Q&A Hero

Q: ___________________ is promoted through the cohesion among neighborhood residents combined with shared expectations for informal social control of public space.

Q: The ____________________________ holds that living in deteriorated, crime-ridden neighborhoods exerts a powerful influence over behavior, strong enough to neutralize the positive effects of a supportive family and close social ties.

Q: Shaw and McKay's __________ analysis indicated that even though crime rates changed, the areas with the highest rates were always in central city and the transitional area.

Q: ___________________ theory focuses on the conditions within the urban environment that affect crime rates.

Q: Apathy, cynicism, helplessness, and mistrust of social institutions, such as schools, government agencies, and the police mark the _____________.

Q: Gunnar Myrdal described a worldwide _______ that was cut off from society, its members lacking the education and skills needed to be effectively in demand in modern society.

Q: ___________are created by the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige.

Q: The __________________ is concerned with the social ecology crime in urban areas.

Q: Social structure theory combines the effects of social disorganization and strain to explain how people living in deteriorated neighborhoods react to social isolation and economic deprivation. Explain Cloward and Ohlin's differential opportunity theory and its relation to gangs.

Q: General strain theory is a micro-level theory. Explain the multiple sources of stress contained within this view and how general strain is associated with criminality.

Q: Discuss Merton's version of strain theory and its social adaptations.

Q: What is anomie and what are the conditions that cause anomie?

Q: Discuss the cycles of community change and how they impact collective efficacy.

Q: Identify the community-level factors that are associated with fear and describe how these factors contribute to the level of fear in a neighborhood.

Q: Define concentric zones and the relationship between the zones and the crime rate. Specifically discuss the work of Shaw and McKay focusing upon transitional neighborhoods.

Q: What is social disorganization and how does social disorganization develop?

Q: How does poverty impact children and minority groups?

Q: Describe the relationship between socioeconomic structure and crime. If one is a member of the lower class does it predispose that person to a life of crime according to social structure theories?

Q: According to Cohen, the "delinquent boy" adopts a set of norms in direct opposition to middle-class values.

Q: According to Sellin, culture conflict occurs when the rules expressed in criminal law clash with the demands of group conduct norms.

Q: Cultural deviance theory links crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics.

Q: According to Agnew, criminality is the direct result of negative affective states that are produced by a variety of sources of strain.

Q: According to Messner and Rosenfeld, the dominance of economic concerns weakens the informal social control exerted by the family, church, and school.

Q: Retreatists reject both the goals and the means of society, while rebels substitute an alternative set of goals and means for conventional ones.

Q: Organic solidarity is a postindustrial social system that is highly developed and dependent upon the division of labor, and in which people are connected by their interdependent needs for one another's services and production.

Q: Cohesive communities with high levels of social control develop collective efficacy.

Q: While short-term national economic trends may have little effect on crime, long-term local unemployment rates may have a significant impact on conditions at the neighborhood level.

Q: A weakness of Shaw and McKay's research was their reliance on official police records to calculate neighborhood crimes rates.

Q: Subcultural values are handed down from one generation to the next in a process called cultural transmission.

Q: A subculture is a unique set of values and beliefs that are in conflict with conventional social norms.

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

Q: The wealth concentration effect is unique to the United States.

Q: People in the United States live in a stratified society.

Q: Cloward and Ohlin's theory of differential opportunity states that people in all strata of society share the same success goals but those in the lower class have limited means (opportunity) for achieving them. Because of differential opportunity, kids are likely to: a. find menial jobs b. seek role models c. join gangs d. feel shame

Q: Standards set by authority figures such as teachers, employers, or supervisors are: a. reaction formations b. middle-class measuring rods c. conduct norms d. focal concerns

Q: The unique value system that dominates life among the lower classes is known as: a. focal concerns b. middle-class measuring rods c. conduct norms d. reaction formation

Q: This occurs when the rules expressed in the criminal law clash with the demands of group conduct norms. a. culture conflict b. cultural defiance c. cultural deviance d. relative deprivation

Q: According to focal concern theory, which of the following is not identified as a lower class focal concern? a. smartness b. trouble c. excitement d. achievement

Q: The rules that govern day-to-day living conditions within a subculture are known as: a. policies b. focal concerns c. middle-class measuring rods d. conduct norms

Q: Cultural deviance theory focuses on which of the following factors? a. development of subcultures as a result of disorganization and strain b. blocked opportunities for achieving status c. poverty and unemployment d. socialization processes inherent in the truly disadvantaged

Q: According to general strain theory, which negative emotion is most important in the study of crime? a. fear b. anxiety c. anger d. depression

Q: Which of the following is not an element of general strain theory? a. achievement of positively valued goals b. disjunction of expectations and achievements c. removal of positively valued stimuli d. presentation of negative stimuli

Q: Who is the theorist who developed general strain theory? a. Sellin b. Durkheim c. Agnew d. Merton

Q: The view, according to Robert Agnew, that individuals who feel stress and strain are more likely to commit crimes is called: a. general strain theory b. negative affective states c. relative deprivation d. culture conflict

Q: The condition that exists when people of wealth and poverty live in close proximity to one another is known as: a. general strain b. anomie c. siege mentality d. relative deprivation

Q: Agnew's General Strain Theory indicates that criminality is the direct result of _________ that come in the wake of destructive social relationships. a. inadequate social controls b. reactions formations c. negative affective states d. blocked social means

Q: According to institutional anomie theory, the economy dominates all other social institutions, such as family and school. What statement is false with regard to how the economy undermines the other social institutions? a. Performance in noneconomic functions and roles have been devalued. b. The demands of the workplace take precedent over school and family. c. Economic language, standards, and norms penetrate into noneconomic realms. d. The unequal access to the means for obtaining the American Dream leads people to commit crimes..

Q: The American Dream refers to what theory? a. focal concern theory b. institutional anomie c. culture conflict theory d. general strain theory

Q: Those who gain pleasure from practicing traditional ceremonies regardless of whether they have a real purpose or a goal are known as: a. conformists b. innovators c. ritualists d. rebels

Q: When an individual accepts the goals of society, but rejects or is incapable of attaining them through legitimate means, it is called: a. conformity b. innovation c. ritualism d. rebellion

Q: When individuals embrace conventional social goals and have the means at their disposal to attain them, this is known as: a. conformity b. innovation c. ritualism d. rebellion

Q: _______________ is a characteristic of pre-industrial society, held together by traditions, shared values and unquestioned beliefs. a. organic solidarity b. anomic solidarity c. mechanic solidarity d. systematic solidarity

Q: According to Durkheim, ______________ occurs in a society in which rules of behavior have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis, such as war or famine. a. anomie b. stratification c. gentrification d. transition

Q: In neighborhoods with high levels of collective efficacy, children are less likely to become involved with deviant peers and to engage in deviant behavior. Rather, kids use their wits to avoid violent confrontations and to feel safe. Doing this is a concept referred to as:a. efficacy effectb. collective effectc.street efficacyd. street savvy

Q: Institutional social control includes _______ while public social control includes ______. a. schools, police b. families, schools c. schools, peers d. police, churches

Q: Cohesion among neighborhood residents (community cohesion) combined with shared expectations for informal social control of public space promotes: a. siege mentality b. gentrification c. collective efficacy d. incivility

Q: A renewal stage in which obsolete housing is replaced and upgraded is known as: a. gentrification b. turnover c. transition d. revitalization

Q: As communities undergo cycles of change, neighborhood deterioration precedes increasing crime rates. Neighborhoods most at risk for crime rate increases contain:a. large numbers of single-parent families and unrelated people living togetherb. owner-occupied unitsc. workers seeking employmentd. an economic base that contains skilled and semi-skilled jobs

Q: Social ecologists know that people who report living in neighborhoods with high levels of crime and civil disorder become suspicious and mistrusting. Some residents become so suspicious that they develop a(n) ___________ in which the outside world is considered the enemy out to destroy their neighborhood. a. anomie mindset b. culture conflict c. focal attitude d. siege mentality

Q: Discuss the connection between IQ and crime. Include in your discussion the controversy over the association between intelligence and crime.

Q: Discuss how one's moral development influences their risk of committing crime.

Q: Discuss the elements of personality related to crime and explanations based on socialization.

Q: What is the basic premise of behavioral theory and how is aggression modeled?

Q: Link genetics to crime. Discuss the findings of twin studies and the contagion effect.

Q: Identify the patterns of behavior and symptoms of ADHD and discuss how ADHD is associated with crime.

Q: Discuss evolutionary theory and its association with gender-based differences in the crime rate.

Q: Discuss neurological impairment and its association with antisocial and violent behaviors.

Q: Identify four biochemical conditions that may lead to antisocial behavior and crime and why these conditions do so.

Q: Discuss the foundations of trait theory and why these views are no longer accepted.

Q: Social learning theorists argue that people are not actually born with the ability to act violently but that they learn to be aggressive through their life experiences via the process of behavior modeling.

Q: People who suffer paranoid or delusional feelings, and who believe others wish them harm or that their mind is dominated by forces beyond their control, seem to be violence prone.

Q: Latent delinquency is found in youngsters whose personalities require them to seek immediate gratification, consider satisfying their personal needs more important than relating to others, and satisfy instinctive urges without considering right and wrong.

Q: From the perspective of evolutionary theory, robbery may be an alluring pursuit for men who want to show their physical prowess and display resources with which to conquer rivals and attract mates.

Q: The presence of brain tumors and lesions has been linked to a wide variety of psychological problems, including personality changes, hallucinations, and psychotic episodes.

Q: Children with ADHD are more likely to use drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes in adolescence, to be arrested, to be charged with a felony, and to have multiple arrests than non-ADHD youth.

Q: Children suffering from measurable neurological deficits at birth are believed to also suffer from antisocial traits throughout their life.

Q: The relationship between impairment in executive brain functions and aggressive behavior is significant.

Q: Recent studies suggest that lead ingestion is linked to aggressive behaviors on a macro- but not a micro-level.

Q: Research findings indicate in some cases sugar intake has been found to possibly reduce or curtail violent tendencies.

Q: Some trait theorists believe biochemical conditions, including those that are genetically predetermined and those acquired through diet and environment, control and influence antisocial behavior.