General strain theory (GST)
Definition
Robert Agnew's 1992 reformulation of strain theory. GST identifies three sources of strain: failure to achieve positively valued goals, removal of positively valued stimuli, and exposure to negatively valued stimuli. Negative emotions, especially anger, are the mediating mechanism between strain and crime.
Related terms
- Anomie
- A condition in which social norms weaken or become contradictory, leaving individuals without clear moral guidance. First used by Durkheim to describe...
- Innovation (Merton)
- One of Merton's five adaptations: accepting the culturally approved goal (financial success) while rejecting legitimate means and substituting illegitimate ones. Merton identified...
- Institutional anomie theory (IAT)
- Messner and Rosenfeld's macro-level extension of Merton (1994). IAT argues that societies in which the economy dominates all other institutions produce high...
- Retreatism
- One of Merton's five adaptations: rejecting both the culturally approved goal and the legitimate means, withdrawing from the competitive social order altogether....
- Strain
- In criminological theory, the pressure or frustration produced when individuals cannot achieve goals through legitimate means, or when they experience loss or...
Explained in
- Anomie and Strain TheoriesRobert Agnew's 1992 reformulation of strain theory. GST identifies three sources of strain: failure to achieve positively valued goals, removal of positively v...