purging behavior in a sample of college females: a research note on general strain theory and female deviance

General Strain Theory for LGBQ and SSB Youth

“…Broidy and Agnew’s (1997) work suggests men and women experience different types of strains, differ in their emotional responses to strain, and cope with strain differently. Others have proposed additional investigations of GST that examine specific gender differences in stress (Hoffman & Su, 1997), interpersonal strain (Agnew & Brezina, 1997), violent crime (Mazerolle, 1998), and anger (Piquero & Sealock, 2004; Sharp et al, 2001). This work suggests that taking into account men’s and women’s experiences is an important part of the investigation of gendered approaches to GST and can certainly inform our understandings of the relationships between negative experiences and negative outcomes.…”

“…One area that received special attention was the application of GST to the relationships between gender and criminality. In particular, Broidy and Agnew’s (1997) theoretical examination of GST sparked a critical dialogue about “gendered” GST, which has been advanced by many scholars (e.g., Broidy, 2001; Cernkovich, Lanctôt, & Giordano, 2008; Hoffman & Su, 1997; Jang, 2007; Mazerolle, 1998; Piquero & Sealock, 2004; Robbers, 2004; Sharp, Brewster, & Love, 2005; Sharp, Terling-Watt, Atkins, & Gilliam, 2001). This important work frames the study of GST within the realm of feminist criminology, as it highlights the significance of the experiences of women and girls as different from men’s and boys’ experiences.…”

General Strain Theory, Peer Rejection, and Delinquency/Crime

“…The empirical literature does not provide conclusive evidence that GST accounts for gender differences in strain. For instance, many studies have shown that measures of strain and negative emotions appear to be different across gender (Agnew & Brezina, 1997; Baron, 2007; Cullen et al, 2008; Eitle, 2002; Hoffmann & Su, 1997; Jang & Johnson, 2005; Jennings et al, 2009; Mazerolle, 1998; Moon et al, 2009; Piquero & Sealock, 2004; Preston, 2006; Sharp et al, 2001, 2005; Sigfusdottir et al, 2008; Sigfusdottir & Silver, 2009), and a few studies in particular have found differences in strain across males and females (Hay, 2003; Morash & Moon, 2007; Robbers, 2004). Although the literature shows that GST is useful in explaining crime and delinquency across gender, the evidence is not conclusive in accounting for the gender differences in strain suggesting that further study is necessary.…”

“…Second, females may have the kind of support that addresses their emotional states; thus, an emotional response may not result in the same coping mechanisms as males. Third, females and males may be socialized to cope with stressors in different ways, with females exhibiting internal forms of deviance (such as disordered eating; Piquero, Fox, Piquero, Mazerolle, & Capowich, 2010;Sharp et al, 2001Sharp et al, , 2005 and males exhibiting external forms of deviance such as violence. Fourth, males may not be monitored by authority figures (i.e., parents or school administrators including teachers) as much as females are and thus have lesser external controls to monitor their behavior.…”

“…While these extensions have provided compelling new arguments on how strain theory may be improved, they are largely unresolved in the empirical literature. Specifically, a number of studies have supported Broidy and Agnew’s (1997) arguments about gender differences in strain theory (Agnew & Brezina, 1997; Baron, 2007; Cullen, Unnever, Hartman, Turner, & Agnew, 2008; Eitle, 2002; Hoffmann & Su, 1997; Jang & Johnson, 2005; Jennings, Piquero, Gover, & Perez, 2009; Mazerolle, 1998; Moon, Hays, & Blurton, 2009; Piquero & Sealock, 2004; Preston, 2006; Sharp, Brewster, & Love, 2005; Sharp, Terling-Watt, Atkins, Gilliam, & Sanders, 2001; Sigfusdottir, Asgeirsdottir, Gudjonsson, & Sigurdsson, 2008; Sigfusdottir & Silver, 2009), but this perspective has not been well integrated into the context of Agnew’s (1997) views on strain theory as a way to explain crime over the life course. Furthermore, the idea that some types of strain are more likely to produce crime and delinquency than others has not been fully explored.…”