The Effects of "Strain" on Student Loan Debtors
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Ling, Evan
Issue Date
2015-04-10
Type
oral_presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Revised Strain Theory , Robert Agnew , Student Loans , Stress , Debt
Alternative Title
Abstract
The student loan debt bubble has inflated to a trillion dollars, and has been having an effect on the financial, physical and mental spheres of the debtors. College students take out loans for higher education in the hopes of attaining a career, but because of the current economic climate that dream may be impossible to achieve. Student debtors are taking measures against the burdensome amount of debt through various means; by taking a second or third job or by illicit activities such as prostitution and drug dealing. The failure to achieve goals and the measures taken in response all tie together in Robert Agnew's Revised Strain Theory concept of sociology. In Agnew's theory, strain is created when goals cannot be achieved, and is complimented by the addition of pain-blockage aversion, an observation of factors that both create strain and cannot be avoided. Student loans are an excellent topic to be examined with Revised Strain Theory because debtors are unable to remove the debt by declaring bankruptcy. My research will primarily focus itself on reviewing prior published materials that relate to debt and its effects on the individual and society. My examination will also be supplemented with the survey conducted by Dr. Turner, Dr. McGuffog, and Dr. Kienzle, which asks about the psychological, physical and criminological ways that debt affects students. Revised Strain Theory will act as a template to interpret the related literature and statistical data about the impact of student loans. Analysis on the social, physical, mental and criminological variables of the individuals will be accomplished to identify sources of strain, paths of deviance and their effects on the individual and society.