ABSTRACT
Hirschi’s (1969) Causes of Delinquency not only presented a new version of social control theory, but also critiqued what was perhaps the leading theory of crime at the time: classic strain theory. Classic strain theory states that crime results from the inability to achieve conventional success goals. This paper reviews Hirschi’s critique, arguing that it played a central role in the fall of classic strain theory. The paper then argues that the critique contributed to the rise of general strain theory, which focuses on a much broader range of strains or stressors than classic strain theory. Further, this paper argues that, despite the sharp distinction often made between control and strain theories, general strain and social control theories are intimately related—so much so that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between them.
