Exam 4: Classical, Biological, and Psychological Theories of Crime

Proximate explanations of crime occur at a distance to the crime event (e.g., the age at which someone first began drinking to explain drinking in middle age).

Humans have only recently begun to try to explain why some people engage in crime.

Before explaining a certain phenomenon, a theory should first ______.

The classical school perspective assumes that people have free will.

Legalistic approach to defining criminology is problematic because the specific behaviors prohibited by law often vary across time and space.

After comparing crime data in Belgium, Holland, and France, ______ found that the level of crime varied across places, and concluded that something about places must affect crime.

Anomie is especially profound during periods of rapid social change, regardless of when such change is better or worse than previous conditions.

Physiognomic studies focus on the genetic makeup and chromosome abnormalities.

Which of the following focuses on the individual-level behaviors and characteristics and personal-level processes, such as friends and family?

In recent years, the positivist perspective has adopted the position of soft-determinism.

The term tabula rasa refers to the idea that humans are ______.

Charles Darwin wrote which of the following books in 1859, which introduced the theory of evolution and natural selection?

Logical consistency and ______ are the two pillars of science.

Who first coined the term criminology to refer to the scientific study of crime?

Explain the difference between the preclassical school perspective and the classical theory of crime, especially in terms of the stance on human nature.

Which of the following perspectives assumes that humans rationally choose to commit crime after weighing the cost and benefit of the behavior?

Discuss the contributions of Emile Durkheim to the study of crime and criminality. Why is Durkheim important to the study of sociology and criminology? What was Durkheim's view of society? When is crime likely? What support does he offer?

______ is considered the father of the positive school of criminology because he was the first person to apply the scientific method to the study of crime.

Willem Bonger developed a theory of crime based on the works of ______, which attributes crime to the characteristics of modern capitalist economies.

The ______ test, the forefather of the IQ test, was developed at the beginning of the 20th century.