Deck 2: The Chicago School: The City, Social Disorganization, and Crime

Question 1

Using Burgess's model of concentric zones, which zone is known as the zone in transition?

A) Zone 1.
B) Zone 2.
C) Zone 3.
D) Zone 4.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the research of Shaw and McKay, inner-city neighborhoods with high rates of crime

A) Were characterized by high levels of poverty, heterogeneity, and transiency.
B) Were characterized by universality of conventional values.
C) Had strong institutions, such as schools, to help revitalize the area.
D) Comprised the residential zone.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to Shaw and McKay, rates of juvenile crime are highest

A) In socially disorganized neighborhoods on the outer ring of the city.
B) In the zone in transition.
C) In New York as opposed to Chicago.
D) In African American neighborhoods but not in poor neighborhoods occupied by other ethnic groups.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The term that refers to mutual trust and support among residents as well as a willingness to intervene on the community's behalf (e.g., willing to exercise informal social control) is

A) Cognitive landscapes.
B) Concentrated disadvantage.
C) Social disorganization.
D) Collective efficacy.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about Shaw and McKay's theory and research is true?

A) Contrary to popular opinion, they argued that most delinquents come from homes in which the parents closely supervise their children.
B) They argued that kids become delinquent because they experience status frustration.
C) They argued that gangs were rare and that most youth committed crimes on their own.
D) They argued that delinquency was caused when youths were not controlled by adults and were exposed to delinquent values taught to them by older kids or adult criminals.

Question 6

To test their theory of collective efficacy, Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls utilized what sort of data?

A) They mapped by hand the addresses of all delinquents (known to Cook County Juvenile Court) in Chicago.
B) They analyzed survey data from the British Crime Survey.
C) They analyzed survey data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.
D) They analyzed survey data from the Chicago Area Project.

Question 7

How do Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls extend social disorganization theory?

A) By arguing that variations in social disorganization are linked to racial inequality.
B) By arguing that variations in social disorganization are linked to rates of deindustrialization.
C) By arguing that high rates of crime are linked to high levels of cultural disorganization and collective efficacy.
D) By arguing that high rates of crime are linked to low levels of collective efficacy.

Question 8

According to the theory and research by Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls, which of the following is true?

A) Disadvantage reduces collective efficacy, which, in turn, increases crime rates.
B) Deindustrialization increases collective efficacy which, in turn, lowers crime rates.
C) Deindustrialization is directly, positively related to crime, regardless of levels of collective efficacy.
D) Residential stability reduces collective efficacy which, in turn, decreases crime.

Question 9

Policy aimed at providing community-based recreational programs for youth is most consistent with which research?

A) Burgess's work, "The Growth of the City."
B) Shaw and McKay's work, Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas.
C) Sampson and Wilson's work, "A Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality."
D) Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls's work, "Collective Efficacy and Crime."

Question 10

Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory grew out of research in what period?

A) Early 1800s.
B) 1850-1900.
C) Early to mid-1900s.
D) 1980-2000.

Question 11

According to Shaw and McKay's research, which of the following is not a characteristic of inner-city areas?

A) High deindustrialization.
B) High poverty.
C) High population growth.
D) High population heterogeneity.

Question 12

Using Burgess's model of urban development, factory jobs and inexpensive housing were likely to be found in which zone?

A) Central business district.
B) Zone of workingmen's homes.
C) Commuter zone.
D) Zone in transition.

Question 13

Macro-level theory refers to

A) Theory that studies personality supertraits as opposed to the many component traits.
B) Theory that studies the characteristics of individuals.
C) Theory that studies the characteristics of geographical units.
D) Theory that studies social disorganization.

Question 14

How do Sampson and Groves extend social disorganization theory?

A) By introducing the term collective efficacy, measuring it, and studying it as a dynamic process.
B) By emphasizing the link between social disorganization and racial inequality.
C) By emphasizing the importance of cultural disorganization as well as structural disorganization.
D) By providing a groundbreaking empirical test of social disorganization theory in which social disorganization was measured.

Question 15

The idea that socially disorganized areas emerge out of a natural process of urban growth is most challenged by which work?

A) Burgess's work, "The Growth of the City."
B) Shaw and McKay's work, Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas.
C) Sampson and Wilson's work, "A Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality."
D) Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls's work, "Collective Efficacy and Crime."

Question 16

Kirk and Papachristos examined the relationship between

A) Individual perception of the police and individuals' willingness to use violence to solve problems.
B) Community culture and neighborhood violence.
C) The number of arrests in a community and the perception of the police.
D) Structural conditions and individual perceptions of the police.

Question 17

Legal cynicism emerges from

A) Neighborhoodwide concentrated disadvantage and neighborhoodwide police encounters.
B) Individual police encounters and individual socioeconomic status.
C) Individual police encounters and neighborhood poverty level.
D) Racial makeup of the neighborhood and police interactions.

Question 18

Individuals acquire cynicism through

A) Medial portrayal of the police.
B) Personal experience with police brutality.
C) Living in an impoverished area.
D) Relationally through interactions with social networks.

Question 19

Areas with high amounts of legal cynicism

A) View violence as a favorable response in all cases.
B) View violence unfavorably in all cases.
C) View violence as an appropriate response in certain cases.
D) Do not have a view on when violence should be used.

Question 20

Kirk and Papachristos discovered that

A) Legal cynicism was not related to neighborhood-level homicide.
B) Legal cynicism was negatively related to neighborhood-level homicides.
C) Legal cynicism was positively related to neighborhood-level homicides.
D) Legal cynicism had no impact on collective efficacy.

Question 21

What does it mean to say that a community is socially disorganized? Why is crime most likely to occur in such areas?

Question 22

Describe Burgess's concentric zone model. How did Shaw and McKay use that model in their own research?

Question 23

Drawing on the work of Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls, answer the following:
a. What is collective efficacy?
b. How does it play a role in crime?
c. How does collective efficacy emerge?

Question 24

Describe in detail how Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls tested the importance of community collective efficacy. What did they find?

Question 25

What are the policy implications of legal cynicism theory? What types of policing or other criminal justice policy seem warranted to combat legal cynicism and crime in communities?

Question 26

Describe the relationship among social disorganization, collective efficacy, and legal cynicism. How do the concepts from each theory influence one another?