Agnew's General Strain Theory

general strain theory is a theory that is derived from the original strain theory by Robert Agnew in 1992.Agnew states that strain theory could be central in explaining crime and deviance, but that it needed revision so that it was not tied to social class or cultural variables, but re-focused on norms.The general strain theory focuses on the negative relationships with others ,delinquency as the result of pressure by negative states such as anger and other negative emotions as a result of negative relationships. The general strain theory have three categories of strains according to Agnew which are the inability to achieve positively valued goals ,the removal or the threat to remove positively valued stimuli and to present a threat to one

The strain theory was one of the earliest theories that explained social deviance which was developed by Robert Merton .Merton was proposing a typology of deviance based upon two criteria of which is a person's motivations or their adherence to cultural goals and a person's belief in how to attain his goals. According to Merton, there is a time when cultural defined goals become so oppressive that an individual may feel forced to use alternative methods to reach these goals. According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria which are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. When it comes to conformity it involves the acceptance of the cultural goals and means of attaining those goals. Innovation involves the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the rejection of the legitimate means of attaining those goals. Ritualism involves the rejection of cultural goals but the routinized acceptance of the means for achieving the goals. Retreatism involves the rejection of both the cultural goals and the traditional means of achieving those goals. Rebellion is a special case wherein the individual rejects both the cultural goals and traditional means of achieving them but actively attempts to replace both elements of the society with different goals and

One of these people were Robert Agnew who thought that strain theory could be very important in explaining crime and deviance that happens but that it needed to be in a different context so that it was not tied to social class or cultural variables, but have it focus more on norms according to society. “In sum, we would expect certain strains to affect crime in all or most societies, while the effect of other strains may differ across societies. A general strain theory that explains differences in criminal offending will systematically list all of those strains that function as “extreme stressors,” as well as those societal factors that affect the magnitude of given strains, the interpretation of such strains (e.g., their perceived magnitude and injustice), and the likelihood of criminal coping”(Sigfusdottir & Kristjansson , 2012).The general strain theory have 3 categories of strains according to Agnew which are the inability to achieve positively valued goals ,the removal or the threat to remove positively valued stimuli and to present a threat to one with noxious or negatively valued stimuli.The inability to achieve positively valued goals are difference between the expectation influenced by factors such as social class