Deck 2: Explanations for Organized Crime

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of Merton's suggested modes of adaptation to deal with strain?​

A)​rebellion
B)​retreatism
C)conformity
D)hedonism

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to Fredric Thrasher,"Experience in a predatory gang develops in the boy _____________ law and order."​

A)​a respect for
B)​an indifference to
C)a hatred for
D)a preference for

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Merton used the term pathological materialism to describe:​

A)​the human compulsion for financial security.
B)​organized crime's singular pursuit of financial goals.
C)an American preoccupation with economic success.
D)emphasis on goal achievement with little regard for the means of achievement.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The _____________ is characterized principally by conduct that reflects values antithetical to the surrounding culture.​

A)​delinquent subculture
B)​mainstream subculture
C)conventional subculture
D)violent subculture

Question 5

_____________ implies that there are value judgments,or a social value system,which lie apart from a larger or central value system.​

A)​Subculture
B)​Culture
C)Norm
D)Social interaction

Question 6

Which of the following modes of Merton's adaptation includes organized criminal activity for those who would play the game differently?​

A)​innovation
B)​conformity
C)retreatism
D)rebellion

Question 7

Central to the issue of culture versus subculture is/are _____________: group-held prescriptions for,or prohibitions against,certain conduct.​

A)​ethics
B)​values
C)norms
D)interactions

Question 8

Which scholars discovered that certain clearly identifiable neighborhoods maintained a high level of criminality over many decades despite changes in ethnic composition?​

A)​Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
B)​Robert Merton and Emile Durkheim
C)Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey
D)Clifford R.Shaw and Henry D.McKay

Question 9

In order for an organized crime group to survive,it must have a(n)_____________ process for inducting new members and inculcating them with the values and ways of behaving prescribed by the social system.​

A)​institutionalized
B)​religiously-centered
C)culture-focused
D)ritualized

Question 10

Who theorized that all behavior-lawful and criminal-is learned?​

A)​Robert Merton
B)​Sigmund Freud
C)Edwin Sutherland
D)Robert Agnew

Question 11

Sociologists Clifford R.Shaw and Henry D.McKay suggested that the attitudes,values,and techniques of organized criminality are transmitted through all of the following ways except for:​

A)​economic necessity.
B)​formalized and ritualistic processes.
C)culturally.
D)religiously

Question 12

Inadequate familial socialization prevents some persons from:​

A)​progressing in an organized crime family to achieve "made guy" status.
B)​conforming to the conventional norms of the wider society.
C)conforming to the norms of a delinquent or criminal subculture.
D)none of these.

Question 13

Social Strain theorist Robert Merton hypothesized that organized crime was:

A)​the result of sociopathic opportunism.
B)​adaptive innovation by educationally and financially disadvantaged elements.
C)a normal response to pressures exerted on certain persons by the social structure.
D)an abnormal response to peer pressure exerted by one's own ethnic group.

Question 14

_____________ refers to a source of patterning in human conduct; it is the sum of patterns of social relationships and shared meanings by which people give order,expression,and value to common experiences.​

A)​Subculture
B)​Culture
C)Norm
D)Social interaction

Question 15

_________________ refers to the study of society,social institutions,human interaction,collective behavior,and the behavior of organized groups.​

A)​Psychology
B)​Sociology
C)Criminal anthropology
D)Criminology

Question 16

According to strain theorists,which of the following may result if a number of people are confronted by the contradiction between goals and means,and as a result become estranged from society?​

A)​war
B)​anomie
C)psychological disorders
D)materialism

Question 17

Which of the following scholars stated that "American preoccupation with economic success,coupled with socioeconomic stratification,causes strain"?​

A)​Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay
B)​Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey
C)Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
D)Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin

Question 18

_____________ theory argues that criminals organize their behavior according to the norms of a delinquent or criminal group to which they belong or with which they identify.​

A)​Differential association
B)​Strain
C)Social control​
D)Conflict

Question 19

According to _____________ theory,each successive immigrant group experienced strain to which some members reacted by innovating in accord with a tradition that had been established by earlier American entrepreneurs.​

A)​ethnic succession
B)​strain
C)social control
D)differential association

Question 20

Leaders of organized criminal enterprises maintain formal and informal political,economic,and religious ties that provide:​

A)​legitimate opportunities.
B)​illegitimate opportunities.
C)both illegitimate and legitimate opportunities.
D)gangster chic.

Question 21

Clifford R.Shaw and Henry D.McKay found that certain clearly identifiable Chicago neighborhoods maintained a high level of criminality over many decades despite changes in ethnic composition.​

Question 22

Persons with an antisocial personality disorder suffer little or no guilt as a result of engaging in socially harmful behavior.​

Question 23

To a great extent,the environment inhabited by organized crime reinforces antisocial behavior and frequently ridicules conventional,conforming behavior.​

Question 24

Ethnic succession theory posits that organized crime provides a "queer ladder of social mobility" for disadvantaged groups who eventually leave organized crime,making way for the next wave.

Question 25

During the era known as ________________ during the 1920s and 30s,the illegal sale and distribution of liquor in America acted as catalyst for the development of organized crime.​

A)​Proscription
B)​Prohibition
C)Proliferation
D)Promulgation

Question 26

Central to the psychoanalytic explanation for crime is the _____________,a conscience-like mechanism whose function is to restrain the person from antisocial behavior.​

A)​id
B)​superego
C)ego
D)superid

Question 27

According to learning theory,antisocial behavior is sometimes the result of learning-positive and negative reinforcement-directly from others.​

Question 28

According to psychoanalytic theorists,criminal behavior is related to the superego function.​

Question 29

According to Edwin Sutherland,all behavior-lawful and criminal-is learned.​

Question 30

Research has shown that serotonin levels have no value as a predictor of criminal behavior.​

Question 31

Clinical psychology is based,to various extents,on psychoanalytic theory,a body of work fathered by:​

A)​Robert K.Merton.
B)​Edwin Sutherland.
C)Sigmund Freud.
D)Émile Durkheim.

Question 32

According to behavioral psychology,behavior is acquired through _____________-a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior,which occurs through interaction with the environment.​

A)​operant conditioning
B)​classical conditioning
C)education
D)operant conditioning,classical conditioning,and education

Question 33

According to learning theory,antisocial behavior is sometimes the result of a failure to learn how to discriminate between competing norms.​

Question 34

The connection between criminal organizations of southern Italy and the American Mafia are the Zips,a term used describe recent immigrants.​

Question 35

According to Durkheim,retreatism refers to a state of normlessness which is the result of dramatic societal change.​

Question 36

According to ethnic succession,persons involved in organized crime are not committed to a deviant subculture but are merely using available,albeit illegal,opportunity to achieve economic success.​

Question 37

Recent biological theories of crime identify which of the following as playing a part in criminal behavior?​

A)​a criminal recessive gene
B)​neurotransmitters
C)bone structure
D)country of origin

Question 38

Environmental factors can alter the expression of genes,thus influencing the behavior of the individual.​

Question 39

Persons with _____________ have a poorly developed superego-they are psychopaths or sociopaths-and are restrained only by the fear of punishment.​

A)​schizophrenia
B)​depression
C)psychosis
D)antisocial personality disorder

Question 40

Edwin Sutherland described pathological materialism as an American preoccupation with economic success.​

Question 41

Central to the psychoanalytic explanation for crime is the _____________,a conscience-like mechanism whose function is to restrain the person from antisocial behavior.​

Question 42

As the only theory developed to explain the continued existence of organized crime,_____________ posits that organized crime provides a "queer ladder of social mobility" for disadvantaged groups who eventually leave organized crime,making way for the next wave.​

Question 43

The theory of _____________ asserts that illegitimate opportunity for success,like legitimate opportunity,is not equally distributed throughout society and access to criminal ladders of success is no more freely available than are noncriminal alternatives.​

Question 44

Psychopaths exhibit a strong conscience,which allows them to pacify their guilt in order to harm another.​

Question 45

Central to behavioral psychology is that all behavior is shaped by _____________.​

Question 46

Who are the Zips and what role have they played in spreading organized crime in the United States?​

Question 47

How does the differential association theory explain why organized crime is more likely to occur in certain neighborhoods?​

Question 48

According to differential association theory,the principal part of _____________ occurs within intimate personal groups.​

Question 49

Describe the theory of ethnic succession as it is used in the context of organized crime.​

Question 50

What are Robert K.Merton's five modes of adaptation? Why is innovation most important when studying organized crime?​

Question 51

Define and explain what is meant by a "psychopath."​

Question 52

According to _____________ theorists,delinquent acts result when an individual's bond to society is weak or broken and the strength of this bond is determined by external and internal restraints.​

Question 53

The connection between the criminal organizations of southern Italy-Mafia,Camorra,'Ndrangheta-and American organized crime are the _____________,who are recent immigrants.​

Question 54

_____________ suggests a strain between societal expectations for success and limited opportunity causes certain persons to innovate in the form of organized crime.​

Question 55

Persons with low levels of the neurotransmitter ____________are more inclined toward aggression and violence than those with normal levels.​

Question 56

According to _____________ theory,all behavior-lawful and criminal-is learned in intimate personal groups,although learning the techniques of sophisticated criminality requires the proper environment.​