Examining Strain in a School Context

• Published date: 01 April 2008
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204007308430
• Date: 01 April 2008
• Subject Matter: Articles

Examining Strain in a

School Context

Daniel R. Lee

Jeffrey W. Cohen

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

General strain theory has accumulated a considerable amount of empirical support. Many of

these assessments have tested the direct relationship that strain has on crime and delinquency.

The research presented here examines the relationship between schools and delinquency within

a general strain theory perspective. More specifically, this research examines how schools can

not only act as a source of an individual’s strain and subsequent delinquency but also be a source

for mediating or coping with strain and minimizing delinquency. To test the relationship between

schools and delinquency, data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS:88)

are analyzed in a model of general strain that specifies sources of school-based strain and sources

of school-based mechanisms for controlling strain.

Keywords: NELS; school administration; school context; school violence; strain; substance

use; truancy

Introduction

Schools and delinquency are related in a number of ways. Because of compulsory

education laws, young people are legally bound to attend schools for a significant portion

of the day and for several months each year. Because younger people are more likely to

commit crimes or delinquent acts than older people, and most criminals are more likely to

offend against those individuals who are most like themselves, schools seem to be not only

a likely place for delinquent acts but also a place for young people to be victimized (see

DeVoe, Peter, Noonan, Snyder, & Baum, 2005; U.S. Department of Education, 2003). This

scenario of likely offending and likely victimization is one that should be of considerable

interest and importance to the criminological community.

Other than identifying delinquency and victimization, schools are useful for the admin-

istration of surveys, and the testing of theories among adolescent samples, and the basic

tenets and constructs of our most popular criminological theories are conceptually tied to the

daily routines of students. Hirschi’s (1969) theory of social bonding predicts that adoles-

cents, who are more committed and involved in prosocial activities (like school) will be less

likely to commit delinquency acts. Sutherland’s (1947) differential association theory and

Akers’ (1977) social learning theory expect that a considerable amount of definitions of and

attitudes toward delinquent acts are accepted, shared, or conditioned through adolescent–peer

Youth Violence and

Juvenile Justice

Volume 6 Number 2

April 2008 115-135

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115

Authors’ Note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Daniel R. Lee, PhD, Department of

Criminology, G-1 McElhaney Hall,Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA 15705; e-mail: danlee@iup.edu.

associations. Strain theories such as Cohen’s (1955) offer that schools serve as conveyors

of socially prescribed goals and create unique opportunities for these goals to become

blocked to individuals from lower social and economic classes. Advances in strain theory

have proposed that schools can be a unique source of social–psychological strain (Agnew,

1985, 1992, 2001).

This study examines this social–psychological version of strain and identifies how schools

can not only act as a source of an individual’s strain but also as a source for mediation or

coping with strain. First, a brief review of the development of strain theory is presented. Then,

an application of contemporary strain theory specific to schools is discussed. Finally, an

expanded model of general strain theory is offered as a more complete alternative to under-

standing schools as a source of delinquency causation and mediation. This model is assessed

with data drawn from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88). From this

assessment, conclusions are presented and direction for continued school-based research and

policy is offered.

Literature Review

Most versions of strain theory trace their origin to Merton’s (1938) essay about anomie

and social structure. In that essay, Merton suggested that personal success and satisfaction

derive not only from attaining goals but from surpassing other competitors. This competitive

spirit can lead individuals to manipulate different and sometimes illegal means to achieve

success. These pursuits can also “invite exaggerated anxieties, hostilities . . . and antisocial

behavior” (Merton, 1938, p. 680). To some extent, Merton’s propositions emphasize pecu-

niary success, but an expanded interpretation would allow for success to come in many

forms and not be limited to an individual’s financial gains. Cohen (1955) and Cloward and

Ohlin (1960) elaborated Merton’s thesis and offered specific explanations for juvenile

delinquency that included schools as a multifaceted source of strain that might include

diminished status and blocked opportunities for social advancement.

For several decades, strain theory was empirically assessed as a macro-level theory;1that

is, many strain assumptions have been tested through the identification and measurement

of socially prescribed goals and achievement of those goals. Some tests have moved away

from these aggregate or macro-assessments of the theory and have begun to point toward

aspirations to and achievement of individual measures of success (see Figure 1). This

movement toward an individual model of strain was solidified when Agnew began to

develop General Strain theory (see Agnew, 1985).

General strain theory proposed that crime and delinquency were the result of an individ-

ual’s emotional status produced by negative personal relationships (Agnew, 1992). The

strain from these negative relationships is produced by a greater variety of circumstances

than those proposed in earlier strain theories, but General Strain theory has included in these

circumstances a remnant of its theoretical predecessor, namely, the disjunction between an

individual’s aspirations and expectations (see Figure 2). Added to this historic element of

strain were the removal of positively valued stimuli (e.g., the loss of a boy/girlfriend, the

death or divorce of parents, or the separation from a group of peers) and the introduction

116 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice