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Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Peter Leasure

The purpose of the current study is to examine the applicability of general strain and procedural justice theories to retail banking deviance in an effort to improve compliance…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the current study is to examine the applicability of general strain and procedural justice theories to retail banking deviance in an effort to improve compliance programs.

Design/methodology/approach

This objective is achieved through a qualitative case study of active members of the retail banking industry guided by three research questions. First, how do participants view their companies' current compliance programs? Second, what types of crime or deviance are present in the data in which general strain and procedural justice theories are indicated? Third, what ethics and compliance recommendations can be made from the identified deviance and underlying theories?

Findings

Results indicate that current ethics and compliance programs are viewed as having serious flaws. Results also show the presence of a large amount of fraud based deviance in which both general strain and procedural justice theories seem to be implicated. Specific compliance enhancements are proposed in light of these findings.

Originality/value

The current study is one of the first to examine white collar crime deviance and ethics and compliance programs in the retail banking industry. Conducting research in specific industries is key as findings from a study in a particular industry may not extrapolate to another. Further, the current study uses a qualitative approach, which allows a deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms, with participants who have committed some form of deviance and are active members in their industry. Because of this fact, this study has the potential to provide new and different insights than a study conducted using students or other such participants and hypothetical scenarios.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Stephen A. Bishopp, John Worrall and Nicole Leeper Piquero

The purpose of this paper is to examine the utility of general strain theory in explaining the relationship between organizational stress and police deviance.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the utility of general strain theory in explaining the relationship between organizational stress and police deviance.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a non-random sample of 1,389 police officers in three large cities in Texas. The survey instrument used for this research was the Police Work Experience Survey. Results from regression analyses are presented.

Findings

Findings showed that the organization influenced police misconduct, but misconduct was dependent upon the specific type of strain encountered.

Research limitations/implications

Results show that instances of police deviance depend on the types of strains encountered. Additionally, anger plays a significant role when examining organizational strain. Police administrators should move to reduce organizational strains to reduce instances of police misconduct.

Originality/value

Currently, there is very little theoretical work in understanding police misconduct. And no studies have drawn linkages between organizational stressors and self-reported officer misconduct. At a time when police behavior is at the forefront of the social policy reform, the examination of potential correlates of police misconduct is the first step toward controlling it.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 September 2023

Jason Hung

In Chapter 2, the author will develop the theoretical framework of the sociological analysis of youth delinquency in SEA. The author will introduce the control theory (both…

Abstract

In Chapter 2, the author will develop the theoretical framework of the sociological analysis of youth delinquency in SEA. The author will introduce the control theory (both self-control and social control), in order to understand under what circumstances youths are more and less likely to behave in a deviant manner. The author will, then, mention the general strain theory, to draw the relationships between the encounters of negative life events, the development of strain, and the disposition to perform delinquency. The author will also, address the cultural deviance and social learning theories that help justify the expression of juvenile delinquency from a sociocultural perspective, alongside pathing the way to explaining how social costs of youth delinquency can be raised by policy amendments in order to mitigate adolescents’ exercises of smoking, drinking and sexual misconduct behaviours. In this chapter, the author will highlight how poverty, the availability of delinquent opportunities, peer influence and pressure, a lack of parental and school socialisation, and deviant social and cultural norms are all risk factors for youth delinquency.

Details

The Socially Constructed and Reproduced Youth Delinquency in Southeast Asia: Advancing Positive Youth Involvement in Sustainable Futures
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-886-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2015

Kristy Holtfreter

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of gender in white-collar crime. Directions for future research testing general and gender-specific theories are provided.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of gender in white-collar crime. Directions for future research testing general and gender-specific theories are provided.

Design/methodology/approach

Prior research is reviewed and critiques of general and gender-specific explanations for offending in the workplace context are advanced.

Findings

Gender-specific explanations in other offending contexts (e.g. violent crime) appear to be less applicable to the understanding of white-collar crime, a finding that lends support to general theory.

Practical implications

This paper provides an outline for future research testing criminological theory in organizational settings.

Originality/value

This paper represents a unique attempt to apply general and gender-specific theories to a variety of financial crimes in the context of organizations.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Diab M. Al-Badayneh, Anis Ben Brik and Amr Elwakad

This study aims to examine social determinants and social strains of cyberbullying victimization among expatriate populations in high-income countries such as Qatar. The authors…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine social determinants and social strains of cyberbullying victimization among expatriate populations in high-income countries such as Qatar. The authors argue that expatriate students will be exposed to stains and pressures due to several factors, such as feeling alienated, lonely, homesick, insecure and helpless. This study examines a partial assumption of general strain theory (GST), which posits that expats’ cyberbullying victimization can create negative stimuli that lead to negative feelings and, as a result, to delinquent behavior. The delinquent behavior can be seen as a coping method in encountering strains. Logistic regression analysis is applied (using SPSS v. 21) to test the hypothesis that the victimization of expats’ cyberbullying could lead to strain and delinquency.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 2,428 expatriate students (46% males and 54% females) was randomly selected from seven public schools in Qatar. The average number of siblings in the household was 2.7. Around 10.8% of the sample reported victimization by cyberbullying. Most came from intact families (80.6%) compared to 19.4 living in broken homes. Concerning the birth order of the student in the family, 25% of the sample were firstborn, and 20% were middle-born. Students’ mother relationships were higher than students’ father relationships (69% vs 51%, respectively). Fathers were higher in undergraduate education than mothers (60% vs 49%, respectively). Considering that 58% of women did not have a job, most fathers work in administrative positions (47% in administrative work and 39% in professional positions) as opposed to mothers’ positions (15% and 21%, respectively). The survey was distributed among expatriate students by trained researchers, teachers and social workers in public schools. The researchers explained the purpose of the study, confidentiality and potential risks and provided directions for completing the survey. Parents and their children provided signed informed consent before participation, following the institutional review boards of Qatar University’s Human Subject Research Committee and the Ministry of Social Development. The victimization of cyberbullying is measured at the dichotomy level by asking a general cyberbullying question (In the last 12 months, had you been bullied by other students using mobile messages, email, voice or video messages? Responses were 1 – yes and 0 – no). A definition of cyberbullying was included in the questionnaire. Independent measures are as follows: (1) demographic variables: gender, belief, health, number of friends and exposure to violence; (2) family variables: delinquent family, coercive parenting, family relations, family disputes, father absence and family ties; (3) school variables: school satisfaction, school violence, student fighting, teachers' violence, school truancy and going late to school; (4) imprudent behavior: smoking, alcohol, not using a seat belt, gambling, stealing less than 100 QR, chewing tobacco, stimuli, volatile drugs, sexual harassment, throwing garbage out of the car, cheating, vandalism and victimization.

Findings

Findings showed that n = 255, 10.8% of the expats’ sample N = 2,428 reported victimization of cyberbullying, of whom 46% were males and 54% were females. A total of 24% of the victims of cyberbullying were males, and 5.8% were females. About a third of the sample were cyberbullying perpetrators (n = 716, 29.5%). Victims of cyberbullying came from intact families (62.4%) compared to broken families (37.6%). A round third of the victims reported the absence of a father during their childhood (n = 78, 31.7%). Most of the victims came from a typical community compared to the delinquent community (71.2% vs 28.2%). About a third of the victims reported it was easy to talk with the father when needed (32% compared to 42.7%), who said it was easy. More than half of the victims do not use seat belts. A low percentage of them were gambling (n = 68, 27% or 2.9% of the total sample). Regarding escaping imprudent and delinquent behaviors, findings showed that a third and more than a tenth of the cyberbullying were smokers and alcoholics (n = 69, 27.4% and n = 42, 16.7% respectively). Moreover, among the most serious, widely spread student problems, around a quarter of the victims reported using chewing tobacco (Sweeka is the local name) (n = 54, 21.4%). Finally, drug use among victims was more than a tenth of them (n = 41, 16.3%). About a quarter of the victims reported stealing less than 100 QR (n = 67, 26.8% or 2.9% of the total sample). Concerning the crimes committed by victims, findings showed that more than forth of them committed assault (n = 71, 28.3%), student fights (n = 202, 80.8%), school violence (n = 117, 46.6%) and half of the victims (50.2%) were also victims of face-to-face bullying. Little below half of the sample was exposed to violence (n = 120, 48.6%) and was the victim of violence in the past 12 months (n = 100, 40.8%). A significant gender differences was found in the victimization of cyberbullying (1 = yes, 0 = no) (a = 000). Moreover, significant mean differences were found between expatriates student victimization of cyberbullying at (a = 000) in all strain variables. Using binary regression analysis to examine the equality of probability of being a victim of cyberbullying as accounted for by the independent variables, the model’s predictability was 89.4%. The Hosmer and Lemeshow test and omnibus tests support the model’s fit (a = 000). Nagelkerke R2 shows that the stain variables accounted for 24% of the variance in the expat's student victimization of cyberbullying.

Research limitations/implications

Conceptualization and determination of what constitutes cyberbullying from the criminal law perspective are needed. Cyberbullying is defined as a form of violence and crime involving new technologies (Sun et al., 2016, p. 62). Policymakers should provide accessible and equitable access to the criminal justice system, the integration of expatriates and the provision of support services to avoid delinquency.

Practical implications

A social cohesion, inclusion and well-being policy is needed for expatriate students and their families in Qatar. In particular, cultural diversity policy and programs, a source of strength and enrichment should be promoted in educational settings. Social inclusion and cultural diversity programs could ease the alienation and marginalization that expatriate students may encounter in their host societies to prevent stains and negative emotions that lead to delinquency and criminal behaviors. Access to support services without discrimination to avoid health and psychological strains and risk factors. This includes but is not limited to avoidance of stigmatization, embarrassment, sense of helplessness, humiliation and other negative feelings toward expatriates. Awareness and promotion of cultural diversity values are needed to enhance cultural acceptance to reduce victimization among the expatriate population. Criminal law and security implications conceptualization and determination of what constitutes cyberbullying from the criminal law perspective are needed. Cyberbullying is a form of violence and crime involving new technologies (Sun et al., 2016). Policymakers should provide accessible and equitable access to the criminal justice system, integrating expatriates and providing support services to avoid delinquency. There is a pressing need for further research within the realm of crime and law to establish the precise legal boundaries surrounding cyberbullying and to delineate the potential scope for legislative measures aimed at safeguarding against victimization in Qatar. Although the state of Qatar has taken steps to address cyberbullying by incorporating it into relevant legal frameworks, there remains a gap in terms of specifically targeting cyberbullying involving children and adolescents. Despite the introduction of the new Cybercrime Prevention Law, the issue of cyberbullying among these vulnerable groups is not adequately addressed.

Social implications

Social implication includes but is not limited to avoidance of stigmatization, embarrassment, sense of helplessness, humiliation and other negative feelings towards expatriate. Awareness and promotion of cultural diversity values is needed to enhance cultural acceptance to reduce victimization among expatriate population.

Originality/value

The present study examines some strain theory assumptions and the victimization of the cyberbullying expatriate population. This study tests a partial assumption of GST, which states that the expatriate population’s exposure to the victimization of cyberbullying can lead to negative stimuli that, in return, create negative feelings and, as a result, imprudent and delinquent behavior. The cyberbullying behavior can be seen as an escaping and coping method in encountering strains. This study underscores the presence of cyberbullying within high schools among expatriate students, exerting significant effects on their personal, social and emotional behaviors. The novel insights gleaned from this investigation contribute substantively to the comprehension of both the pervasiveness and repercussions of cyberbullying on the well-being of expatriate students. This contribution is particularly vital, given the dearth of research in the field, largely attributable to the growing dependence of students on the internet for various cyber activities. This study examines a partial assumption of GST (in non-Western country). Moreover, it uses an advanced statistical analysis and large sample.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2017

AR Mubarak and Steve Quinn

This study aims to explore the association between internet addiction and problem behaviours on social networking sites (SNS) using the general strain theory (Agnew, 1992).

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the association between internet addiction and problem behaviours on social networking sites (SNS) using the general strain theory (Agnew, 1992).

Design/methodology/approach

Using the purposive sampling method, a survey was conducted, which collected data from 414 college students studying in two public universities in South Australia. The Delphi method was used to develop the questionnaire used for the survey.

Findings

'Results of this research indicated a significant association between internet addiction and problem behaviours on SNS. Respondents who had engaged in problem behaviours on SNS had high internet addiction test scores (Young, 1998). On the basis of this finding, the present research argues that the general strains associated with the suffering of newly emerging challenges such as internet addiction might contribute to victimisation and deviant and problem behaviours on SNS in specific and possibly in cyberspace in general.

Research limitations/implications

Results of the present study need to be interpreted cautiously due to many limitations it has. This research is a cross-sectional study, which might not adequately explain the associations between internet addiction and problem behaviours on SNS. Longitudinal studies involving larger samples might have added significant value to this study. The present study uses purposive sampling technique, which has limited its generalizability, and its findings may not be generalised to large populations.

Originality/value

Limited information is available pertaining to the association between problem behaviours on SNS and internet addiction. The present study is a pioneering effort, which argues that rapid popularity of SNS is likely to increase internet addiction and the frustration of not getting proper treatment for their internet addiction might lead to deviant behaviours on SNS.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2020

Xiaolun Wang, Yunjie Calvin Xu, Tian Lu and Chenghong Zhang

In the online microloan market, the ability to evaluate the credit risk of borrowers is key to business success. Based on the general strain theory, this study proposes a…

Abstract

Purpose

In the online microloan market, the ability to evaluate the credit risk of borrowers is key to business success. Based on the general strain theory, this study proposes a contextualized two-stage model with stress factors, negative affects and constraint factors to explain the psychological mechanism of borrowers' default behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey is conducted to test the hypotheses. We collect and analyze 713 valid responses through a structural equation model.

Findings

(1) Economic and social strains experienced by borrowers can cause four types of negative affects: life dissatisfaction, perceived unfairness, inferiority feeling and loneliness; (2) Both strains and negative affects have a considerable effect on borrowers' default intention; (3) Moral norm plays a negative moderating role in the relationship between strains, negative affects and default behavior, whereas perceived deterrence shows a strong main effect.

Originality/value

(1) This study introduces the GST from sociology and criminology, and contextualizes it in the microloan context to explain default behavior; (2) This study provides a comprehensive and staged psychological mechanism to explain deviant behavior; (3) This study bears critical implications for the current practice in credit assessment and default prevention.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 June 2011

Paul (Lish) Harris

Almost every city in America has felt the effects of the current home foreclosure crisis. It has been reported that 94 of the top 100 metropolitan areas reported an increase in…

Abstract

Almost every city in America has felt the effects of the current home foreclosure crisis. It has been reported that 94 of the top 100 metropolitan areas reported an increase in home foreclosures in 2008. Yet, some of the varying costs of this ongoing crisis are relatively unknown. This chapter offers a theoretical examination of the influence an increase in vacant homes due to home foreclosure may have on criminal behavior. It does so by first discussing the breadth of the home foreclosure crisis. Next, the chapter covers strain, social disorganization, and disorder theories and addresses their explanations of the potential criminal consequences of vacant homes due to home foreclosure. Then, the chapter discusses if these classic theories actually apply to this crisis. This is done by introducing the concept of suburban insulation. Finally, the conclusion links the key concepts and ideas from the aforementioned theories and how they best relate to this current phenomenon.

Details

Economic Crisis and Crime
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-801-5

Book part
Publication date: 31 October 2017

Dinur Blum and Christian Gonzalez Jaworski

There were 374 mass shootings in the United States between 2013 and 2014 and they were not random occurrences. We expanded the FBI’s definition of mass shootings (four or more…

Abstract

There were 374 mass shootings in the United States between 2013 and 2014 and they were not random occurrences. We expanded the FBI’s definition of mass shootings (four or more injured or killed, not including the shooter), and collected data on every mass shooting that occurred in the United States to observe geographical patterns. Social Disorganization theories state that violence will occur in areas with high levels of poverty, large population density, and little economic opportunity. These theories work well with strain theory, which suggests that blocked goals, the introduction of a negative stimulus, or the removal of a positive stimulus leads to negative emotions, and these emotions can lead to crime in order to resolve the strain felt. From under this framework, we discover with point pattern analysis that there are patterns in the location of mass shootings crime scenes. They are not random. These crimes were far more likely to occur in the South, the Upper Midwest, and in Southern California, while they were considerably less likely to occur in the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest, or the Northeast. The lack of random spatial pattern indicates that the structural factors that contribute to mass shootings are more prevalent in certain areas of the United States than in others.

Details

Environmental Criminology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-377-9

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Sociological Theory and Criminological Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-054-5

1 – 10 of over 15000