Examining general strain: Using subjective and objective measures of academic strain to predict delinquency

ABSTRACT

General Strain Theory (GST) places importance on the experience of negative emotional states resulting from exposure to stressful and/or negative events. Subsequent research has suggested that identifying strain might be contingent upon the use of objective or subjective measures of strain, and that the types of delinquent outcomes assessed might mediate the significance of the findings. Using a sample of nontraditional high school students, this study examines whether objective or subjective measures of academic strain will explain involvement in both substance use (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs) or delinquent offending. We conclude with results and policy implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic strain
• ethnicity
• General Strain Theory
• objective and subjective measures of strain

Notes on contributors

 

Notes

1. Given that the sample data were collected as part of a larger study, the dataset was limited in its ability to fully examine GST, specifically in the inclusion of coping mechanism measures; however, it offered the ability to include subjective and objective measures of strain, an approach empirically absent from GST literature.

2. Ninety-five student surveys were completed in total, however six students failed to provide accurate or complete birthday information. This inhibited the ability to determine accurately whether the students were on grade level, and those participants were therefore ultimately dropped from the sample.

3. Unfortunately, many students in similar alternative schools are unaware of how many credits they may currently have, the results of a state-mandated test, or have been out of school for an extended period of time, and are therefore unsure of what grade they are currently in.

4. Delinquent behaviors (M = 0.359; SD = 0.932), ATOD use (M = 1.61; SD = 1.66).

5. Final models were estimated with and without mean imputation of missing data. However, no substantial differences were noted with the exception of the anger scale dropping from the two delinquent behaviors estimations due to perfect collinearity.

6. Results are available from the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nina Barbieri

Nina Barbieri is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Houston-Downtown. Her research interests include juvenile delinquency, correlates of crime, and victimology and has research published in Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Crime & Delinquency, and Deviant Behavior.

Nadine M. Connell

Nadine M. Connell is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Texas-Dallas, where she also serves as PhD Advisor and Director for the Center for Crime and Justice Studies. Her research focuses on preventing juvenile delinquency and decreasing crime and substance use in school based settings has been published in many peer reviewed journals, including Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Deviant Behavior, and Victims and Offenders.