Exam 4: Social Structure, Process, Culture, and Delinquency

In their early teens, Jack, Cole, and Hardy live in areas where both conventional and delinquent activities are limited and adult role models are in absentia.  Applying differential opportunity theory, Jack, Cole, and Hardy are likely to join one of three types of gangs to in order to achieve what they consider success. Jack, for example,  lives on the fringe of society and is constantly looking for ways to get high-he has consumed alcohol, smoked pot, and enjoys what some would consider unusual sexual experiences.  He has been involved in a few fights, but is not very good at fighting.  Since Jack spends a lot of time high, it is difficult to know if his failed attempts at fighting were due to fear, clumsiness, or sheer weakness.  What type of gang will Jack join? ​

What adaptation, according to Merton, is most closely associated with delinquency?

According to strain theory there are two cultural forces running through the neighborhood that shape the delinquent's actions- decent values and street values.

What is the view that lower-class people form a separate culture with their own values and norms, which are sometimes in conflict with conventional society?

Jill is a senior in high school.  All through her academic career she has made good grades and has never engaged in delinquent acts.  Two months prior to graduation, Jill's mother was in an automobile accident; a man under the influence of alcohol ran a red light and crashed into Jill's mother's car, killing her on impact.  Jill was close to her mother and her death strongly impacted Jill's behavior.  She began staying out late, her grades started slipping, and she began drinking alcohol.  What negative affective state, according to Agnew, is Jill experiencing? ​

Disjunction between expectations and achievements occurs when youths aspire to wealth and fame but lack the financial and educational resources to achieve their goals.

Who applied Durkheim's ideas to the onset of crime and delinquency in contemporary society?

Alice is 16 and lives with her mother and four younger siblings in an impoverished neighborhood. Alice does well in school and will be the first of her family to graduate from high school.  She knows she could have a better life by getting a college degree, but she does not have the means to go to college and no one ever talks to Alice about furthering her education.  Like many teenage girls her age, Alice wants trendy clothes, fashionable shoes, and expensive handbags.  Alice works part-time at the local grocery store, but her earnings go to her mother to help with family finances.  Alice is approached and asked to carry drugs to the dealers around town.  She agrees; after all, she is not the one selling the drugs so she really is not hurting anyone.  The money Alice makes allows her to quit her job at the grocery store, help her mother, and buy clothes, shoes, and handbags.  She now thinks that is not necessary to finish school.  According to Merton's social adaptation theory, which mode of adaptation best describes Alice? ​

Subcultural values are handed down from one generation to the next through what process?

What is said to exert pressure toward delinquency by encouraging an anomic cultural environment, one in which people are encouraged to adopt an "anything goes" mentality in the pursuit of personal goals?

What are morally tinged influences that have become entrenched in the culture but are publicly condemned?

According to the text, the social process approach has two independent branches; each branch has its own assumption.  These assumptions are (1) that youth are born good and learn to be bad, and (2) that youth are born bad and must be controlled to be good.  What are the theories that best fit the assumptions?

The view of general strain theory is that multiple sources of strain interact with an individual's emotional traits and responses to produce criminality.

What, according to Hirschi, are youths who reject social relationships more likely to lack?

According to the text, lacking a particular bond may foreshadow a condition in which risk becomes a reasonable behavior alternative.  A deficit in which of the following bonds describes this outcome?

In their early teens, Jack, Cole, and Hardy live in areas where both conventional and delinquent activities are limited and adult role models are in absentia.  Applying differential opportunity theory, Jack, Cole, and Hardy are likely to join one of three types of gangs to in order to achieve what they consider success. Hardy lives in a stable lower-class area that promotes an environment for successful delinquent enterprise.  Hardy was recruited into a gang that would provide him training for a successful delinquent career.  What type of gang did Hardy join?

What is the name of the process whereby youth move between behavior that is sometimes unconventional or deviant and at other times restrained and thoughtful?

According to early versions of control theory, poor self-esteem produces maladaptive social relations, which in turn opens the door for a youth to engage in delinquent behavior; in other words, poor self-esteem is the trigger.

Identify and describe Merton's five modes of social adaptation.  Which mode is stated as being most closely associated with delinquency?  Do you agree or disagree with this association?  What is the rationale for your view?

Unlike others who are involved in similar criminal activities, gangs openly engage in the sale of drugs as well as other types of criminal activities.  What does this promote?