Testing General Strain Theory Among Institutionalized Chinese Juveniles

Existing research on the general strain theory (GST) rarely paid attention to institutionalized juveniles and has seldom employed situational negative emotion measures. Using survey data collected from 361 incarcerated juveniles in a Chinese reformatory to test GST, this study examined the relationship between three types of strain, including financial, child abuse, and victimization strain, and delinquency, with a focus on the mediating effect of the related negative emotions in the form of anger, frustration, and depression. The findings lent partial support for GST, highlighting abuse and victimization as significant sources of strain contributing to delinquency. Financial depression, abuse-related anger and frustration, and victimization-related anger were significantly associated with delinquency, connecting their related strains to delinquency. The contribution to the existing literature and the implication of policymaking were discussed.