Deck 7: Social Process Theories

Question 1

_____________________ offers the principle that becoming a criminal is a learning process in which potential delinquents and criminals master techniques that enable them to counterbalance conventional value and drift back and forth between illegitimate and conventional behavior.

Answer 1

Neutralization theory

Question 2

___________________ occurs when parents have excellent parenting skills,are supportive and can effectively control their children in a noncoercive fashion resulting in a reduction in antisocial behavior.

A)Parental control
B)Parental efficacy
C)Social control
D)Differential reinforcement

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When parents provide the structure that integrates children into families and can effectively control their children in a noncoercive fashion,it is called __________________.

Answer 3

parental efficacy

Question 4

_______________ have focused on the family and have played a key role in putting into operation programs designed to strengthen the bond between parent and child.

Question 5

Sutherland believed criminality to be a function of a ______________ process that could affect any individual in any culture.

Question 6

Schools contribute to criminality when they:

A)track students to identify academic potential
B)fail to offer diverse curriculums
C)are located in inner-city areas
D)hire substandard teachers

Question 7

Males are more likely to socialize with deviant peers than are females and they are more likely to be deeply influenced by these deviant peers.This finding explains how ____________________ may explain the gender difference in the crime rate.

Question 8

_____________________ is process in which the past of the labeled person is reviewed and reevaluated to fit his or her current status.

Question 9

The interactions people have with various organizations,institutions,and processes of society is known as:

A)stigmatization
B)socialization
C)drift
D)amplification

Question 10

According to Sykes and Matza,_____________________ are used by delinquent youth to neutralize moral constraints so they may drift into criminal acts.

Question 11

People who believe that criminal activity will damage their self-image and their relationships with others have a commitment to ___________________.

Question 12

________________________ refers to judicial practices in some jurisdictions whereby harsher sentences are imposed on African Americans for certain offenses.

Question 13

When parents,friends,teachers,and law enforcement officials amplify negative labels via stigmatization a person may begin to re-evaluate their identity.This process is referred to as the ___________________..

Question 14

Youth who grow up in households characterized by conflict and tension,and where there is a lack of familial love and support,are susceptible to:

A)depression
B)delinquency
C)poverty
D)dropping out

Question 15

___________________ occurs when a deviant event comes to the attention of significant others or social control agents who apply a negative label.

Question 16

____________________________ are the morally tinged influences which have become entrenched in the culture but are publicly condemned.

Question 17

According to social bond theory,a person's sensitivity to and interest in others is termed _______?____.Without this element of social bond,psychologists believe a person becomes a psychopath and loses the ability to relate coherently to the world.

Question 18

The view that criminality is a function of people's interactions with various organizations,institutions,and processes in society is referred to as:

A)social structure theory
B)social process theory
C)social conflict theory
D)development theory

Question 19

Social process theories hold that criminality is a function of individual ______________.

Question 20

According to Akers and Burgess,_____________________ occurs when deviant and conventional behaviors are learned and reinforced by direct conditioning.

Question 21

Sykes and Matza base their neutralization theory on a variety of observations about criminals.Among these observations is that:

A)criminals hope to plea bargain based upon dispelling their responsibility for their offenses
B)criminals view all victims as equal prey for their offenses
C)criminals sometimes voice a sense of guilt over their illegal acts
D)criminals show respect for their "street smart" peers

Question 22

According to Matza,________ refers to the process of moving from one extreme of behavior to another.Further,this helps to explain why a youth's behavior may be law abiding sometimes and deviant at other times.

A)anomie
B)drift
C)strain
D)dramatization

Question 23

Differential association has a number of important findings.What finding is false?

A)Crime appears to be intergenerational
B)The more deviant one's social network and network of affiliations,the more likely one will engage in antisocial behavior.
C)The influence of deviant friends is not supportive of delinquency.
D)Differential association is multi-cultural.

Question 24

When young offenders claim their unlawful acts were beyond their control,it's known as:

A)denial of responsibility
B)denial of injury
C)denial of victim
D)condemnation of the condemners

Question 25

Referring to differential association theory,how does learning criminal behavior differ from learning other behavior?

A)Learning criminal behavior is more of a peer group exercise.
B)Learning criminal behavior is a matter of imitation.
C)Learning criminal behavior is greater in frequency,intensity,priority,and duration.
D)There is no difference between learning criminal behavior and non-criminal behavior.

Question 26

Differential association theory suggests that crime is a/an ______ behavior

A)learned
B)chronic
C)group
D)isolated

Question 27

When a crime is directed at certain persons because they are disliked or engage in behavior some people may find offensive,the offenders sometimes neutralizes their wrongdoing by maintaining that it was deserved.This is known as:

A)denial of responsibility
B)denial of injury
C)denial of victim
D)condemnation of the condemners

Question 28

According to differential reinforcement theory what determines whether deviant or criminal behavior persists?

A)the degree that living conditions influence behavior
B)the degree that offenders are able to neutralize their behaviors
C)the degree it has been rewarded or punished
D)the degree that conventional ties to society are broken or weakened

Question 29

Which of the following has been linked to decreasing crime?

A)family and friends who hold criminal beliefs
B)single-parent households
C)holding religious beliefs
D)lack of educational motivation

Question 30

Differential associations may vary in all but which of the following ways?

A)frequency
B)duration
C)priority
D)motivation

Question 31

The principle that criminal techniques are learned is part of:

A)labeling theory
B)differential reinforcement theory
C)social reaction theory
D)differential association theory

Question 32

When friends or parents demonstrate their disapproval of crime it is known as:

A)aging-out and desistance occur
B)disassociations occur
C)anomie occurs
D)definitions unfavorable toward criminality occur

Question 33

Research indicates that school dropouts,especially those who have been expelled,face a significant chance of entering a criminal career.According to the Urban Institute,what percentage of American students manage to graduate?

A)31 percent
B)46 percent
C)63 percent
D)71 percent

Question 34

The view,according to Akers,that both deviant and conventional behaviors are learned is called:

A)differential association theory
B)labeling theory
C)social reaction theory
D)differential reinforcement theory

Question 35

The importance and prestige attributed to individuals or groups from whom the definitions are learned is the _________ element of an association.

A)priority
B)duration
C)intensity
D)frequency

Question 36

The view that becoming a criminal is a learning process in which potential delinquents master skills that enable them to counterbalance conventional values and drift back and forth between illegitimate and conventional behavior is known as:

A)social reaction theory
B)differential association theory
C)differential reinforcement theory
D)neutralization theory

Question 37

By denying the wrongfulness of an act,criminals are able to neutralize illegal behavior.This is known as:

A)denial of responsibility
B)denial of victim
C)condemnation of the condemners
D)denial of injury

Question 38

Whose name do we associate with the prominent social learning theory of differential association?

A)Matza
B)Sykes
C)Burgess
D)Sutherland

Question 39

The morally tinged influences,which have become entrenched in the culture but that are publicly condemned are known as:

A)techniques of neutralization
B)symbolic interactions
C)subterranean behaviors
D)dramatizations of evil

Question 40

When behavior is punished,this is referred to as:

A)direct conditioning
B)reconditioning
C)labeling
D)negative reinforcement

Question 41

Novice criminals often argue that they are caught in the dilemma of being loyal to their own peer group while at the same time attempting to abide by the rules of the larger society.This is known as:

A)denial of responsibility
B)appeal to higher loyalties
C)condemnation of the condemners
D)denial of victim

Question 42

Children living with a stepparent exhibit less problems as youth in single-parent families and considerably more problems than those who are living with both biological parents.

Question 43

Which is not an element of the social bond?

A)achievement
B)attachment
C)commitment
D)involvement

Question 44

The critique that the origin of criminal definitions is not accounted for is applicable to what theory group?

A)control theories
B)learning theories
C)labeling theories
D)structural theories

Question 45

Social learning theories assume people are born either "bad" or "good" and that their degree of criminality can be unlearned with proper socialization.

Question 46

Poor school achievement and limited educational aspirations have been associated with delinquent behavior.

Question 47

What statement is false as a critique of social control theory?

A)Adolescents who report high levels of involvement,which should reduce delinquency,actually report high levels of criminal behavior.
B)Attachment to deviant peers decreases the likelihood of criminality.
C)Social control theory is better able to explain minor delinquency than more serious criminal acts.
D)Delinquent youths' friendship patterns seem quite close to those of conventional youth.

Question 48

Communication via symbols which represent something else is known as:

A)symbolic interaction
B)labeling theory
C)subterranean behavior
D)dramatization of evil

Question 49

According to social reaction theory,labels are believed to produce:

A)stigma
B)primary deviance
C)secondary deviance
D)anomie

Question 50

This occurs when norm violations or crimes have very little influence on the actor and can be quickly forgotten:

A)anomie
B)primary deviance
C)secondary deviance
D)stigma

Question 51

A major premise of social reaction theory is that the law is differentially constructed and applied,depending on the offenders.This is known as:

A)differential reinforcement
B)differential enforcement
C)differential association
D)differential control

Question 52

Important findings of social control theory include all but which of the following?

A)Youths who were strongly attached to their parents were less likely to commit criminal acts.
B)Delinquents and nondelinquents did not share similar beliefs about society.
C)Youths involved in unconventional behavior,such as smoking and drinking,were more delinquency prone.
D)Youths who maintained weak and distant relationships with people tended toward delinquency.

Question 53

Diversion programs are a policy implication of what social process theory?

A)differential association
B)social control
C)labeling
D)differential reinforcement

Question 54

Social process theories view criminality as a function of people's interactions with various organizations,institutions,and processes in society.Thus,improper socialization is a key component of crime.

Question 55

The theory that links the onset of criminality to the weakening of the ties that bind people to society is:

A)social learning theory
B)differential association theory
C)differential reinforcement theory
D)social bond theory

Question 56

Social control theory maintains that everyone has the potential to become a criminal but that most people are controlled by their bonds to society.

Question 57

Labeling theorists use a/an _______ definition of crime.

A)legal
B)perceived
C)interactionist
D)consensus

Question 58

One consequence of labeling is the concept of _____________,which brings about a reassessment of one's self-image that reflects actual or perceived judgments made by others,such as parents.

A)reflected assessments
B)reflected appraisals
C)reflected reactions
D)reflected associations

Question 59

In his _________________,pioneering control theorist Walter Reckless argued that a strong self-image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of crimogenic influences in the environment.

A)containment theory
B)normative group theory
C)social bond theory
D)social reaction theory

Question 60

People become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity.This is part of the:

A)social reinforcement theory
B)social learning theory
C)social control theory
D)social reaction theory

Question 61

Sykes and Matza found that criminals are immune to the demands of conformity and that criminals rarely respect,if ever,honest,law-abiding persons.

Question 62

Symbolic reaction theory (labeling theory)is rooted in symbolic interaction theory.Explain how symbolic interaction and interpretation,the result of labeling,may lead to a criminal career.

Question 63

When young offenders sometimes claim their unlawful acts were simply not their fault,it is known as denial of responsibility.

Question 64

The influence of labeling theory can be viewed in the development of diversion and restitution programs

Question 65

Differential association theory is able to explain why one youth who is exposed to delinquent definitions eventually succumbs to them,while another,living under the same conditions,is able to avoid criminal entanglements.

Question 66

Discuss Lemert's concept of primary and secondary deviance.Why does secondary deviance transform one's identity whereas primary deviance does not?

Question 67

Criminal techniques are learned including the motives,drives,rationalizations,and attitudes associated with crime.

Question 68

One of the critiques of social bond theory is that attachment to deviant peers supports and nurtures rather than deters antisocial behavior.

Question 69

Negative labels,such as being called a troublemaker,stigmatize the recipients of these labels and reduce their self-image.Those who accept or internalize these labels are more prone to engage in delinquent behaviors than those who do not.

Question 70

Identify and describe the principles of Sutherland's differential association theory.

Question 71

Explain Akers' differential reinforcement theory and discuss how it is associated with,or employs,concepts from Sutherland's differential association.

Question 72

Identify and explain the elements of social bond theory.What are some of the criticisms of social bonds?

Question 73

Hirschi offers that the social bond a person maintains with society is comprised of four main elements: attachment,commitment,involvement,and belief.

Question 74

Explain the differences between the three branches of social process theory - social learning,social control,and social reaction.

Question 75

Family relationships are a major determinant of behavior.Identify and discuss the various elements of family relations and how these elements influence criminality.

Question 76

When an offender views the world as a corrupt place with a dog-eat-dog code,it is known as denial of injury.

Question 77

According to differential reinforcement,people learn to evaluate their own behavior through their interactions with significant others and groups in their lives

Question 78

Neutralization theory holds that offenders master techniques that enable them to neutralize conventional values.Identify and discuss three of these techniques of neutralization.

Question 79

Discuss the policy implications and crime prevention efforts associated with social process theories.

Question 80

The peer group has a powerful effect on human conduct and can have a dramatic influence on decision making and behavior choices.Discuss the various ways peers and delinquency are linked.