vicarious strain: a person - Causal Mechanism: something must happen between A and Bo male has higher chance to involve into violent crime than female: male --> violent crimeo ANGER is a causal mechanismo Not all strain/angry people commit crimes: most people find legal way to cope- Adaptations to (coping strategies for) straino Cognitive coping strategies: reinterpretation of reality Ignore/Minimize the importance of adversity: relegates his original goal, gives upon a high goal Maximize positive outcomes/Minimize negative outcomes: bring their aspirations align with the actual achievements/lower their standard Accept Responsibility for adversityo Emotional coping strategieso Behavioral coping strategies - Crime is a behavioral coping Maximizing positive outcomes/minimizing negative outcomes Vengeful Behavior- Agnew theory is called general strain theory- criminal or non-criminal behavior : how people
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