THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL TIES ON CRIME VARY BY CRIMINAL PROPENSITY: A LIFE‐COURSE MODEL OF INTERDEPENDENCE*

Previous studies have explained the transition from criminal propensity in youth to criminal behavior in adulthood with hypotheses of enduring criminal propensity, unique social causation, and cumulative social disadvantage. In this article we develop an additional hypothesis derived from the life‐course concept of interdependence: The effects of social ties on crime vary as a function of individuals' propsensity for crime. We tested these four hypotheses with data from the Dunedin Study. In support of life‐course interdependence, prosocial ties, such as education, employment, family ties, and partnerships, deterred crime, and antisocial ties, such as delinquent peers, promoted crime, most strongly among low self‐control individuals. Our findings bear implications for theories and policies of crime.     

Strain,Negative Emotions,and Deviant Coping Among African Americans: A Test of General Strain Theory

Although previous research on Agnew's (1992) general strain theory (GST) tends to yield significant effects of strain on negative emotions as well as deviance and crime, results tend to be mixed with regard to (1) the effects of negative emotions on deviance and crime and (2) conditioning factors that Agnew suggests affect the selection of coping strategies. To address these issues, we test hypotheses, derived from GST, about the relationships among strain, negative emotions, and deviant coping by analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of African American adults. Ordinary least squares regression results generally support our hypotheses. First, fully mediating the effects of strain on deviant coping, negative emotions have consistently significant effects on deviance, regardless of whether we use composite or separate measures of inner- and outer-directed emotions and deviance. Interestingly, as hypothesized, the same-directed effects of negative emotions on deviant coping are larger than the opposite-directed ones. Second, while self-esteem and self-efficacy as conditioning factors generally fail to receive empirical support, religiosity is found to significantly buffer the effects of negative emotions on deviance. Implications of our findings for further development of GST are discussed.     

A LONGITUDINAL TEST OF THE EFFECTS OF PARENTING AND THE STABILITY OF SELF‐CONTROL: NEGATIVE EVIDENCE FOR THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME*

This study investigates two core propositions of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime. Using longitudinal data collected on approximately 750 African American children and their primary caregivers, we first examine whether self‐control fully mediates the effect of parenting on delinquency. Consistent with the general theory, we find that low self‐control is positively associated with involvement in delinquency. Counter to Gottfredson and Hirschi's proposition, we find that self‐control only partially attenuates the negative effect of parental efficacy on delinquency. Next, we assess the theory's hypothesis that between‐individual levels of self‐control are stable. Finding substantial instability in self‐control across the two waves, we explore whether social factors can explicate these changes in self‐control. The four social relationships we incorporate (improvements in parenting, attachment to teachers, association with pro‐social peers, and association with deviant peers) explain a substantial portion of the changes in self‐control. We then discuss the implications of these findings for the general theory of crime.     

General strain and non-strain theories: A study of crime in emerging adulthood

Purpose

Despite continued increase in research on general strain theory (GST), previous studies on the relationship between GST and other criminological theories has been limited. To fill this gap in GST research, the present study aims to examine whether non-strain variables of social bonding theory, social learning theory, and self-control theory, as well as negative emotions mediate and moderate the effects of strain on crime and drug use.

Methods

Ordinary least squares regressions were applied to conduct a simultaneous analysis of mediation and moderation effects, using multiple waves of the restricted-use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health).

Results

The non-strain variables of social bonds and low self-control, but not deviant peer association, as well as trait anger and state depression/anxiety mediate the effects of strain on crime and drug use, but hypotheses about the moderating effects of these variables receive less support.

Conclusions

The central claims of GST need to be expanded to include non-emotive mediators of the effects of strain on crime, given that negative emotions are not expected to fully mediate the criminogenic effects of strain.     

IS BEING “SPIRITUAL” ENOUGH WITHOUT BEING RELIGIOUS? A STUDY OF VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIMES AMONG EMERGING ADULTS

Although prior research has had a tendency to confirm a negative association between religiousness and crime, criminologists have been slow to incorporate new concepts and emergent issues from the scientific study of religion into their own research. The self‐identity phrase “spiritual but not religious” is one of them, which has been increasingly used by individuals who claim to be “spiritual” but disassociate themselves from organized religion. This study first examines differences in crime between “spiritual‐but‐not‐religious” individuals and their “religious‐and‐spiritual,” “religious‐but‐not‐spiritual,” and “neither‐religious‐nor‐spiritual” peers in emerging adulthood. Specifically, we hypothesize that the spiritual‐but‐not‐religious young adults are more prone to crime than their “religious” counterparts, while expecting them to be different from the “neither” group without specifying whether they are more or less crime prone. Second, the expected group differences in crime are hypothesized to be explained by the microcriminological theories of self‐control, social bonding, and general strain. Latent‐variable structural equation models were estimated separately for violent and property crimes using the third wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The overall results tend to provide a partial support for the hypotheses. Implications for criminology and future research are discussed.     

A TEST OF GENERAL STRAIN THEORY*

Tests of general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) have focused primarily on the relationship between strain and crime, ignoring the intervening role of negative emotions and legitimate coping strategies. This research provides a more comprehensive test of general strain theory, including measures of both anger and other expressions of negative affect, as well as a measure of legitimate coping. Results suggest that strain, negative emotions, and legitimate coping are all related, although not always in the expected direction. Moreover, results indicate that the nature of the link among these three variables and criminal outcomes are shaped by the types of strain and negative affect individuals experience, and by sex differences in the links among central variables.     

SELF‐CONTROL,SOCIAL BONDS,AND DESISTANCE: A TEST OF LIFE‐COURSE INTERDEPENDENCE

Theoretical debates and empirical tests on the explanation of stability and change in offending over time have been ongoing for over a decade pitting Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) criminal propensity model against Sampson and Laub's (1993) life‐course model of informal social control. In 2001, Wright and his colleagues found evidence of a moderating relationship between criminal propensity, operationalized as self‐control, and prosocial ties on crime, a relationship they term life‐course interdependence. The current study extends their research by focusing on this moderating relationship and the developmental process of desistance from crime among serious juvenile delinquents. Contrary to the life‐course interdependence hypothesis, the results indicate that whereas self‐control and social bonds are strongly related to desistance from crime, there is no evidence of a moderating relationship between these two factors on desistance among this sample. The implications of this research for life‐course theories of crime, future research, and policies regarding desistance are discussed.     

GENERAL STRAIN,STREET YOUTH AND CRIME: A TEST OF AGNEW'S REVISED THEORY*

Using a sample of homeless street youth, this research examines how specific forms of strain–emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, homelessness and being a victim of robbery, violence or theft, relative deprivation, monetary dissatisfaction and unemployment–lead to crime and drug use. It also explores how strain is conditioned by deviant peers, deviant attitudes, external attributions, self‐esteem and self‐efficacy. The results reveal that all ten types of strain examined can lead to criminal behavior either as main effects or when interacting with conditioning variables. The results are discussed in light of general strain theory and suggestions are offered for future research on this topic.     

TESTING SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY USING REINFORCEMENT'S RESIDUE: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF SELF‐REPORTED THEFT AND MARIJUANA USE IN THE NATIONAL YOUTH SURVEY*

Critics have expressed concerns regarding measurement strategies or analytic techniques often used in social learning research (Horan and Phillips, 2003; Krohn, 1999; Sampson, 1999; Tittle, 2004). In response to these concerns, this study tests the hypothesized causal relationships among reinforcement, general definitions, and self‐reported crime (theft and marijuana use) using a multilevel modeling approach with longitudinal data from the first five waves of the National Youth Survey (NYS), as well as with indirect parent and friend reinforcement measures that incorporate both the assumed products of reinforcement (expected consequences of behavior) and the efficacy of reinforcement (expected influence of the reinforcement source). Within‐subject analyses present a challenge to the theory as social learning variables do not covary significantly over time with criminal offending rates. Between‐subject analyses offer support for the theory as across‐person differences in average parent and friend reinforcement are significantly related to offending rates, and these reinforcement–crime relationships are mediated partially or fully by learned definitions. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Street youth and labor market strain

This article applies strain theory to a high-risk sample of homeless street youth, with a particular focus upon labor market strain to predict violent and property crime and substance use. Data were collected through interviews with 200 street youth in a western Canadian city. Labor market strain was found to be related to the frequency of the youth's property, violent, and total crimes. Criminal peers and norms were also related to these crimes, as well as to drug use. Results also revealed a significant interaction effect between labor market strain and criminal norms predicting property, violent, and total crime. Interactions between strain and criminal peers, and external attributions also predicted property crime. Contrary to predictions, emotions were unrelated to crime and drug use. The results are discussed in light of Agnew's revised strain theory and suggestions are offered for future research on this topic.     

Gender and general strain theory: A preliminary test of Broidy and Agnew's gender/GST hypotheses

Some scholars argue for sex-specific explanations of criminal behavior, while others opt for more general theories of crime. In this article, we elaborate on recent explorations of gender differences in general strain theory (GST). Using data obtained from self-report interviews of delinquent youths, we implemented measures of strain, negative emotions, and coping resources to examine sex differences in GST-related processes across both interpersonal and property offending. The results offer some support for Broidy and Agnew's gender/general strain hypotheses and, at the same time, offer modifications and extensions for future research on GST.     

DIFFERENTIAL COERCION,STREET YOUTH,AND VIOLENT CRIME*

Using a sample of 300 homeless street youths, this study examines differential coercion theory and the role that coercion and the socialpsychological deficits of anger, low self‐control, coercive modeling, coercive ideation, and control imbalances play in the generation of violent crime. Results from cross‐sectional and prospective offending models that examine the individual mediators reveal that coercion has a direct relationship with violent offending as well as a relationship that is mediated by low self‐control, anger, coercive modeling, and coercive ideation. Although control imbalances have a direct relationship with crime, they do not mediate the relationship between coercion and crime. In the cross‐sectional model that contains all the mediators, coercion, low self‐control, anger, coercive modeling, and coercive ideation are associated with crime. In the prospective model that contains all the mediators, only anger, coercive modeling, and coercive ideation remain associated with crime. Results are discussed regarding future theory development and policy implications.     

WORK,INCOME SUPPORT,AND CRIME IN THE DUTCH WELFARE STATE: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY FOLLOWING VULNERABLE YOUTH INTO ADULTHOOD

Life‐course criminological research has consistently suggested that employment can reduce criminal behavior. However, it is unclear whether the financial aspects of employment or the social control that inheres in employment best explains the relationship between employment and reduced offending. By using longitudinal information on a sample of men and women (N = 540) who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution in the 1990s, this study examines the effects of employment as well as the different types of income support on crime. Random‐ and fixed‐effects models show that for men, both work and income support are associated with a reduction in the rate of offending. For women, however, although employment is correlated with a lower offending rate, receiving income support, and in particular disability benefits, is correlated with a higher offending rate. The findings support both theories that stress the financial motivation for crime as well as theories that emphasize the importance of informal social control for reducing offending.     

GENERAL STRAIN THEORY: ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE USING CROSS‐CULTURAL DATA*

Data from random samples of residents in major cities of Russia, Ukraine, and Greece are employed to test hypotheses about linkages among objective strain, subjective strain, anger, and criminal probability specified in general strain theory (GST). In addition, the potential conditioning effects of religiosity and self‐control on the strain/criminal probability relationship are investigated. Results show more challenge than support for GST. In particular, all supportive results are for the Ukrainian sample with the Greek and Russian samples providing little confirmation to the study's hypotheses. Although analyses show some support for the basic premises of GST, using a measure of subjective strain does not improve results, and self‐control and religiosity do not seem to condition the effects of strain on criminal probability. Overall, the findings point to contextual specificity of GST as currently formulated and suggest the need for further theorizing.     

Social learning and self-control: assessing the moderating potential of criminal propensity

Social learning theory is one of the most prominent general theories of crime. Yet recent research has called into question its applicability to all offenders. Specifically, the influence of antisocial peers has been found to exert a stronger effect among those individuals evincing higher levels of criminal propensity (deemed social amplification), whereas other components of the theory have either not been shown to interact with criminal propensity or not been tested. This study examines several social learning theory components to determine whether its influence is dependent on an individual's level of self-control. Results suggest little support for the social amplification hypothesis as the components of social learning theory were found to operate similarly across individuals regardless one's level of self-control. Implications for criminological theory are discussed.     

EXPLAINING THE GENDER GAP IN CRIME: THE ROLE OF HEART RATE

Although it is well established that males engage in more crime compared with females, little is known about what accounts for the gender gap. Few studies have been aimed at empirically examining mediators of the gender–crime relationship in a longitudinal context. In this study, we test the hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly mediates the relationship between gender and crime. In a sample of 894 participants, the resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self‐reported and official conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence, and drug‐related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated the relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body mass index, race, social adversity, and activity level. Resting heart rate accounted for 5.4 percent to 17.1 percent of the gender difference in crime. This study is the first to produce results documenting that lower heart rates in males partly explain their higher levels of offending. Our findings complement traditional theoretical accounts of the gender gap and have implications for the advancement of integrative criminological theory.     

ASSESSING AND EXPLAINING MISPERCEPTIONS OF PEER DELINQUENCY*

Peer delinquency is a robust correlate of delinquent and criminal behavior. However, debate continues to surround the proper measurement of peer delinquency. Recent research suggests that some respondents are likely to misrepresent their peers’ involvement in delinquency when asked in survey questionnaires, drawing into question the traditional (i.e., perceptual) measurement of peer delinquency. Research also has shown that direct measures of peer delinquency (e.g., measures obtained via networking methods such as Add Health), as compared with perceptual measures, differentially correlate with key theoretical variables (e.g., respondent delinquency and respondent self‐control), raising the question of whether misperception of peer delinquency is systematic and can be predicted. Almost no research, however, has focused on this issue. This study, therefore, provides detailed information on respondents’ misperceptions of peer behavior and investigates whether individual characteristics, the amount of time spent with peers, and peer network properties predict these misperceptions. Findings indicated that 1) some individuals—to varying degrees—misperceived the delinquent behavior of their peers; 2) self‐control and self‐reported delinquency predicted misperception; 3) respondents occupying densely populated peer networks were less likely to misperceive their peers’ delinquent involvement; and 4) peers who occupy networks in which individuals spend a lot of time together were more likely to misperceive peer delinquency. Implications are discussed.     

LEARNING TO BE BAD: ADVERSE SOCIAL CONDITIONS,SOCIAL SCHEMAS,AND CRIME*

In this article, we develop and test a new approach to explain the link between social factors and individual offending. We argue that seemingly disparate family, peer, and community conditions lead to crime because the lessons communicated by these events are similar and promote social schemas involving a hostile view of people and relationships, a preference for immediate rewards, and a cynical view of conventional norms. Furthermore, we posit that these three schemas are interconnected and combine to form a criminogenic knowledge structure that results in situational interpretations legitimating criminal behavior. Structural equation modeling with a sample of roughly 700 African American teens provided strong support for the model. The findings indicated that persistent exposure to adverse conditions such as community crime, discrimination, harsh parenting, deviant peers, and low neighborhood collective efficacy increased commitment to the three social schemas. The three schemas were highly intercorrelated and combined to form a latent construct that strongly predicted increases in crime. Furthermore, in large measure, the effect of the various adverse conditions on increases in crime was indirect through their impact on this latent construct. We discuss the extent to which the social‐schematic model presented in this article might be used to integrate concepts and findings from several major theories of criminal behavior.     

NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT AND NONLINEAR PEER EFFECTS ON ADOLESCENT VIOLENT CRIME*

Although evidence of the strong correlation between deviant behavior and exposure to deviant peers is overwhelming, researchers have yet to investigate whether a nonlinear functional form better captures this relationship than does a linear form. Researchers also have yet to examine the extent to which peer effects vary as a function of the neighborhood context. To address these issues, we use data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) to examine 1) the functional form of the relationship between peer violence exposure and self‐reported violent crime and 2) the extent to which the effect of exposure to violent peers on violence is ecologically structured. Estimates from logistic hierarchical models indicate that the effect of peer violence exposure on violent crime decreases at higher values of peer violence, as reflected in a nonlinear relationship (expressed in terms of log‐odds). Furthermore, exposure to violent peers increases along with neighborhood disadvantage, and the effect of peer violence exposure on violent crime is attenuated as neighborhood disadvantage increases, which is reflected in a cross‐level peer violence/disadvantage interaction.