A Comparison of Four General Theories of Crime and Deviance

• Author: Rohald Ardwan Meneses,Ronald L. Akers
• Published date: 01 December 2011
• Date: 01 December 2011
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567711408302
• Subject Matter: Articles

Articles

A Comparison of Four

General Theories of Crime

and Deviance: Marijuana

Use Among American and

Bolivian University Students

Rohald Ardwan Meneses

1

and Ronald L. Akers

2

Abstract

Explanations of deviant and criminal behavior have been widely studied in the United States and

Europe with some studies also conducted in Asian countries. The authors believe that this study

is the first to compare directly the extent to which major general social psychological theories

of criminal and deviant behavior developed primarily in the United States (General Strain, Social

Bonding, Self-Control, and Social Learning) are applicable to a Latin American society. The authors

compare how well the theories explain variation in marijuana use among samples of university

students in the United States and Bolivia using the same methodology and measurements in each.

The results indicate that each of the theories do account for individual differences in use in both

samplesto some extent, withsocial learning theoryreceiving somewhatmore support as an explanation

of marijuana use in both societies.

Keywords

Central/South America, comparative crime/justice, individual theories of crime causation, substance

use

Introduction

The importance of research testing the validity of theories of criminal and deviant behavior that

have been developed primarily in the United States and Europe is well recognized (Hwang & Akers,

2003; Stamatel, 2009). There is a relatively small but growing body of research on this issue, but

there are many societies, especially in South America, in which there has been essentially no

research testing criminological theories. To the best of our knowledge, the research reported here

is the first of its kind, in which the relative empirical validity of four major general theories of crime

and deviance are directly tested with samples in both a Latin American society (Bolivia) and the

1

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

2

University of Florida

Corresponding Author:

Ronald L. Akers, PO 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Email: rlakers@ufl.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

21(4) 333-352

ª2011 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567711408302

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United States, using the same data collection instruments and measures of variables, the same data

collection procedures completed within about the same time frame from samples of the same type of

population. The purpose of the study was to assess how well the theories on their own and in com-

parison to one another explain variation among respondents in both samples in the recreational use

of marijuana, legally defined as illicit in both societies.

The theories are (a) Agnew’s general strain theory, (b) Hirschi’s social bonding theory,

(c) Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory, and (d) Akers’ social learning theory. These

theories are among the most influential and recognized micro-level, social psychological theories

in criminology (Cooper, Walsh, & Ellis, 2010; Ellis, Cooper, & Walsh, 2008) and have been charac-

terized as ‘‘core’’ perspectives in the field (Cullen & Agnew, 2010; Cullen, Wright, & Blevins, 2006).

Because each is well known, and in the interest of space, only brief overviews rather than full explica-

tions of the theory will be given.

Overview of the Theories

General strain theory (Agnew, 1985, 1992) proposes that individuals are ‘‘pressured’’ into crime

and deviant behavior as a way of coping with or responding to strain and stress (such as parental

rejection, abusive peer relations, failure to achieve goals, and negative experiences) they encounter

(Agnew,Brezina, Wright,& Cullen, 2002). Thus,the hypothesis for this studyis that the more the person

has experienced stress/strain, the greater the likelihood that he or she will use marijuana. A sizeable

body of supportive evidence on general strain theory has accumulated (see the reviews of research in

Agnew, 2006) including some cross-national research (Bao, Haas, & Pi, 2004; Maxwell, 2001).

The four main explanatory concepts in social bonding theory (Hirschi, 1969) are the individual’s

attachment (strength of affective ties to individuals and groups), commitment (investment of effort

and resources in conventional lines of activity), involvement (amount of engagement and time spent

in conforming activities), and belief (subscribing to general norms and laws of society). The theory

hypothesizes that the stronger these bonds to society, the less likely the individual engage in any type

of crime or deviance, in this case, use of marijuana. A large body of research has generally found

support for the explanatory power of social bonding theory for delinquency, crime, and substance

use (see the reviews of this research by Akers & Sellers, 2009; Kempf, 1993), and there is some

research showing that it is applicable in other societies outside of the United States (see for instance,

Junger-Tas, 1992; Wang, Qiao, Hong, & Zhang, 2002).

Self-control as a general theory of crime was proposed by Hirschi in collaboration with

Gottfredson (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990).

1

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, the lower the

individual’s self-control (the more the person is impulsive, risk-taking, self-centered, and so on), the

greater the likelihood of his or hers involvement in criminal or ‘‘analogous’’ behavior (such as sub-

stance use) across all circumstances, groups, and cultural contexts. There is a large body of research

testing self-control theory with generally supportive findings (for reviews of the research see Akers &

Sellers, 2009; Gottfredson, 2006; Pratt & Cullen, 2000). These include findings from research in soci-

eties other than the United States (Antonaccio & Tittle, 2006; O

¨zbay, 2008; O

¨zbay & O

¨zcan, 2006;

Vazsonyi, Pickering, Junger, & Hessing, 2001). The hypothesis from the theory for this study is that

the lower the individual’s self-control, the greater the probability that he or she will use marijuana.

Social learning theory (Akers, 1998; Akers, Krohn, Lanza-Kaduce, & Radosevich, 1979)

proposes that individuals are more likely to begin and continue in criminal, deviant, or substance

use behavior such as using marijuana, the greater the extent to which they have been in differential

association with others who are involved in and hold attitudes supportive of such behavior, the more

positive or neutralizing definitions or attitudes they hold with regard to such behavior, the greater the

balance of rewarding over punishing consequences for such behavior they have experienced or per-

ceived (differential reinforcement), the greater they are exposed to or influenced by observing such

334 International Criminal Justice Review 21(4)