Robert Agnew

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Robert Agnew (born December 1, 1953 in Atlantic City , New Jersey ) is an American sociologist and criminologist . With the General Strain Theory he developed an internationally accepted explanatory approach for criminal activity.

Career

Agnew studied at Rutgers University in New Brunswick , New Jersey from 1971 to 1975 and earned a BA with the highest honors for achievement in sociology. He continued his studies from 1976 to 1980 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where he obtained his MA in 1978 . In his thesis he had already dealt with anomie theory. With his dissertation "A Revised Strain Theory of Delinquency" he created the basis for the continuation of this theory. Agnew received a Ph.D. PhD and in the same year assistant professor and 1982 professor of sociology at Emory University in Atlanta .

General Strain Theory

With his General Strain Theory , Agnew developed the anomie theory further. In contrast to Robert K. Merton , Agnew sees not only the social goal-means discrepancy, but also three types of social strain on the level of individual actors: the perceived impossibility of achieving positive goals; experiencing withdrawal from positively rated stimuli ; exposure to negative stimuli . The resulting annoyance and disappointment favor the willingness to commit criminal acts.

Fonts (selection)

  • Editor with Nikos Passas: The future of anomie theory . Northeastern University Press, Boston 1997, ISBN 978-1-55553-321-2 .
  • Juvenile delinquency. Causes and control . 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-537113-0 .
  • Editor with Joanne M. Kaufman: Anomie, strain and subcultural theories of crime . Burlington, VT: Ashgate, Farnham 2010, ISBN 978-0-7546-2912-2 .
  • Editor with Francis T. Cullen: Criminological theory. Past to present: essential readings . 4th edition. Oxford University Press, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-538955-5 .
  • Pressured Into Crime: An Overview of General Strain Theory . Oxford University Press, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-533075-5 .
  • Why Do Criminals Offend ?: A General Theory of Crime and Delinquency . Oxford University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 978-0-19-533046-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefanie Eifler : Kriminalsoziologie, Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2002, ISBN 3-933127-62-9 , p. 29 f.
personal data
SURNAME Agnew, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sociologist and criminologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Atlantic City , New Jersey , United States