Testing Structural Strain Theories
- 1 November 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
- Vol. 24 (4), 262-280
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427887024004002
Abstract
The strain theories of Merton, Cohen, and Cloward and Ohlin do not assert an individual relationship between crime and frustration. The theories assert an aggregate relation between crime and social structural characteristics, but at the individual level those characteristics are neither necessary nor sufficient for criminal activity. These theories cannot be falsified with individual-level data, although they can be falsified with aggregate data. Specific aggregate predictions are derived from each theory and strategies for testing those predictions are discussed.Keywords
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