Since the initial articulation of general strain theory (GST), Agnew has suggested strains may function differently—in type, response, and impact—for different groups. We build upon Pérez and colleagues’ foundational arguments for a Latinx GST by investigating the role of the ethnically specific strains they propose in addition to other strains argued to disproportionately impact people of Color. Furthermore, we examine the protective role of positive ethnic identity against the negative effects of strainful experiences for Latinxs. Using a sample of Latinx youth from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we highlight not only the unique strains faced by Latinxs in America, but how they distinctly experience and respond to criminogenic strains.
While persons may differ on the identified start of what evolved into the “Me Too” movement of 2017, the media focus makes the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas saga of October 1991 a starting point for a slow cruise to a season of reckoning. This article explores the circumstances that led to a cataclysm where women have been believed and the alleged perpetrators have experienced consequences. These elements are a grassroots movement against sexual harassment across sectors; high-profile celebrity cases that attracted public attention; the use of a social media venue, the # MeToo, that facilitated the victims speaking publicly, from a safe distance from the harasser or abuser, no longer feeling compelled to silence for personal or career reasons; the election of a President (Trump) who was recorded jesting about engaging in sexual harassment; courageous investigative journalism in the face of threats from powerful persons; and President Obama’s Title IX enhancements that put sexual assaults on college and universities in the news (and Betsy Devos’s reversal of some of these initiatives). A final ingredient is the initial mistrial of Bill Cosby in 2017 (he has since been convicted of sexual assault in 2018).
This study investigates gendered differences within Latinx experiences using a GST framework. We address four hypotheses: (1) Latinos and Latinas will vary in their degrees of risk for and resilience against criminal behavior; (2) Latinos and Latinas will experience strains to various degrees; (3) Latinos are more likely to respond to strain with violent and serious crime than Latinas due to the types of strains they face and their varying degrees of risk and resilience; and (4) ethnic identity will provide different degrees of resilience against violent and serious offending between Latinos and Latinas. Implications are discussed.
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