The Characteristics And Strengths Of General Strain Theory

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General Strain Theory
Noel Rangel
University of North Texas at Dallas

There are many theories to choose from and I decided to choose and focus on general strain theory. I chose general strain theory because I believe this particular theory applies to a lot of people across the United States, especially those people who are in the middle class and below. First I am going to explain what general strain theory is and what Agnew finds most important about it. Secondly, what micro level components are used in this theory and how they affect people. Lastly, I am going to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of general strain theory. Not everyone falls victim to general strain theory because not everyone is in the same social and economical predicament. A lot of people are unfortunate to go through these strains/stressors of life and it all comes down to how one chooses to deal with the hand life dealt them. Dr. Robert Agnew (2013) took Robert Merton’s classical …show more content…

The strengths that general strain theory has are the variety of different strains it provides (Agnew, 2013, p. 203). Another one of its strengths is the fact that it provides individual characteristics. Individual characteristics were important to present in this theory because it is primarily composed of micro-level components. By presenting a more detailed explanation of individuals, this led to the conclusion of what type of “individual’s are more disposed than others to respond to strains with crime” (Agnew, 2013, p. 210). Some people see crime as their only way out and others choose to commit crime and choose to associate with a criminal crowd. As for weaknesses in general strain theory, the only weakness I could think of is the fact that it is not macro-level based. If Agnew’s theory were to contain both micro-level and macro-level components, I believe it would be a harder theory for people to

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