Essay - Criminal Justice - Gender and Crime Gender and Crime Agnew's...

Criminal Justice - Gender and Crime

GENDER AND CRIME Agnew's Strain Theory of Criminology:

***** Strain ***** conceives of criminal behavior and other asocial conduct as at le*****t partially attributable to the emotional effects of cumulative stressors on ***** individual. Specifically, *****s who experience personal failures and frustrations are more likely than those who do not to eventually act out in deviant behaviors including crime and violence. According to Agnew, strains trigger negative emotions, which in turn, generate various ***** behaviors ***** individuals who are unable to cope with them (Broidy 2001).

Anger is a fundamental component of general strain theory because it ***** primarily anger that manifests itself in deviant, antisocial, *****, or violent behavior. General stra***** theory recognizes three major classes of *****in likely to ***** deviant ***** by virtue of *****: (1) the failure to achieve positively-held goals as defined by society; (2) the loss of positively-valued stimuli; ***** (3) prolonged exposure to negative stimuli (Agnew 199*****). Many criminologists believe that a significant proportion of criminal deviance and violence in society is directly attributable ***** concepts *****lined ***** general strain theory.

***** Theory and Gender Differences in Crim*****al Conduct:

Sociologists, psychologists, and ***** have long known that males are much more at risk of juvenile delinquency (Francis 2007) deviance, and of criminality and violent criminality in particular ***** females (Ogle, et al 1995). Male ********** *****ly outnumber female offenders across the entire spectrum of criminal conduct, but even more so with respect to crimes of violence (Ogle, et al *****). Strain *****orists ********** several possible associations ***** suggest ***** mechanisms explaining the apparent greater susceptibility of males ***** the negative consequences of stressful ***** defined by general strain *****ory.

In general, the first of Agnew's three classes of strain are much more ***** to affect ***** than ***** beginning in adolescence (Savage 2007) but continuing throughout adult life by virtue of differential societal pressures and expectations of males.

In that regard, Agnew *****s two different sources of strains: that which results from the individual's personal frustration at failing to achieve standards ***** individual accepts for himself and th***** which ***** from the *****'s awareness ***** societal attitudes toward his failure to achieve greater success (Agnew 1992). ***** (1992) acknowledges that social expectations exist ***** respect to everybody, but suggests that males experience ***** ***** pressure to achieve professional success in Western culture ***** females. Even with relative equality in terms of educational and vocational opportunities in contemporary *****, relative underachievement is considerably more frustrating ***** males than for females.

Anecdotal evidence ***** common experience strongly suggest, for just one example, that it ***** ***** more shameful ***** a man to rely on his wife for financial support than vice- versa. Furthermore, males are not socialized to develop the kinds of social networks and intimate connections with friends ***** are comparatively ***** among females. The ***** relevance of the character and quality ***** friendships and other ***** relationships is that females experiencing strains ***** could potentially contribute to