Deck 6: Social Structure Theories

Question 1

John has been dealing with a lack of structure in his home and is frustrated with school. He is not connected with any positive community supports. What condition would Robert Merton say John is experiencing which may lead him to become involved in criminal behaviour?

A)status frustration
B)disorganization
C)anomie
D)social incohesion

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which group should have the lowest level of criminal behaviour, according to Robert Merton, because they have abandoned the success goal, which is at the root of criminal behaviour?

A)conformists
B)innovators
C)ritualists
D)retreatists

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What would a strain theorist say is the main cause of crime?

A)labels attached to young people identifying them as deviant
B)unpleasant and challenging urban living conditions
C)the transmission of morals, beliefs, and goals across generations
D)frustration over not being able to achieve desired goals legitimately

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What types of crime are experienced most often in neighbourhoods with low employment rates?

A)aggravated assault and homicide
B)armed robbery and muggings
C)break and enters and rape
D)fraud and embezzlement

Question 5

What strategy can well-organized, low-crime neighbourhoods use to maintain order and structure?

A)concentration effect
B)population stabilization
C)collective efficacy
D)concentric zoning

Question 6

According to the textbook, what was the most important finding of Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay?

A)Crime rates and the need for police services are associated with community deterioration.
B)The percentage of broken homes is strongly related to neighbourhood crime rates.
C)Crime rates correspond to neighbourhood structure and are determined by destructive ecological conditions in urban slums.
D)The proportion of individuals living with mental health concerns in a community is strongly correlated with crime rates in that zone.

Question 7

What is the difference between anomie and relative deprivation theories and Robert Agnew's general strain theory?

A)General strain theory examines all crimes, while the other theories look at property crimes such as break and enter.
B)General strain theory includes male and female offenders, while the other theories look primarily at crimes committed by young males.
C)General strain theory focuses on global crime rates, and the other theories look more closely at neighbourhood structures and crime rates.
D)General strain theory examines economic levels of society, and the other theories focus on the lower class.

Question 8

Which group of the Canadian population is hit especially hard by poverty?

A)children
B)the elderly
C)those with mental illness
D)single-parent families

Question 9

How is poverty measured in Canada?

A)A ratio of goods produced to goods purchased is used.
B)Low-income cut-offs are used as a reference point.
C)Comparisons of average incomes between countries are used.
D)It is based on a floating number determined by the party in power.

Question 10

Sally did well in high school and later attended university. She has a job and a family and volunteers at the local food bank. Sally has never broken the law. According to Robert Merton, which strategy for social adaptation is Sally using?

A)conformity
B)innovation
C)ritualism
D)retreatism

Question 11

Which one of the following lists the branches of social structure theory?

A)strain theory, biosocial theory, and social disorganization theory
B)cultural deviance theory, strain theory, and conflict theory
C)social disorganization theory, biosocial theory, and conflict theory
D)cultural deviance theory, social disorganization theory, and strain theory

Question 12

What might community members do to help transform a disorganized neighbourhood into a more functional, lower crime zone?

A)Develop connections between people and social institutions such as police, churches, and schools.
B)Organize citizens into subcultural groups which represent their race and religious affiliations.
C)Increase the penalties for crimes committed so that offenders learn that they must take their illegal activities elsewhere.
D)Move all of the citizens in the highest crime zones to lower crime zones and integrate them with law-abiding citizens.

Question 13

In each culture there is a group of people that is unable to function successfully because they lack middle-class values, supports, and economic status. What term refers to this group?

A)the underclass
B)the lower class
C)throwaways
D)cultural deviants

Question 14

Tim would really like to have the status among his friends which comes from owning a great car, having cash at hand, and being able to buy things he wants. Tim has never done well in school and has no desire to try to finish high school or go to college. Recently, Tim has been making good money selling drugs out of his car so that he can achieve the material goals he has set out for himself. According to Merton, which strategy for social adaptations is Tim using?

A)conformity
B)innovation
C)ritualism
D)retreatism

Question 15

Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay's work identified linkages between crime rates and various zones within urban centres. Which zones did Shaw and McKay identify as having the highest crime rates?

A)suburban and rural zones
B)inner-city and suburban zones
C)inner-city and transitional zones
D)transitional and suburban zones

Question 16

What is the potential effect that fear of crime can have on a disorganized, high-crime neighbourhood?

A)Residents become more willing to call the police and crime rates decrease.
B)Residents withdraw, businesses deteriorate, and crime increases further.
C)Residents experience frustration and lash out at the offenders in an attempt to re-establish order.
D)Residents learn new methods of protecting themselves and their property.

Question 17

Which initiative is an example of community engagement in the community policing model?

A)gated communities
B)mandatory curfews
C)an increased police presence
D)a neighbourhood association

Question 18

Children of recent immigrants and children of visible minorities suffer the highest rates of poverty in Canada. What percentage of Aboriginal children lives in poverty?

A)5 percent
B)10 percent
C)20 percent
D)50 percent

Question 19

Which statement summarizes the perspective held by social disorganization theorists?

A)Crime is a function of the conflict between people's goals and the means they can use to legally obtain them.
B)Crime is a function of urban conditions: more uncertainty and less social structure equal higher crime rates.
C)Criminality is a function of psychological predispositions which determine likelihood of offending.
D)Criminality is a function of individual socialization: the larger one's social circle, the greater the likelihood of having delinquent connections.

Question 20

What would a researcher be called who takes the position that crime rates are linked to class level and that those in lower classes are more likely to commit crime because of their economic struggles?

A)a biosocial theorist
B)a social structure theorist
C)a cognitive theorist
D)a Marxist theorist

Question 21

Very few criminologists today view the disadvantaged economic class position as a primary cause of crime.

Question 22

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin argue that the opportunity or success in both conventional and criminal careers is limited.

Question 23

Which one of the following concepts is the centrepiece of Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin's theory that lower-class youths join gangs in order to belong and feel successful?

A)relative deprivation
B)differential association
C)differential opportunity
D)anomie

Question 24

What did Albert Cohen's research into delinquent subcultures reveal about how criminals organize themselves and why?

A)Those who are unable to achieve middle-class goals develop their own culture with a set of roles, norms, and values within which they can succeed.
B)Young people develop relationships with other teens that have already been in conflict with the law and this frustrates police efforts to maintain law and order.
C)Criminals live in low-income neighbourhoods with other criminals and this forces the closure of businesses and any other legitimate means of income.
D)Criminals associate in cultural groups which allows them to have a larger voice in the mainstream culture.

Question 25

Canada uses "low income cut-offs" as a measure of poverty in Canada.

Question 26

Robert Agnew's general strain theory suggests that there is more than one source of anomie.

Question 27

According to Albert Cohen, the corner boy is a chronic delinquent who adopts a set of norms and principles that directly oppose middle-class values.

Question 28

General strain theory would support the claim of an offender who linked his criminal behaviour to the fact that he was abused as a child. Which type of strain would a general strain theorist call that experienced by abuse victims?

A)removal of positively valued stimuli
B)disjunction of expectations and achievements
C)failure to achieve positively valued goals
D)presentation of negative stimuli

Question 29

Not everyone who experiences strain will resort to criminal behaviour.

Question 30

Sociologist Robert Agnew's general strain theory helps identify the micro- or individual-level influences of strain.

Question 31

In 1987, William Julius Wilson provided a description of the plight of the lowest levels of the underclass, which he labelled the truly disadvantaged.

Question 32

What is the impact of social welfare programs providing financial assistance directly to individuals and families in need?

A)decreased drug use
B)lower crime rates
C)higher school attendance
D)lower employment rates

Question 33

Findings suggest that poverty during early childhood may have a more severe impact than poverty experienced during adolescence.

Question 34

In terms of quality of life, the group of Canadians most impacted by poverty is the elderly.

Question 35

Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay contended that criminals are biologically inferior, intellectually impaired, or psychologically damaged.

Question 36

Rapidly changing neighbourhoods are more likely to have higher crime rates than slower changing neighbourhoods.

Question 37

Cultural deviance theory combines elements of both strain and differential opportunity theories.

Question 38

Robert Merton's view of anomie has been one of the most enduring and influential theories of criminality.

Question 39

One of Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin's three types of gangs is known as "retreatists." What other term is used to describe this group who seek status derived from peer approval but struggle to do so both legally and illegally?

A)outcasts
B)unrecruitables
C)double failures
D)gang bangers

Question 40

Walter Miller first articulated the theory of delinquent subcultures.

Question 41

Sociologist Robert Agnew's general strain theory (GST) helps identify the micro- or individual-level influences of strain. Explain how this theory differs from those of Robert Merton and Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld. Now explain what Agnew means when he says that criminality is the direct result of negative affective states.

Question 42

In regard to the relationship between social status and criminal behaviour, describe the issues that criminologists consider important in understanding the general and the unique causes of crime and how these affect Canadian culture.

Question 43

Sociologist Robert Merton applied the sociological concepts first identified by Emile Durkheim to criminology in his theory of anomie. Discuss this theory, and then evaluate it.

Question 44

There are three independent yet overlapping branches within the social structure perspective: social disorganization theory, strain theory, and cultural deviance theory. Briefly discuss the main focuses of each of these theories.

Question 45

Describe the cultural hardships experienced by Canadian immigrants, visible minorities, and Aboriginals. Examine the potential cost and social consequences should these conditions remain unchanged. Explain what factors should significantly influence social policy as preventative measures in the criminal justice system.

Question 46

More than 40 years ago, sociologist Walter Miller identified the unique conduct norms that help define lower-class culture. Miller referred to them as focal concerns. Discuss these focal concerns.

Question 47

Discuss how income plays a significant role in the lives of children and adolescents growing up in Canada and the development of potential criminals.

Question 48

Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld's institutional anomie theory is an updating of Robert Merton's work. Explain how this theory differs from Merton's.

Question 49

The theory of delinquent subcultures and the theory of differential opportunity both look at youth gang activity. What are the similarities and differences between the two perspectives?

Question 50

Albert Cohen first articulated the theory of delinquent subculture in his classic 1955 book, Delinquent Boys. Discuss the basic assumptions of this theory. Do you agree with Cohen's assumptions? Why or why not?