Deck 7: The Conflict Tradition

Question 1

Marx and Engels' approach to understanding society is known as

A) communism.
B) dominant ideology.
C) historical materialism.
D) idealism.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to Marx, to understand modem society we must realize that history is

A) the history of class struggles.
B) dependent on precise records of factual events.
C) seen through the eyes of the "victor."
D) the result of working-class ideology.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The mode of production includes

A) commodities.
B) means of production.
C) social relations of production.
D) both b and c.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The means of production refers to

A) the marketing strategies for selling commodities.
B) the raw materials used in the production of commodities.
C) the potential profits made from selling commodities.
D) none of the above.

Question 5

Social relations of production refers to

A) the ways people sell their personal goods to strangers without taxation.
B) the means by which people consume mass-produced commodities.
C) the many ways in which different classes relate to commodities.
D) none of the above.

Question 6

Which of the following are modes of production analyzed by Marx and Engels?

A) capitalist, communist, socialist, and agrarian
B) industrial, agricultural, and barter
C) mass produced, cottage-industry, and trade
D) service, skilled, and semiskilled

Question 7

According to Marx, ideology __________ and __________ social reality.

A) invents, transforms
B) captures, dispels
C) reflects, distorts
D) duplicates, oppresses

Question 8

What are the social classes created by a capitalist mode of production?

A) exploited and exploiters
B) powerful and powerless
C) wealthy, upper middle class, middle class, working class, and social junk
D) lumpenproletariat, working class, middle class, and capitalist class

Question 9

What is the primary class struggle in capitalist society?

A) between the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the worker class (proletariat)
B) between the capitalist class and the state apparatus
C) between the middle class and the working class
D) between the middle class and the chronically unemployed

Question 10

For Marx and Engels, social class is determined by

A) position in the social relations of production.
B) ability to work hard and get ahead.
C) economic position within a mode of production.
D) education level, professional credentials, and family ties.

Question 11

Which of the following is the primary way class relations are maintained according to a Marxist analysis?

A) coercion
B) willful acceptance of one's position
C) tax advantages for the middle and upper classes
D) all of the above

Question 12

Marx wrote, "It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary,

A) the consciousness of women that determines their being."
B) their women that determine their consciousness."
C) their social being that determines their class position."
D) their social being that determines their consciousness."

Question 13

Ideology is a process

A) that illuminates reality.
B) that alternates between true and false consciousness.
C) that masks the nature and source of exploitation.
D) that gradually reveals contradictions in the mode of production.

Question 14

What is the "state" as defined by Marx and Engels?

A) Organs of political authority and the bureaucracies that contain dissent.
B) Organs of political authority and the ideological processes that legitimate authority.
C) Organs of political authority that monopolize the economy and military.
D) Organs of political authority that underpin their power through force.

Question 15

_____ is crucial for maintaining state control and unequal class relations.

A) Crime
B) Legislative process
C) Lobbying
D) Law

Question 16

What did Marx and Engels argue regarding concepts such as "equality" and "fair play"?

A) They create the false impression that law is a neutral arbiter of social conflict.
B) They are critical components of revolutionary consciousness.
C) They will be the inevitable result of successful worker rebellion.
D) They apply to all citizens in a capitalist democracy.

Question 17

Marx and Engels believed that crime and criminalization were

A) signs of demoralization.
B) acts of primitive rebellions.
C) violation of rights.
D) all of the above.

Question 18

By passing laws against some behaviors but not others, the state can have

A) a guarantee that some rights will be protected and secured from harm.
B) greater levels of coercive control over specific populations.
C) more efficient production practices.
D) control over all classes.

Question 19

Which of the following is true regarding a Marxist view of the state?

A) Worker control of law is central to successful rebellion.
B) Although it is depicted as neutral, the law actually reflects the interests of the proletarians.
C) Law reflects bourgeois ideology.
D) Law can be a neutral arbiter when workers and owners clash.

Question 20

What is the source of crime according to Marx and Engels?

A) Repressive and exploitative acts of the state against the people.
B) Demoralization resulting from the misery and gruesome conditions of the working class.
C) Ideological distortions of proletarian goals and values.
D) The suppression of religion.

Question 21

According to conflict theory social change occurs

A) whenever there is a dispute between groups of people.
B) most reliably through legal and legislative change.
C) in disruptive ways when interests are challenged.
D) slowly in evolutionary fashion.

Question 22

According to Sellin, primary culture conflict occurs when

A) there is a clash between the norms of internal subcultures.
B) the process of solidifying inequality in the different cultures occurs.
C) the process of differentiation and inequality in the parent culture emerges.
D) there is a clash between the norms of different cultures.

Question 23

According to conflict theorist George Vold, crime is behavior committed by

A) minority groups whose regular actions and goals have not been secured by the legislative process.
B) the powerful as a means of controlling and oppressing the poor.
C) the middle class as a means of maintaining their status.
D) the poor who have no resources of their own.

Question 24

To understand crime from a conflict theory approach, we must analyze

A) how societies remain relatively stable over time.
B) the nature of social solidarity.
C) criminal law.
D) the ideology of the middle class.

Question 25

The Carrier's Case illustrates that

A) the judiciary is impartial and strict when interpreting the law.
B) judges always rely on precedents in making rulings.
C) judges can interpret law in ways that serve the interests of the powerful.
D) the judiciary can be bribed like any other government agent.

Question 26

According to Hagan's power-control theory of crime, girls in __________ are more engaged in delinquency because they are encouraged to take risks.

A) patriarchal families
B) egalitarian families
C) juvenile detention centers
D) public schools

Question 27

Populations become problematic when they question or challenge __________ modes of appropriating the product of human labor.

A) communist
B) socialist
C) capitalist
D) none of the above

Question 28

According to Spitzer, problem populations are created indirectly through

A) mental illness and physical handicaps.
B) fundamental contradictions in the capitalist economy.
C) the criminalization process.
D) contradictions in social control institutions.

Question 29

Within the surplus population, Spitzer distinguishes between social __________ and social __________.

A) parasites, dynamite
B) junk, parasites
C) junk, dynamite
D) dynamite, slugs

Question 30

Which of the following is not a "crime of accommodation"?

A) predatory crimes
B) personal crimes
C) crimes of control
D) crimes of resistance

Question 31

Burglary, robbery, and drug dealing are examples of

A) predatory crimes.
B) personal crimes.
C) crimes of control.
D) crimes of resistance.

Question 32

What does Chambliss' "structural contradictions" theory identify as a cause of crime?

A) Attempts by the state to deal with fundamental contradictions.
B) Labor union greed.
C) The reserve army of labor.
D) Attempts by workers to overthrow capitalist production.

Question 33

What is the "wages, profits, and consumption" contradiction?

A) Capitalism maintains a potentially dangerous surplus labor force.
B) The dilemma posed by conflicts between labor, capital, and the state.
C) As wages increase profits are threatened.
D) The drain that job-related health and other benefits create on capital.

Question 34

When did radical criminology emerge?

A) late 1800s
B) 1960s
C) 1980s
D) 1990s

Question 35

What does conflict theory combine?

A) Historical materialism and learning theories
B) Marxian theory and the labeling perspective
C) Marxian theory and the Chicago School
D) Left realism and historical materialism

Question 36

Which of the following is a true statement about the left realist view of crime?

A) Crime is the revolt of the workers against the capitalists and the state.
B) Crime is a result of state repression.
C) Crime results from relative deprivation and reactionary, selfish, and individualistic attitudes.
D) Crime is the inevitable result of the pent-up frustrations of capitalists.

Question 37

A left realist crime-control program would include

A) expanding and privatizing prisons.
B) the expansion of capital punishment mandatory minimum sentencing.
C) "three-strikes" and other get-tough-on-crime approaches.
D) deincarceration, demarginalization, and victim-restitution programs.

Question 38

For left realists, a police __________ ought to become a police __________.

A) force, service
B) service, force
C) man, woman
D) woman, man

Question 39

According to left realists crime has a

A) unifying effect on the poor.
B) unifying effect on capitalists and the middle class.
C) disorganizing and fragmenting effect on urban life.
D) radicalizing effect on the poor.

Question 40

How have theorists attempted to "integrate" conflict theory?

A) by inviting other theorists to critique their work
B) by formal synthesis of the various concepts used by conflict theorists
C) by bringing in concepts from other criminological theories
D) both b and c

Question 41

According to critics, radical criminology could be improved by

A) paying attention to how class interacts with gender, race, and age.
B) paying greater attention to the effects of class.
C) denying its links to Marxism.
D) recognizing its anticapitalist biases.

Question 42

What is the relationship between crime and power according to Hagan's Structural Criminology?

A) Horizontal relations of power are more important than vertical relations in generating crime.
B) Vertical relations of power are more important than horizontal relations in generating crime.
C) Horizontal and vertical relations of power are equally important as causes of crime.
D) There is an inverse relationship between horizontal and vertical power.

Question 43

What did Stephen Spitzer argue regarding surplus populations?

A) Because they challenge rulers directly, surplus populations threaten the existence of capitalism.
B) Surplus populations are an important source of law enforcement officers.
C) Surplus populations provide a mass labor pool that is necessary for capitalism.
D) Surplus populations are critical of mass consumption and accumulation and thus undermine profit-making.

Question 44

Marx and Engels define class as a position in the mode of production.

Question 45

The mode of production includes the means and social relations of production.

Question 46

According to Engels, crime is a form of primitive rebellion that will lead to revolutionary consciousness.

Question 47

The basic class struggle is between the capitalist class and the middle class.

Question 48

Crimes of domination include harms such as sexism and racism that are not defined as crime by legal codes.

Question 49

For Marx, crime was a function of the upper classes in their efforts to control the lower classes.

Question 50

Radical criminologists believe that capitalism should promote equal opportunity and resources for all people, thereby reducing the propensity for crime.

Question 51

According to Spitzer, surplus populations are a direct result of the capitalist order need for low-wage labor.

Question 52

Crimes of domination are committed by police and government.

Question 53

Crimes of domination are committed in response to oppressive conditions produced by capitalism.

Question 54

Although conflict analyses of law are theoretically sound, they are not supported by empirical research.

Question 55

Although Congress is subject to influence by powerful groups, appellate courts serve the interests of rich and poor alike.

Question 56

Historical materialists describe capitalism as a means of production.

Question 57

One of the problems with conflict theory is that it only attempts to explain crimes committed by the powerful members of society.

Question 58

According to radical criminologists, crime is a result of fundamental social contradictions generated by capitalism.

Question 59

Like Durkheim, Marx and Engels believed that crime is inevitable. However, the logical foundation of this inevitability was quite different. Summarize those differences, and evaluate their merits. Which makes more sense to you? Why?

Question 60

Compare and contrast conflict and consensus theories, paying particular attention to their divergent understandings of how society is organized, the nature of power and authority, and the role of law.

Question 61

In Class, State, and Crime, Quinney conceptualized three major types of crime. Illustrate your understanding of Quinney's work by identifying these types and explaining how they relate to capitalism.

Question 62

Although there are differences between conflict and radical criminology, both approaches highlight the importance of law. Identify and briefly explain three reasons why conflict and radical criminologists focus on law.

Question 63

Although left realism is often seen as an extension of conflict theory, left realism is also deeply critical of some aspects of the conflict approach. Identify and briefly explain the major points of the left realist critique of conflict theory.