STRAIN EXPERIENCED IN PRISON AND ITS IMPACT ON PERCEPTION OF THE PRISON ENVIRONMENT AND THE RATE OF RECIDIVISM

Abstract

Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) is unique in that it emphasizes individual relationships and focuses on negative relationship at the individual level. It claims that if people are not treated the way they want to be treated, then that will generate negative emotions, which would in turn lead to crime. Originally designed to explain adolescent delinquency and adolescent drug use, majority of empirical work testing GST has been done on juvenile populations. Using a sample of incarcerated adult males, this study examines the relationship between strain experienced while incarcerated and the inmates' perception of the prison environment, as well as its impact on recidivism. The present study uses secondary data from the "Experimental Study of the Maryland Correctional Boot Camp for Adults." OLS indicates that there is a weak relationship between strain and perception of the prison environment; while a logistic regression reveals no relationship between strain and recidivism.