An Integrated Theoretical Perspective on Delinquent Behavior

Elliott, Delbert S.; Ageton, Suzanne S.; Canter, Rachelle J.

doi:10.1177/002242787901600102

Cited by 273 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Those who lack such conventional bonds, by contrast, may feel isolated and/or marginalized and are accordingly less restricted to conformist behavior. Elliott et al (1979) modified Hirschi's control theory by arguing that delinquency is most likely when both weak bonds to conventional groups and strong bonds to deviant groups are present.…”

Section: Stage 2: Uncontrolled Strainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Murder at School and Cumulative Strain

Levin

Madfis

2009

American Behavioral Scientist

204

205

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To explain the genesis of mass murder committed by students at their schools, the authors propose a five-stage sequential model in which several criminological theories (strain theory, control theory, and routine activities theory) are brought to bear collectively to demonstrate their cumulative effect. These stages are as follows: chronic strain, uncontrolled strain, acute strain, the planning stage, and the massacre. Long-term frustrations (chronic strains) experienced early in life or in adolescence lead to social isolation, and the resultant lack of prosocial support systems (uncontrolled strain) in turn allows a short-term negative event (acute strain), be it real or imagined, to be particularly devastating. As such, the acute strain initiates a planning stage, wherein a mass killing is fantasized about as a masculine solution to regain lost feelings of control, and actions are taken to ensure the fantasy can become reality. The planning process concludes in a massacre facilitated by weapons that enable mass destruction in schoolrooms and campuses, where students are closely packed together. Based on this analysis, prevention strategies are suggested.

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Section: Stage 2: Uncontrolled Strainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Murder at School and Cumulative Strain

Levin

Madfis

2009

American Behavioral Scientist

204

205

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“…Blau and Blau's (1982) "The Costs of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime" helped to legitimate such efforts, as did the rediscovery of classically grounded perspectives, such as social disorganization (Bursik and Grasmick 1993;Sampson and Groves 1989;Wilson 1996) and strain theories (Agnew 1992(Agnew , 1999Messner and Rosenfeld 1997). During approximately the same period of time, several integrated and developmental theories emerged (i.e., Akers 1998;Elliot, Ageton, and Cantor 1979;Hawkins and Weis 1985;Sampson and Laub 1993;Thornberry 1987). These perspectives incorporated structural conditions of communities into their models-conditions presumed to influence delinquency above and beyond the impact of individuallevel processes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Local Labor Market Opportunity To Violent Adolescent Delinquency

Bellair¹,

Roscigno²,

McNulty³

2003

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

102

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Most criminological theory is cast at either the macro or micro level. Developmental and integrated theories are an exception as they combine community characteristics such as neighborhood poverty with micro-level processes. What remains lacking, however, is attention to labor market conditions. The authors address this gap by testing a contextual model that links Keywords: labor market; employment; violence; contextualThe importance attributed by criminologists to structural causes of delinquency and crime has waxed and waned over the past century. However, over the past 20 years, structural theorizing has been revitalized. Blau and Blau's (1982) "The Costs of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime" helped to legitimate such efforts, as did the rediscovery of classically grounded perspectives, such as social disorganization (Bursik and Grasmick 1993;Sampson and Groves 1989;Wilson 1996) and strain theories (Agnew 1992(Agnew , 1999Messner and Rosenfeld 1997 Sampson and Laub 1993;Thornberry 1987). These perspectives incorporated structural conditions of communities into their models-conditions presumed to influence delinquency above and beyond the impact of individuallevel processes.Despite the importance assigned to structural attributes in contemporary theory and research, structural characteristics are rarely measured. They are also seldom included in tests of "integrated" conceptual models. This is particularly true when it comes to local labor market structure and opportunity. Indeed, with very few exceptions (reviewed below), researchers seeking to test models that integrate structural and micro-level theory have not systematically developed a set of indicators that adequately capture local labor market conditions, nor have they developed an explicit rationale for their inclusion-a rationale grounded in the insights of contemporary stratification theory and research.In this article, we examine the relationship between labor market conditions and violent adolescent delinquency. We also assess whether the relationship can be explained by mediation through family well-being and adolescent attachments to family, school, and delinquent peers. We view our efforts as an initial step toward demonstrating the importance of local opportunity structures and identifying potential mechanism(s) that may produce the effect. We begin with a brief discussion and critique of prior contextual research. Next, grounding our analysis in the labor market stratification literature, we describe potentially important mediating processes that link structural opportunity with individual outcomes. Finally, we offer a test of the relations described-drawing from a nationally representative sample and employing techniques that are analytically appropriate given the multilevel nature of the associations we discuss. BACKGROUND

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“…Elliott, Ageton, and Canter (1979) indicated already in the late seventies that theoretical reliance on variables from one theory (cf. strain, self-control, etc.)…”

Section: An Integrative Mechanism-based Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%