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A literature review examining various studies that investigate the relationship between deviant peers and delinquent behavior. The authors explore the hypothesis that individuals who experience strain, negative emotions, and associate with deviant peers are more inclined to engage in deviant behavior. references to numerous studies conducted between 1933 and 2018.
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Advancing General Strain Theory: Three Empirical Studies by D’Andre Walker
A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the DegreeDoctor of Philosophy
Approved July 2018 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Michael D. Reisig, Chair Kristy Holtfreter Jacob T.N. Young
August 2018
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The main premise of general strain theory (GST) is that strains and stressors increase negative emotions, such as anger and depression, which ultimately influence coping—criminal and otherwise (Agnew, 1992). Though there is a lot of research in support of the core arguments of GST, gaps in the knowledge base remain. For example, most researchers have focused on particular types of strains, overlooking nontraditional forms. And though the negative impact of deviant peers on delinquency is well documented, the influence of such peers in terms of coping with negative emotionality is not well understood. This dissertation investigates the relationship between unconventional strains—teenage pregnancy and low social support—on negative outcomes. In addition, this project also examines friendship networks to see whether peer victimization increases personal involvement in violent offending. Additionally, the impact of deviant peers within the GST framework is also tested. This dissertation uses existing data from Waves I (1994-1995) and II (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The Add Health is a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of over 20,000 American adolescents who were in grades 7 through 12 during the 1994-1995 school year. Data were drawn from two sources—the in-home interview data and the social network data. Multivariate regression models are used to examine the effects of strain on a number of outcomes of theoretical interest. The findings indicate that teenage pregnancy, peer victimization, and low social support were all associated with depressive symptoms and deviant coping. More specifically, the results from study one showed that adolescents who had experienced
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I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my dissertation chair and mentor, Dr. Michael Reisig, for his patience, guidance, and detailed feedback. I am very blessed to have been given the opportunity to work under your leadership. I would also like to thank my committee members, Drs. Kristy Holtfreter and Jacob Young, for their constructive feedback throughout this process. This dissertation would have been nearly impossible without the collaborative effort from you all. Secondly, I would like to thank my peers and colleagues for their support, feedback, and friendship during my time here at Arizona State University. Finally, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my family and friends for their love and encouragement. This journey would have been much more difficult without their support. Thank you all. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01- HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.
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Page LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Theories of Crime Causation................................................................................... 3 Social Control Theory .................................................................................. Low Self-Control Theory............................................................................. Routine Activity Theory .............................................................................. Structural Strain Theory............................................................................. General Strain Theory ........................................................................................... 11 Coping Responses ...................................................................................... Deviant Peer Affiliation and GST.............................................................. Three Empirical Studies ........................................................................................ 16 Study 1. Teenage Pregnancy, Negative Emotionality, and Maladaptive Coping: An Examination of the Interaction Effect of Peer Deviance ....... Study 2. Vicarious Victimization, Negative Emotions, and Maladaptive Coping: Investigating the Moderating Effect of Deviant Peers ................. Study 3. Low Social Support and Crime: The Conditioning Impact of Deviant Peers ............................................................................................. Organization of Dissertation ................................................................................. 23 References .............................................................................................................. 25
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Figure Page 2.1 Teenage Pregnancy × Depression × Deviant Peers on Alcohol Problems....... 62 2.2 Teenage Pregnancy × Depression × Deviant Peers on Marijuana Use ............ 65 3.1 Path Analysis of Peer Victimization on Violent Offending ..............................
have on friends’ behavior transcends breaking the law. Indeed, antisocial peers are associated with substance use and a variety of crime-analogous behaviors (e.g., risky sexual practices) during adolescence and early adulthood (Agnew & White, 1992; Barnes, Hoffman, Welte, Farrell, & Dintcheff, 2006; Dishion, Ha, & Véronneau, 2012). In a comparative sense, the amount of attention scholars working in the general strain tradition have paid to the role of deviant peers is very modest. The main premise of Agnew’s (1992) general strain theory (GST) is that stressful life events increase the risk of negative emotions, like anger and frustration. Consequently, these emotions create pressure for corrective action, crime being one of the possible ways to cope. Although GST enjoys considerable empirical support (see Agnew & White, 1992; Daniels & Holtfreter, 2018; Hay & Meldrum, 2010; Mazerolle & Piquero, 1997; Moon, Morash, McCluskey, & Hwang, 2009; Patchin & Hinduja, 2011; Piquero & Sealock, 2010; Rebellon, Manasse, Van Gundy, & Cohn, 2012; Thraxton & Agnew, 2017), few studies have considered the role of deviant peers. For example, Agnew and White (1992) found that delinquency and drug use increases among individuals who experience strain and associate with deviant peers (also see Mazerolle & Maahs, 2000). Agnew and colleagues (2002) found that juveniles who are high in negative emotionality and low in constraint were more likely to cope with strain in a deviant manner. Associating with delinquent peers potentially increases deviant and criminal coping response among those who experience strain. To date, deviant/delinquent peers in a GST framework has been limited. This leaves questions unanswered, such as whether deviant peer association moderates the influence of strain on negative emotions, and whether peers condition the relationship between negative emotions and maladaptive behavior.
In light of these gaps in literature, this dissertation seeks to investigate the influence of deviant peers on negative emotionality and coping behaviors within a GST framework. The primary research question of this dissertation is as follows: Do deviant peers moderate the relationship between strain and negative outcomes? For example, are individuals who experience strain and associate with deviant peer groups more likely to experience negative emotionality? Are individuals who experience negative emotions more likely to cope in a maladaptive fashion (e.g., use illegal drugs and violate the law) if their friends engage in deviant behavior? To answer these and related questions, several waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) are used. Add Health is a rich source of longitudinal data on social, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors. The next section identifies and discusses the core arguments of several prominent theories of crime causation. Along the way, the weight of the empirical support is considered, as are the weaknesses of each theory. The primary objective of the following section is to highlight and demonstrate why GST is an appealing theoretical framework for understanding crime causation. Theories of Crime Causation Criminologists have long been interested in the etiology of crime. Over the past several decades, numerous theories that explain such behavior have been advanced. This section reviews some of the important theories in the field and the empirical support that each of them enjoys. Various limitations and shortcomings associated with each theory will also be highlighted and considered.
Conventional activities serve as a form of informal social control. The final element, belief, refers to the degree of respect individuals have for moral order and law of conventional society. Individuals are less likely to engage in delinquency when they believe that they should obey societal rules. There is a significant amount of empirical support for Hirschi’s (1969) theory (see, e.g., Agnew, 1985; Hindelang, 1973; Johnson, 1979; Krohn & Massey, 1980; Wiatrowski, Griswold & Roberts, 1981). However, the theory was originally developed to explain delinquency, thus limiting its explanatory scope to misbehavior at a single stage in the life course. More recently, however, scholars working in the social control tradition have turned their attention to the task of explaining crime over the life course. Sampson and Laub’s (1993) age-graded theory of social control builds on Hirschi’s (1969) theoretical framework and attempts to explain offending into and throughout adulthood. Their theory asserts that some delinquent individuals will continue offending throughout their life. However, they also contend that some criminally- involved individuals will experience “turning points,” such as meaningful employment, military service, and supportive marriages, which will result in a law abiding lifestyle. These institutions serve as sources of informal social control (King, Massoglia, & MacMillan, 2007; Laub, Nagin, & Sampson, 1993; Sampson, Laub, & Wimer, 2006; Uggen, 2000; Warr, 1998). Laub and Sampson (2003) argue that turning points allow individuals to “knife off” their past from the present, change their routine activities, provide opportunities for identity transformation, and serve as a source of supervision and social support—all of which promote desistance from crime.
Social control theory has laid the foundation for delinquency research for several decades. Prior research assessing the theory excluded strain variables (e.g., discrimination and emotional/physical abuse) or paid minimal attention to them (see Agnew, 1991). According to Agnew (1992), GST is distinct from social control theory in two ways: (1) the various types of relationships that cause delinquency, and (2) the motivation for delinquency. Social control theory is concerned with the absence of significant relationships with conventional others and institutions. In contrast, GST focuses on hostile relationships that are often the result of negative emotions brought about by stressful events. Emotion is a key factor in strain theory. Social control theory attributes delinquency primarily to the absence of strong social ties. Although social control theory has enjoyed much attention, some criminologists argue that the establishment of strong social bonds is dependent on a host of factors, including individual variations in self-control, which also directly influence crime and delinquency (see Hay, 2001; Wright, Caspi, Moffitt, & Silva, 1999). Low Self-Control Theory Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) self-control theory was introduced in their book, A General Theory of Crime. Their explanation has been one of the most tested criminological theories over the past quarter century. The theory holds that low self- control is the main source of crime and crime-analogous behaviors. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, individuals who lack self-control tend to be physical, insensitive, risk-taking, shortsighted, and non-verbal. In addition, those who lack self- control also have the tendency to pursue their self-interest at the expense of others, and are more likely to behave in a manner that they believe will yield immediate gratification.
upset and angered, blame others for their problems, and interact with people in an aggressive or antagonistic manner. Consequently, individuals with these specific personality traits are less likely to cope with strain in a healthy manner, as they usually act impulsively without thinking, lack the necessary social skills needed for legal coping, not aware of or concerned about the consequences of their criminal acts, and are generally more inclined to crime (see Agnew, 2006). Arguably, individual levels of self- control condition key GST variables (i.e., strain and negative emotions) in a manner that elevates the likelihood of expected outcomes (i.e., negative emotions and criminal outcomes). Though important differences exist, the two theories are compatible with one another. Routine Activity Theory Cohen and Felson (1979) introduced routine activity theory to the field of criminology. The theory initially focused on aggregate level changes in crime rates, holding that the latter are influenced by structural changes in routine activities that allow three elements to converge in time and space. These three elements are: (1) the presence of a motivated offender (e.g., teenage boys), (2) a suitable target (e.g., easily transportable goods), and (3) the absence of a capable guardian (e.g., home owners and police officers). These elements have been referred to as the chemistry for crime (Felson and Boba, 2010). According to Cohen and Felson, the increase in crime rates after World War II was the result of changing routine activities throughout society. More specifically, as the routine activities of the public increasingly shifted away from their homes, criminal opportunities increased dramatically.
Routine activity theory has also been used to predict individual-level criminal behavior. In particular, Osgood and colleagues (1996) extended routine activity theory by arguing that unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of capable guardians creates opportunities for crime and other deviant behavior. Their argument is threefold: (1) the presence of peers makes deviant acts easy and more rewarding; (2) the absence of capable guardians (e.g., authority figures) reduces the possibility of social control responses to crime; and (3) the lack of structure in activities leaves time for criminal behavior. Findings from empirical research examining unstructured socializing and its effect on individual–level criminal behavior suggests that the relationship exists and is robust in nature (see Bernburg & Thorlindsson, 2001; Osgood & Anderson, 2004; Miller, 2013). Routine activity theory is a theory of criminal offending and victimization. Studies show that routine activities increase the risk of being a victim of cybercrime (Holt & Bossler, 2008; Reyns, 2013; Reyns, Henson, & Fisher, 2011), fraud (Pratt, Holtfreter, & Reisig, 2010), and violent crime (Groff, 2007; Schwartz & Pitts, 1995, Schreck & Fisher, 2004). Nevertheless, routine activity theory provides little insight on the consequences of suffering criminal harm. From a GST perspective, criminal victimization is a key type of strain that is likely to promote criminal and deviant coping (see Hay & Evans, 2006; Hay & Meldrum, 2010; Reisig, Holtfreter, & Turanovic, 2018; Turanovic & Pratt, 2013). More specifically, studies have shown criminal victimization can lead to criminal offending (Jennings, Piquero & Reinge, 2012), violent delinquency (Moon, Morash, McCluskey & Hwang, 2009), property delinquency (Moon et al., 2009), and drug use (Carson Sullivan, Cochran & Lersch, 2008). Moreover, motivation is a key
