Deck 4: General Macro-Level Theories and Modern-Day Applications

Question 1

Which methodological feature was the hallmark of early ecological studies based in the Chicago School of Sociology (e.g., Park & Burgess, 1925; Shaw & McKay, 1942)?

A) ethnography
B) multivariate statistics
C) mapping
D) focus groups

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Shaw and McKay's (1942) findings implied that the processes that lead to criminal activity most closely parallel those that determine the area's ______.

A) ethnic/racial composition
B) socioeconomic status
C) percentage of males
D) percentage of police officers

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following theories is an exception to the tendency of scholars to ignore existing theories when developing new perspectives on gangs and delinquency?

A) conflict theory
B) self-control theory
C) strain theory
D) social disorganization theory

Answer 3

D

Question 4

It is implied that Thrasher's (1927, 2000) term "interstitial" is borrowed from what discipline?

A) Math
B) Science
C) Fine arts
D) Finance

Question 5

All of the following are critiques that have been levied against Thrasher's (1927, 2000) gang social disorganization theory EXCEPT ______.

A) he focused disproportionately on low-income, urban areas
B) he didn't focus enough on group processes
C) his theory did not reflect a unified school of thought
D) he focused too much on group processes

Question 6

All of the following are components of collective efficacy EXCEPT ______.

A) it decreases informal social control within a community
B) it requires community members to forge social ties
C) it involves shared trust
D) it involves mutual willingness to intervene

Question 7

Papachristos and Kirk (2006) assert that social disorganization theory ______.

A) is only applicable to gangs, not other kinds of criminal activity
B) offers two complementary hypotheses as to how social disorganization breeds gang activity
C) offers two competing hypotheses as to how social disorganization breeds gang activity
D) isn't applicable to gangs

Question 8

Papachristos and Kirk (2006) suggest that social disorganization theory predicted gang homicides but not other kinds of homicides because ______.

A) neighborhoods where general violence and gang violence are high are not necessarily the same
B) there was incomplete homicide data on non-gang homicides
C) communities with a strong gang presence were also impoverished
D) collective efficacy was only a significant predictor of gang homicides

Question 9

Papachristos and Kirk (2006)'s finding of a mediating relationship among collective efficacy, concentrated disadvantage, and violent behavior indicated which of the following?

A) Neither collective efficacy nor concentrated disadvantage impacted violent gang behavior.
B) Collective efficacy impacts violent gang behavior through levels of concentrated disadvantage.
C) The magnitude of the impact of collective efficacy and concentrated disadvantage could not be determined.
D) Concentrated disadvantage impacts violent gang behavior, regardless of collective efficacy.

Question 10

Of all social disorganization variables, Pyrooz and colleagues (2010) found ______ to have the MOST impact on gang membership rates in their study of 100 cities in the United States.

A) economic disadvantage
B) population heterogeneity
C) residential mobility
D) collective efficacy

Question 11

Discordant findings about the effects of key social disorganization variables on gang and non-gang violence have been attributed to all of the following EXCEPT ______

A) different areas use different definitions for gang activity
B) data have been collected using geographic units that are too large
C) long-term gang wars in some areas have uniquely shaped violence patterns
D) cities and communities have their own histories, and those may affect social processes that affect delinquency differently

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT one of the stages of gang development in the United States?

A) large-scale immigration, which produced social and economic problems that set the foundation for gangs to form
B) the development of youth subcultures
C) the development of transnational gangs
D) the development of prison gangs

Question 13

Which of the following phenomena described in the five stages of gang development supports Thrasher's (1927, 2000) contextualization argument?

A) de facto policing
B) collective efficacy
C) social disorganization
D) multiple marginality

Question 14

Which of the following is the stage in which youth gangs are believed to form, as aided by the development of subcultures?

A) Stage 1
B) Stage 2
C) Stage 3
D) Stage 4

Question 15

Which of the following macro-structural phenomena led many young men to turn to drug trafficking beginning in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s?

A) immigration
B) mass incarceration
C) the economic recession
D) the closing and tearing down of public housing developments

Question 16

In general, the proliferation of drug trafficking follows in areas with ______.

A) fewer employed individuals
B) a history of early-onset gang activity
C) large Mexican populations
D) higher teen pregnancy rates

Question 17

Which of the following is a theory that claims that in inner-city Black neighborhoods, deindustrialization has led to the isolation and disadvantage of minorities who did not benefit from economic restructuring?

A) underclass theory
B) social disorganization theory
C) conflict theory
D) routine activities theory

Question 18

Conflict theory is most associated with what experience?

A) immigration
B) marginalization
C) routine activities
D) economic restructuring

Question 19

Which of the following are ways to describe theories that concern themselves with characteristics of delimited geographic areas (e.g., neighborhood, census tract, and state) that are related to crime?

A) micro-level
B) ecological
C) macro-level
D) environmental

Question 20

Which of the following are community conditions that Thrasher (1927, 2000) connected to gang activity?

A) community disorganization
B) ineffective families
C) poor-quality schooling
D) association with undesirable peers

Question 21

Studies by Whyte (1943) and Suttles (1968) imply which of the following about the application of social disorganization theory to gangs?

A) Disorganization is a misleading term, and should be used with caution.
B) Social disorganization theory does not need any modification to be applicable to gangs.
C) Gangs actually reflect strategic responses to disorganization in communities.
D) Gang activity occurs across cities and communities, not just in those that are impoverished and/or disorganized.

Question 22

Which of the following are components of Stage 4 of gang development?

A) public housing projects
B) gun availability
C) the proliferation of single-headed households in poor neighborhoods
D) drug trafficking

Question 23

Which of the following are believed to be precipitating factors of the development of prison gangs in Chicago?

A) Mayor Daley's 1969 gang war
B) the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
C) the War on Drugs
D) large-scale incarceration of gang members

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT a key element of opportunities for crime according to routine activities (opportunity) theory?

A) motivated offender
B) suitable target
C) racial/ethnic heterogeneity
D) lack of capable guardians

Question 25

The Chicago school's unique contribution to gang theorizing was its emphasis on the physical locations of gangs.

Question 26

There are debates as to how many gangs Thrasher (1927, 2000) examined in his landmark study.

Question 27

Thrasher's (1927) concept of "contextualization" is synonymous with his concept of a "situation complex."

Question 28

Bursik and Grasmick (1993) first specified that poverty, population heterogeneity, and residential mobility are the mechanisms that lead to crime and delinquency in social disorganization theory.

Question 29

Papachristos and Kirk (2006) suggested that social disorganization theory predicted gang but not non-gang homicides because the neighborhoods where gangs flourished were probably different from the places where non-gang violence developed.

Question 30

Papachristos (2004) and Monti (1993) pose similar challenges to the use of the term "disorganized" to describe delinquent groups such as gangs.

Question 31

Social disorganization theory is equally applicable to cities of all sizes.

Question 32

Immigration patterns were largely responsible for the erosion of social control in the first stage of U.S. gang development.

Question 33

Rap lyrics have always glorified delinquency and gang lifestyles.

Question 34

Law enforcement personnel stipulate that the release of prison inmates and high rates of drug trafficking are the factors that most significantly influence gang violence in communities.

Question 35

Define social control and discuss its relationship to delinquency in Thrasher's (1927, 2000) social disorganization theory.

Question 36

Did all four regions of the country equally experience the five stages of gang development? Why or why not?

Question 37

What are the key features of routine activities (opportunity) theory and what is the primary difference between it and other societal-level theories detailed in the chapter?

Question 38

Discuss how social disorganization theory applies to modern theorizing about gangs. Be sure to provide a brief history of the theory's development, assess at least one strength and one limitation of its core arguments, and detail findings from at least one study that explored whether social disorganization theory applies to gangs.