Deck 4: Causes of Organized Crime

Question 1

What is the good news and bad news for those who wish to reduce the extent of crime?

Answer 1

The bad news is that crime exists in all societies of all types The good news is that its level fluctuates widely from place to place, so a significantly lower crime rate is possible than exists in the United States

Question 2

How is organized crime distinguished from other forms of crime?

Answer 2

Organized crime is usually a career pattern as persistent criminal activity over a long period of time This is not the case with most offenders Organized crime is , whereas most crimes involve little or no advance planning or structure White-collar crime requires organization, but it is almost never a career pattern

Question 3

What is positivism in criminology?

Answer 3

It looks to internal or external influences as the cause of criminal behavior, a school of thought that corresponded with the rise of social science and the scientific method in the late 1800s

Question 4

How do Cloward and Ohlin explain gangs?

Question 5

How is a "fence" dealer in stolen property a manifestation of the criminal subculture, according to Cloward and Ohlin?

Question 6

How does Henry Hill's life provide an example of Cloward and Ohlin's notion of criminal subculture?

Question 7

What is the primary problem with Cloward and Ohlin's explanations and with positivistic explanations in general?

Question 8

What is classicism in criminology?

Question 9

How do Gottfredson and Hirschi attempt to explain all crime, including organized crime, using classical principles?

Question 10

What is the primary problem with this explanation( and with classical explanations in general)?

Question 11

How can Henry Hill's criminal lifestyle be used to support a classical explanation of his conduct?

Question 12

What is the structural explanation of crime?

Question 13

According to this view, how does capitalism promote organized crime?

Question 14

What is the ethical perspective on crime causation?

Question 15

Why is an ethical approach to behavior unfamiliar to most people?

Question 16

How can Henry Hill's life be seen as an example of unethical behavior?