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Mediating Mechanisms of Strain and Delinquency

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Delinquent Youth in a Transforming China

Abstract

This chapter discusses the mediating mechanism of negative emotions and examines empirical support in the existing literature. This chapter also highlights my research findings showing that negative relations with parents, teachers, and peers correlated with various negative emotions, which in turn, were linked to varied delinquent outcomes. The findings in my test of an integrated model of strain, social control, social learning, and delinquency are also discussed, showing that strains affect delinquency through reducing social control and fostering social learning of crime. This holds true for both general Chinese youth and demographic groups of gender, age cohort, and family socio-economic status (SES).

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Bao, WN. (2017). Mediating Mechanisms of Strain and Delinquency. In: Delinquent Youth in a Transforming China. Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63727-3_4

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