Deck 7: Social Structure Theories

Question 1

According to differential opportunity theory, drug use predominates in the __________ delinquent subculture

A) criminal
B) conflict
C) retreatist
D) deviant

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to the research on crime patterns in concentric zones, as the composition of the population in the zone of transition changes (e.g., because of various waves of immigration), the crime rate will

A) increase.
B) decrease.
C) stay about the same.
D) We do not know what will happen

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following was not a result of the broken windows thesis?

A) An increase in order maintenance policing
B) A crackdown on quality-of-life offenses
C) A focus on serious crime
D) A focus on targeting crimes such as jaywalking, public urination, graffiti, and public drinking

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The concentric zone research conducted by Park and Burgess identified Zone __________ as being in transition.

A) I
B) II
C) III
D) IV

Question 5

Which of the following is not one of the major principles of sociological theories of crime causation?

A) Social groups, institutions, and rules, as well as the arrangements of society, all provide the proper focus for criminological study
B) The structure of society and its relative degree of organization or disorganization are important factors contributing to the prevalence of criminal behavior
C) Group dynamics, group organization, and subgroup relationships form the causal nexus out of which crime develops
D) It is possible to predict the specific behavior of an individual member of a given group

Question 6

________ is the process in which a person openly rejects that which he or she wants or aspires to but cannot obtain or achieve.

A) Reaction formation
B) Relative deprivation
C) Anomie
D) Technique of neutralization

Question 7

Social structure theories see __________ as a fundamental cause of crime.

A) social disenfranchisement
B) a lack of self-control
C) the strength of the social bond
D) the nature of existing power relationships between social groups

Question 8

According to Merton, an innovator

A) accepts both the legitimate goals and the socially approved means of acquiring those goals.
B) accepts the legitimate goals but rejects the socially approved means of acquiring those goals.
C) rejects legitimate goals and but accepts socially approved means.
D) rejects both the legitimate goals and the socially approved means of acquiring those goals.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about gangs is not true?

A) The majority of gang members report that their gangs sell crack cocaine
B) Over half of all gang members have tried to quit
C) Most gangs have members from a variety of ethnic groups
D) Most gangs allow female members to assume leadership roles

Question 10

Which of the following is characteristic of an individual experiencing personal deprivation?

A) Feelings of social isolation
B) Participation in social movements
C) Attempts to change the social system
D) None of the above

Question 11

According to general strain theory, which of the following is not a strain likely to cause crime?

A) A strain that is associated with high levels of self-control
B) A strain that creates some pressure or incentive to engage in criminal coping
C) A strain that is perceived as high in magnitude
D) A strain that is seen as unjust

Question 12

The development of favorable attitudes towards the use of violence involves

A) biological factors.
B) learned behavior.
C) psychological traits.
D) frustration or strain.

Question 13

A juvenile who desires wealth but not entry into the middle class is the most crime-prone and is an example of Cloward and Ohlin's Type _______ youth.

A) I
B) II
C) III
D) IV

Question 14

The average age for joining a gang today is approximately ______ years of age.

A) 11
B) 13
C) 15
D) 17

Question 15

Walter Miller identified six key values or __________ which are considered important by members of a delinquent subculture

A) cultural norms
B) culture conduct
C) focal concerns
D) conduct norms

Question 16

According to James Clark, the black subculture of violence was created by generations of __________ violence.

A) black-on-black
B) black-on-white
C) white-on-white
D) white-on-black

Question 17

Merton's strain theory stresses

A) the idea that although criminal behavior is not inherited, tendencies toward criminal behavior are inherited.
B) the importance of a person's early family environment in determining attitudes towards crime.
C) the sexual maladjustments of people as a main source of crime.
D) the idea that American society emphasizes common success goals without providing equal access to the means of obtaining them.

Question 18

Social __________ refers to institutional arrangements within society's institutions

A) structure
B) life
C) process
D) pathology

Question 19

It appears that certain forms of violence are more acceptable in the __________ portion of the United States.

A) Northeastern
B) Western
C) Southern
D) Midwestern

Question 20

A shoplifter who claims she is not really a criminal because "no one really got hurt" and "the shop can afford it" is employing the __________ technique of neutralization.

A) denying injury
B) denying responsibility
C) denying the victim
D) condemning the condemners

Question 21

According to Merton, poverty and the resulting limitation of opportunity are sufficient to induce a conspicuously high rate of crime.

Question 22

A wealthy and socially privileged individual may still experience relative deprivation.

Question 23

Matza described drift as hard determinism.

Question 24

Which of the following was not one of the objectives of the Chicago Area Project?

A) Involve project members in the lives of troubled youth
B) Provide recreational activities for youth
C) Improve the physical appearance of poor neighborhoods
D) Increase job and educational opportunities for delinquents

Question 25

Which of the following is a critique of ecological theories?

A) They use the incidence of delinquency as both an example of and something caused by social disorganization
B) They lack explanatory power
C) They are racist
D) They are less applicable to American society today than they were in the 1930s

Question 26

Countercultures generally conform to the parameters of the surrounding culture.

Question 27

_______ was directly based on the work of Cloward and Ohlin's differential opportunity theory.

A) Mobilization for Youth
B) The Chicago Area Project
C) The Welfare Reform Reconciliation Act
D) Welfare-to-Work

Question 28

Nonutilitarian delinquency, which involves destroying things of value, is the result of turning lower-class subculture values upside down.

Question 29

Some researchers suggest that __________ theories fail to distinguish between the condition of social disorganization and the crimes that this condition is said to cause.

A) strain
B) culture conflict
C) ecological
D) subcultural

Question 30

Park and Burgess found that as their economic positions improved, inner-city residents tended to move to outer zones.

Question 31

One criticism of strain theory is that

A) it overfocuses on the idea that spatial location determines crime and delinquency.
B) it is racist
C) it lacks explanatory power.
D) participation in delinquency appears to shield delinquents from sources of despair.

Question 32

Which of the following was not part of Mobilization for Youth?

A) Boycotts against schools
B) Rent strikes against slum landlords
C) Voter registration
D) Welfare-to-work programs

Question 33

Sociological theories attempt to predict the specific behavior of a given individual.

Question 34

Research suggests that feelings of general strain are negatively related to later delinquency.

Question 35

Which type of theory has been criticized for being racist?

A) Social disorganization theory
B) Strain theory
C) The subcultural approach
D) The ecological approach

Question 36

Broken windows theory encourages police to focus on combatting serious crime.

Question 37

Participants in a violent subculture use techniques of neutralization to deal with feelings of guilt about their aggression.

Question 38

The statement "I can take care of myself" best represents the focal concern of autonomy.

Question 39

Social structural theories see economic disenfranchisement as a fundamental cause of crime.

Question 40

James Clarke suggests that the high rate of black underclass homicide in the U.S. may result from a black subculture of violence.

Question 41

A subculture is communicated to participants through a process of __________.

Question 42

Co-offending reduces the likelihood that offenders will commit violent crimes.

Question 43

According to Cloward and Ohlin, __________ describes preexisting subcultural paths to success that are not approved of by the wider culture.

Question 44

Claiming that "I only beat up drunks" is an example of the neutralization technique of __________.

Question 45

Gang crime during the 1920s involved primarily vandalism and petty theft.

Question 46

A young male teen with an absent father may be likely to emphasize Miller's focal concern of __________.

Question 47

Individuals who openly reject what they want but cannot obtain are engaging in __________.

Question 48

_________is a surrogate term for the range of mechanisms that combine to bring an environment under the control of its residents.

Question 49

There are a large number of female-dominated gangs today.

Question 50

Messner and Rosenfeld's relative deprivation theory blames the __________ for most criminal activity.

Question 51

The Chicago Area Project focused on reducing social ______________ in slum neighborhoods.

Question 52

Social structure theories are able to predict which individuals will turn to crime.

Question 53

The Rand Corporation's review of the Chicago Area Project found it was effective in reducing rates of juvenile delinquency.

Question 54

Social _______ theories explain crime by reference to the economic and social arrangements of society.

Question 55

According to the concept of __________, traditions of delinquency are transmitted through successive generations in the same zone.

Question 56

Subcultural theories have been criticized for being racist.

Question 57

According to Elijah Anderson, contemporary street code emphasizes the issue of __________.

Question 58

The Chicago Area Project focused on reducing delinquency in transitional neighborhoods.

Question 59

Sociological theories use a(n) __________ perspective, stressing types of behavior likely to be exhibited by group members.

Question 60

___________theory suggests that the root cause of criminality can be found in a clash of values between variously socialized groups over what is acceptable or proper behavior.

Question 61

Consider the city in which your university is located. Which areas in the city tend to have higher levels of crime and which have lower levels? How can these variations be explained by the theories discussed in this chapter?

Question 62

One criticism of __________ theories is that the overemphasize the notion that spatial location determines crime and delinquency.

Question 63

What are some of the ways social structure theories help explain crime? What informal and formal arrangements do these theories look at?

Question 64

One criticism of __________ theories is that they are tautological.

Question 65

Discuss some of the policy implications of social structure theories.

Question 66

What are the three sociological explanations for crime? How might we see this present in society today? Please provide examples.

Question 67

Explain the three major sociological approaches to crime causation and the major principles or assumptions of sociological theories.