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.     

From good intentions to successful implementation: the case of patient safety in Canada

Abstract: Improvements to patient safety have become a major issue on Canada's already crowded health care policy agenda. This paper applies implementation theory to the practical issues involved with the adoption of patient safety reforms. It is based on a review of the literature and official reports on patient safety and on the author's experience as the chair of the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety created in June 2004. The obstacles and possible solutions to advance the patient safety agenda are discussed. While implementation theory was found to provide a general guide, the author's experience leads him to conclude the literature on governance and organizational change offers more practical advice. Sommaire: L'amélioration de la sécurité des patients est devenue une question majeure du programme déjà chargé des politiques en matière de soins de santé. Le présent article applique une théorie de mise en œuvre aux questions pratiques découlant de l'adoption des réformes sur la sécurité du patient. II est fondé sur une étude de publications et rapports officiels sur la sécurité du patient, ainsi que sur l'expérience de l'auteur en tant que président du conseil d'administration de l'Institut pour la sécurité des patients du Manitoba, créé en juin 2004. II passe en revue les obstacles et les solutions possibles à la promotion du programme de la sécurité des patients. Si l'auteur trouve que la théorie de la mise en œuvre fournit un guide général, son expérience le pousse à conclure que la documentation sur la gouvernance et les changements organisationnels offre davantage de conseils pratiques.