How does bullying relate to different types of deviance?

Researchers have studied the application of General Strain Theory (GST) to bullying. Hinduja and Patchin have found that people who experience greater strain and stress in their lives are more likely to engage in deviant behaviors, such as bullying. GST suggests that children who feel stress experience feelings such as depression, anger, frustration, and anxiety. As a result, they are more likely to take deviant actions such as bullying as a way to relieve these feelings. GST has been used to explain a wide range of deviant behaviors, including bullying. Bullying has also been linked to other deviant behaviors. For example, teenagers who bully others are four times more likely to be charged with delinquency than teenagers who do not bully others. Bullying is also linked with other forms of deviance, such as truancy, shoplifting, vandalism, and dropping out of school. Bullying is linked to negative emotions that may find an outlet in deviant behaviors, following the GST.

 Citation:

Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2011). Traditional and nontraditional bullying among youth: A test of general strain theory. Youth and Society, 43 (2), 727-751.