The dynamics of strain and social support in the development of persistent offending

The matter of persistent offending is important to criminologists and policymakers because the literature on chronic offending suggests that a small percentage of the population (perhaps 6--7%) commits approximately half of all criminal acts. Two constructs that may help explain persistent criminal offending are strain and social support. In this dissertation, data from multiple waves of the National Youth Survey (NYS) were used to examine the effects of strain and social support experienced in early adolescence on violent and non-violent criminal offending in young adulthood. The following research questions are addressed: (1) Does strain experienced in adolescence increase the likelihood of offending beyond adolescence and into young adulthood? (2) Conversely, does the presence of social support reduce the likelihood of offending in young adulthood? (3) Does social support experienced in adolescence mediate the effects of strain on the development of persistent offending? Finally, are these processes the same for males and females? The findings suggest that while traumatic events experienced in early adolescence have a long-term effect on non-violent offending, they are not related to young adult violence when statistical controls are applied. Social support did not appear to have strong direct effects on violent or non-violent offending; however, it did have powerful mitigating effects. While the results yield significant gender differences in the dynamics of strain, social support, and persistent non-violent offending, the timing of the strain and/or social support did not appear to matter much. If a female experienced social support in either early or mid-adolescence it significantly attenuated the effects of strain on later non-violent offending.