General Strain Theory and Racial Insurgency: Assessing the Role of Legitimate Coping. (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Broidy, Lisa; Santoro, Wayne A.
• Is Part Of: Justice quarterly. Volume 35:Number 1(2018)
• Page Start: 162
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: GST -- legitimate coping -- rioting -- nonviolent protest; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States -- Periodicals; 340.11405
• DOI: 10.1080/07418825.2017.1327610
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-8825

Abstract

Abstract : While General Strain Theory (GST) recognizes the broad range of legitimate and illegitimate coping behaviors people adopt in reaction to strain, tests of the theory focus almost exclusively on criminal coping. We advance the theory by articulating the role of legitimate coping in the GST process. We test the theory's assumptions that strain increases both legitimate and illegitimate coping and that negative emotions more strongly increase illegitimate coping. We also draw on recent work by Agnew and expect that these coping strategies co - occur rather than being mutually exclusive. We investigate these hypotheses in relation to black insurgency, specifically nonviolent civil-rights protest (legitimate coping) and rioting (illegitimate coping). Using data from a large 1968 survey of blacks, multivariate findings are consistent with the theory's expectations regarding the role of legitimate coping. More broadly, our results echo calls to extend the boundaries of the discipline beyond traditional conceptualizations of "crime."