Deck 8: Neighborhoods and Crime

Question 1

According to social disorganization theory, delinquency occurs mostly by individuals, not in groups.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In their theory of race, crime, and urban inequality, Sampson and Wilson (1995) believe that crime flourishes in inner-cities because residents are socially isolated and lack sustained interaction with individuals and institutions that represent mainstream society.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

According to social disorganization theory, crime rates increase the further away one is from the center of the city.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Social disorganization and social organization are measured on a continuum; with social disorganization at one end and social organization at the other.

Question 5

Shaw and McKay found that people, not areas, are crime prone.

Question 6

Zone II, the business district, is the most stable of all five zones.

Question 7

Collective efficacy is present in a community with high levels of social cohesion, mutual trust, and informal social controls.

Question 8

GIS technology has contributed to the study of crime in public housing developments and other public spaces.

Question 9

Crime is only an urban phenomenon.

Question 10

Social ecology examines how residents and their communities are:

A) Independent
B) Interdependent
C) Organized
D) Static

Question 11

The process of cultural/ethnic groups taking over neighborhoods is called:

A) Invasion, dominance, succession
B) Invasion, uprooted, overthrown
C) Business, residential, industrial
D) Seeding, sowing, reaping

Question 12

In 1942, Shaw and McKay developed a theory to explain differential delinquency rates in neighborhoods. This theory is called:

A) Social disorganization
B) Collective efficacy
C) Broken windows
D) Rational choice

Question 13

The Chicago Area Project was a program that evolved "for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency" (Cullen & Agnew, 2006; pg 95). This program stemmed from which of the following theories?

A) Social disorganization
B) Collective efficacy
C) Broken windows
D) Routine activity

Question 14

Sampson and Wilson put forth a theory of race, crime and urban inequality. In this theory, they believe that the following concept(s) is(are) important in an explanation of crime:

A) Structure
B) Culture
C) Structure and culture
D) Neither structure nor culture

Question 15

Collective efficacy theory believes that the following concepts influence crime rates:

A) Social cohesion and informal social control
B) Poverty and population heterogeneity
C) Informal social control and culture
D) Culture and structure

Question 16

Social disorganization theory is based on which of the following theories:

A) Biology
B) Psychology
C) Immunology
D) Ecology

Question 17

The Chicago School of criminological thought is based on the following theorist:

A) Cesare Lombroso
B) Robert Sampson
C) Charles Darwin
D) Émile Durkheim

Question 18

According to social disorganization theory, the location in the city most likely to have high crime is the:

A) Central business district
B) Zone in transition
C) Working-class zone
D) Residential zone
E) Commuter zone

Question 19

Skogan's theory of disorder and decline built upon which theory:

A) Routine activities
B) Broken windows
C) Rational choice
D) Psychopathology

Question 20

Why do social disorganization theorists believe that areas rather than individuals are crime prone?

Question 21

What does it mean for an area to be socially disorganized? Describe a time when you encountered an area that had these attributes. How did this experience make you feel?

Question 22

How did early neighborhood scholars demonstrate the applicability of social disorganization theory? What two research methods were primarily used to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the extent of delinquency in Chicago?

Question 23

Describe a policy or practice at the neighborhood level to reduce criminal activity and delinquency and improve living conditions. What will the policy or practice aim to achieve? How will this be accomplished?

Question 24

What critiques did Kornhauser offer on Shaw and McKay's theory of social disorganization? How did she extend the original theory? Do you consider this to be an improvement on the original theory? Why or why not?

Question 25

Why does collective efficacy fail to explain individual level criminal behavior consistently?

Question 26

Moving to Opportunity (MTO) and HOPE IV were residential mobility experiments to relocate people to better neighborhoods. What were the main findings of studies on these programs? Were they effective at reducing crime? What other outcomes were achieved because of residential mobility?

Question 27

Why has most research and theory development been situated in urban areas? Can current theories be used to explain rural crime?

Question 28

How are routine activities essential to our understanding of neighborhood explanations of crime and delinquency?

Question 29

What does it mean for an area to experience concentrated disadvantage? What must be changed about an area for it to no longer be considered disadvantaged?