Gritty childhood shapes criminologist

Robert Agnew wrote his first sociology paper while still in high school. Photo by Brian Meltz.

By Carol Clark

Emory sociologist Robert Agnew grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the 1950s and 1960s. It was the pre-casino era, and Atlantic City was a rundown, dying resort. Neither of Agnew’s parents finished high school and the family lived in the poorest section of town, known as the Inlet.

“It was the type of place where it’s easy to get interested in sociology,” Agnew says.

He attended Atlantic City High School, during an era of tense divisions of race and class. “There were regular fights,” Agnew says. He recalls an especially harrowing incident during a study hall, when he was sitting in the lower part of the auditorium. Students in the balcony began unscrewing large floodlights from the ceiling and throwing them down at the students in the lower seats.

"The atmosphere wasn't conducive to learning, but at the same time I was exposed to a lot of things that most people aren't, and I benefited from that," he says. "It became clear to me that social location has a large effect on one's behavior and views."

Agnew went on to develop one of the leading theories on the causes of crime and delinquency: General strain theory (GST).

Classic strain theory had focused on the inability to achieve middle class success. For his 1980 dissertation, Agnew expanded this line of thought into GST, which focuses on a range of additional strains or stressors. Those most strongly related to crime are high in magnitude, perceived as unjust, associated with low social control, and create some pressure or incentive for criminal coping. Examples include parental rejection, bullying, chronic unemployment, discrimination and criminal victimization.

Agnew’s 2007 book on the theory is called “Pressured into Crime.”

Over the years, GST has been further developed and tested, and is regularly cited in criminology textbooks. The entire May 2010 issue of the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice is devoted to the topic.

“It’s gratifying that researchers keep applying general strain theory to new issues,” Agnew says. He served as co-editor of the special issue, along with Paul Mazerolle of Griffith University in Australia. “We solicited a wide range of articles that didn’t simply test the theory, but took it into new directions.”

One of the articles compared the effects of traditional bullying with cyber bullying -- the harassment of a child through a computer or cell phone. "I was surprised that the authors found that cyber bullying has a stronger association to crime than the traditional, face-to-face variety of bullying," Agnew says.

Listen to a podcast on bullying and cyber bullying, moderated by Agnew.

He’s currently working on a chapter for a forthcoming book, “The Origins of American Criminology,” summarizing GST and how it has developed and expanded over time. “I’m sure that additional revisions and extensions of the theory will continue to emerge,” Agnew says. “Crime theories are ongoing creations, reflecting the particular experiences, as well as the strengths and weaknesses, of their creators.”

In the coming year, Agnew plans to focus on climate change – including its potential impacts on crime. “Climate change is probably going to become THE major issue for everyone,” he says. “Very little research has been done on the possible social consequences of climate change, so I’d like to try to make a contribution.”

Faith, fervor and environmentalism

“If you really believe in trees and recycle paper, an economist will tell you that the long-run effect is going to be to reduce the number of trees,” said Emory economist Paul Rubin, during a guest appearance on the Canadian program “The Agenda” with Steve Paikin.

Rubin was part of a panel discussing the parallels between religious belief and devotion to the environment.

“Nuclear power is the cleanest power we know, and yet environmentalists will stand back in horror when they hear nuclear power,” Rubin said. “I think there are irrational aspects to environmentalism.”

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, called Rubin’s arguments “nonsense.” What do you think?

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The sociology of 'Sex and the City'

Carrie Bradshaw owes a huge debt to Mary Richards of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” says Emory sociologist Tracy Scott.

“The late ‘60s and early 70s was the time that things really changed for women, both in terms of work roles and images on television,” says Scott, who researches culture, gender and occupations.

While cable opened the door for racy content, Scott contends that the career women in “Sex and the City” are in many ways less cutting edge than the characters in vintage sit-coms like “Mary Tyler Moore” and “That Girl.”

“’Sex and the City’ goes along with feminist notions of career women and being sexually liberated,” Scott says. “But in other ways it’s quite traditional, in its focus on women in romantic relationships.”

That ambiguity may explain why fans wearing flip-flops, sneakers and heels are expected to go see Carrie Bradshaw and her beloved Manolo Blahniks in “Sex and the City 2.”

“’Sex and the City’ is what we call an open cultural product, meaning that many people can look at it and enjoy it for different reasons. And those are usually the cultural products that are most successful,” Scott says.

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Linking science and social justice

“As a freshman, I had just come out of the closet,” says Scot Seitz, a graduating senior who majored in biology and women’s studies. At Emory, you can feel comfortable no matter what your identity, says the winner of the 2010 Lucius Lamar McMullan Award, one of the university’s biggest student honors.

“It is interesting, a man taking women’s studies courses. Most people wouldn’t expect that,” Seitz says. “At its core I think women’s studies is looking at issues, ideas, from a different perspective. It encourages you to be creative in your thinking.”

Seitz’ creative path through Emory included working in the lab of chemist Lanny Liebeskind, and at the Emory Center for Global Safe Water, under the direction of Christine Moe and Juan Leon in the Rollins School of Public Health. He traveled to Bolivia his sophomore year, to research ecological sanitation.

“I’m interested in ways to reduce health disparities,” Seitz says. He wrote an honor’s thesis on the disproportionate rates of HIV infection in African American women. After working for two years with Teach for America in Atlanta, Seitz plans to pursue a master’s in public health and a doctorate in epidemiology.

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Biology grad bridges lab and patient care

Biology graduate Ramone Williams, winner of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, says watching the dissection of a lizard in a high school science class sparked her interest in medicine. During her sophomore year at Emory, the Jamaica native began doing biomedical research on triple negative breast cancer at the Winship Cancer Institute.

She learned that triple-negative breast cancer spreads quickly and is more often fatal. “Breast cancer rates in general are higher in white women, but for this particular cancer it’s higher in African-American women,” Williams says. “I felt a personal connection with the people who were suffering behind the disease that I was researching.in the lab.”

Williams will use the scholarship to pursue a masters in philosophy and translational medicine at Cambridge University. “Translational medicine aims to bridge the gap between research in the lab and the implementation of those innovations in the clinic,” she explains.

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