scholarly journals Are the Effects of Poverty and Victimization on Criminal Recidivism Mediated by Depression as Predicted by General Strain Theory? A Longitudinal Study of Provincially Sentenced Women

Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Newman

The current study is a longitudinal analysis of psychosocial factors contributing to re-offending among 125 adult female offenders. Drawing on General Strain Theory (GST), the study examined the role of victimization and poverty on criminal recidivism and investigated whether this relationship was mediated by depression. Regression, survival, and mediational analyses were employed to examine the impact of these variables on criminal recidivism. Findings revealed that using illegal means to make ends meet, and having survived childhood sexual abuse, were particularly important predictors of recidivism for women in the study sample, although depression was not found to significantly mediate the relationship between strain and recidivism. Implications for future research on female recidivism and helping women to stay crime-free are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Newman

The current study is a longitudinal analysis of psychosocial factors contributing to re-offending among 125 adult female offenders. Drawing on General Strain Theory (GST), the study examined the role of victimization and poverty on criminal recidivism and investigated whether this relationship was mediated by depression. Regression, survival, and mediational analyses were employed to examine the impact of these variables on criminal recidivism. Findings revealed that using illegal means to make ends meet, and having survived childhood sexual abuse, were particularly important predictors of recidivism for women in the study sample, although depression was not found to significantly mediate the relationship between strain and recidivism. Implications for future research on female recidivism and helping women to stay crime-free are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (17) ◽  
pp. 2647-2667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Cudmore ◽  
Carlos A. Cuevas ◽  
Chiara Sabina

Although criminological research has provided support for general strain theory (GST), there is still little known about the relationship between victimization and delinquency among Latino adolescents. This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by examining the association between a broader measure of victimization (i.e., polyvictimization) and delinquent behavior using data from the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) Study, a national sample of Latino youth. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine two issues: (a) whether polyvictimization is associated with self-reported delinquent behavior and (b) whether anger mediates the relationship between polyvictimization and delinquency. Our findings provided partial support for GST among Latino youth. Specifically, the effect of polyvictimization on delinquency was explained in part by its effect on anger. Contrary to the theory’s hypothesis, the effect of polyvictimization was not conditional on the effect of social support. Overall, findings suggested that GST is a promising framework for understanding the relationship between polyvictimization and delinquency among Latino youth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Randall P. Settoon ◽  
Sang H. Lee

Prior research focusing on the impact of individualistic orientations on the performance of cooperative behaviors has produced mixed results. Researchers have concluded that the self-focused orientation of individualists will lead them to be less cooperative than others. On the other hand, some scholars have argued that helping others is core to individualists’ self-concept and that competently assuming the role of help-giver is a source of intrinsic satisfaction. In this study, we test this proposition by examining individualistic orientations within employee help-seeking networks. Results from a sample of 107 employees within a regional medical center indicate that the level of individualism in helping-seeking networks is positively associated with help-seekers’ perceptions of support. Further, the results suggest that the relationship is stronger in dense networks. Implications of this work and directions for future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Ravineet Kaur ◽  
Rakesh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Apurva Bakshi

Abstract. Marketers are increasingly relying on covert advertising tactics to persuade consumers. This empirical study selected the context of an emerging market to examine the effectiveness of product placements. Using an experimental design, we captured the affective and behavioral responses of young Indian adults. The results indicated that young adults are positive about product placements. The mediating role of brand attitude change in the relationship between attitude toward product placements and purchase intentions is established. The study provides valuable insights into the impact of execution factors on viewers’ responses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed based on the results of this study.


Author(s):  
Timothy Brezina

General strain theory (GST) provides a unique explanation of crime and delinquency. In contrast to control and learning theories, GST focuses explicitly on negative treatment by others and is the only major theory of crime and delinquency to highlight the role of negative emotions in the etiology of offending. According to GST, the experience of strain or stress tends to generate negative emotions such as anger, frustration, depression, and despair. These negative emotions, in turn, are said to create pressures for corrective action, with crime or delinquency being one possible response. GST was designed, in part, to address criticisms leveled against previous versions of strain theory. Earlier versions of strain theory have been criticized for focusing on a narrow range of possible strains, for their inability to explain why only some strained individuals resort to crime or delinquency, and for limited empirical support. GST has been partly successful in overcoming these limitations. Since its inception, the theory has received a considerable amount of attention from researchers, has enjoyed a fair amount of empirical support, and has been credited with helping to revitalize the strain theory tradition. The full potential of GST has yet to be realized, however, as the theory continues to evolve and further testing is required.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-430
Author(s):  
Marco Teijón-Alcalá ◽  
Christopher Birkbeck

General Strain Theory (GST) identifies victimization as one of the strains most strongly related to crime which, like other sources of strain, is moderated by individual and social factors. Recently, Agnew extended the theorization of coping strategies by proposing that the effects of strain on deviance are conditioned by individual and social factors in combination, rather than singly, which he labeled crime propensity. Tests of the propensity hypothesis have so far yielded mixed results, highlighting the value of additional studies. Whereas previous tests have focused on single countries, either in North America or Asia, we test the propensity hypothesis using data on adolescents in 25 countries collected through the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3; n = 57,760). A series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions show that the relationship between victimization and delinquency/substance use is conditioned by the effects of individuals’ crime propensity, thereby supporting the recent extension to GST.


Author(s):  
Thomas Wojciechowski

Self-injury is a deviant behavior often understood as the intentional infliction of harm onto one’s own body that exists absent of suicidal. This study uses a qualitative methodology to examine the etiology and perpetuation of self-injury using the terminology of relevant social-psychological theories to determine which processes best describe a causal pathway leading to self-injury and its perpetuation after the onset of the behavior. Data obtained from 16 semi-structured interviews with former and current self-injurers indicate that the processes described in general strain theory, social learning theory, and social control theory are all important for understanding the etiology and perpetuation of self-injury. Analytic induction was utilized as the method of analysis in order to parse out only the elements universal to pathways to self-injury evident in all of the examined cases. All participants used self-injury as coping response for mitigating negative affect stemming from strain, thus, implicating general strain theory as important for understanding the onset of self-injury. Participants were categorized into two subtypes of self-injurers based upon the temporal dimension of the social learning process. Future research should attempt to use quantitative methodologies to provide generalizability for the results of this study and examine how changes in risk and protective factors over the life-course modify one’s propensity to engage in self-injury.


The present study investigated the impact of execution planning on agile project success with the mediating role of information sharing and moderating role of organization effectiveness because of the highlighted importance of agile methodology in the project industry due to its interactive customer collaborative approach. For this purpose, data were collected from software industry in Pakistan who utilize agile methodology in their projects. 300 completed questionnaires were received from the distributed and 280 were utilized for data analysis. The results delineated that execution planning has positive and significant relationship with agile project success. Similarly, the results indicated that information sharing mediates the relationship between execution planning and agile project success. Furthermore, the data showed that organization effectiveness moderates the relationship of execution planning and information sharing. Lastly, we conclude with theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions.


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