Deck 6: Durkheim, Anomie, and Modernization

Question 1

Anomie is more likely to occur in an environment of normlessness.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

According to the anomie perspective, individuals are constantly motivated to commit crime.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Durkheim believed that crime occurs naturally in a society and a society without crime would be pathologically over controlled.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Criminals play no role in maintaining social solidarity in the community.

Question 5

Social disciplining shapes human behavior by governing through ordinance.

Question 6

Durkheim's primary influence on sociology and criminology is his view that human behavior results from free will.

Question 7

Premodern societies were characterized by high levels of violent crime.

Question 8

Modernization of society is associated with higher arson rates.

Question 9

Increases in the prison population have challenged Durkheim's stability of punishment.

Question 10

Durkheim believed modernization would be associated with less violent punishments.

Question 11

According to Durkheim, anomie is more likely when society moves from:

A) Organic to mechanical
B) Mechanical to organic
C) Urban to rural
D) Rural to urban

Question 12

Anomie is more likely to occur in societies that:

A) Experience normlessness
B) Are moving from mechanical (i.e., based on farming) to organic (i.e., not based on farming)
C) Have a breakdown in rules and regulations
D) All of the above

Question 13

The rate of _________________ increases when the economy is at its extremes of growth or decline.

A) Poverty
B) Joblessness
C) Suicide
D) Violence

Question 14

The only thing that can limit human appetites for "more" is:

A) Society
B) Death
C) Self-control
D) Job satisfaction

Question 15

According to Spitzer, developed societies are characterized by:

A) Lenient punishments
B) Severe punishments
C) Absence of punishments
D) Inconsistent punishments

Question 16

Researchers suggest that Durkheim's theory as originally developed is missing a(n):

A) Explanation of economic inequality
B) Understanding of rural suicides
C) Attention to homicide rates
D) Enumeration of job rates

Question 17

In the first half of the nineteenth century, sociology was developed by:

A) August Comte
B) Socrates
C) Alfred Blumstein
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 18

According to Durkheim's theory, the presence of crime in a society is:

A) Abnormal
B) Organic
C) Normal
D) Detrimental

Question 19

The use of the law to regulate human behavior is referred to as:

A) Capital punishment
B) Incarceration
C) Crime wave
D) Stability of punishment

Question 20

Describe the movement from a mechanical society to an organic society. What are the main changes in laws when a society moves towards adoption of an organic structure?

Question 21

What influence has Durkheim had over the field of sociology, generally, and criminology, more specifically? What is the lineage of Durkheim's original theoretical contributions to the study of crime?

Question 22

What is the collective conscience? How is it used today to regulate crime policies and enact laws?

Question 23

What does it mean for a society to have social solidarity? Why was social solidarity important to Durkheim? What role does it have in the regulation of crime?

Question 24

One of Durkheim's main contributions to the study of criminology is his assumption that crime is normal. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Why or why not?

Question 25

How does anomie operate in times of economic prosperity compared to times of economic depression? Why would Durkheim expect anomie to function in this way?

Question 26

Blumstein and Cohen discussed their "stability of punishments" theory in 1973. How does their argument mirror Durkheim's theory about crime? What similarities does it have to Christie's explanation of the imprisonment boom?

Question 27

How is Durkheim's work present in the modern discussion about illegal drugs and recent state actions to legalize medical and recreational use of marijuana?

Question 28

Durkheim argued that crime in the modern era would be subject to increased toleration, less severe punishments, and more functional law. Describe what is meant by each of these beliefs and, using a contemporary criminal justice policy as an example, discuss if they have become reality.

Question 29

How would Durkheim describe the US crime trends in the past 100 years? Using his principles and hypotheses about human nature, assess whether Durkheim's teachings are still relevant today.