Deck 3: Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Crime

Question 1

______ look to explain crime by looking at groups in small numbers or at individuals.

A) Macro theories
B) Micro theories
C) Nano theories
D) Bridging theories

Answer 1

B

Question 2

One of Du Bois's explanations for the high crime rates among African Americans is that they are a result of open rebellion against their social environment and lack of harmony with their ______.

A) families
B) social surroundings
C) government
D) physical environment

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What theory focuses on struggles between individuals and/or groups in terms of power differentials?

A) social disorganization theory
B) anomie/strain theory
C) conflict theory
D) r/K selection theory

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following provides an example of what Wilson and Herrnstein believed to be related to the overrepresentation of Blacks in crime?

A) Black males tend to be more mesomorphic (muscular) than White males.
B) Whites score higher on the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory than Blacks.
C) Blacks score higher on IQ tests than Whites.
D) Constitutional factors make certain behaviors inevitable.

Question 5

Which of the following is a condition of social disorganization, according to Shaw and McKay?

A) high truancy rates
B) low rates of juvenile delinquency
C) a stable population
D) high divorce rates

Question 6

Which of the following texts contributed to the disappearance of intelligence based theories from criminological literature during the 1970s?

A) Murchinson's Criminal Intelligence
B) Goddard's Feeblemindedness
C) Murray's Criminology
D) Tulchin's Intelligence and Crime

Question 7

Which theory that references "conduct norms" was formulated by criminologist Thorsten Sellin?

A) racial invariance thesis
B) culture conflict theory
C) scientific criminological theory
D) social disorganization theory

Question 8

Which gene-based evolutionary theory links many of the differences between the races, including crime patterns, to migrations out of Africa?

A) Charles Darwin's theory of evolution
B) heredity
C) r/K selection theory
D) adaptation

Question 9

Bohm noted that anomie theories have a ______ bias.

A) middle-class
B) urban
C) lower-class
D) racial

Question 10

William Oliver argued that Black males emphasize masculinity, thrill-seeking, and sexual conquest for which of the following reasons?

A) heightened reproductive instincts
B) as a rejection of an oppressive culture
C) in order to make up for low self-esteem
D) an inability to understand repercussions of these actions

Question 11

Bradley argued against ______ by stating that Whites, due to moving to colder areas, were historically aggressors.

A) critical race theory
B) general strain theory
C) r/K selection theory
D) culture conflict theory

Question 12

Fluctuating populations, significant numbers of families on welfare, and high infant mortality rates characterize the conditions of ______.

A) social distance
B) social disorganization
C) social polarization
D) social outcasting

Question 13

______ is the term used to describe the focus on the "crime in the streets" rather than the "crime in the suites."

A) Economic privilege
B) Black privilege
C) Class privilege
D) White privilege

Question 14

Cesare Lombroso argued that the frequency of homicide rates in the southern portions of Italy was primarily due to ______.

A) social disorganization
B) conduct norms
C) biology
D) a subculture of violence

Question 15

When all ______ have abandoned a community, Wilson (1987) suggested that the remaining individuals are in a state of social isolation.

A) social status establishers
B) socially disadvantaged
C) subcultures
D) social buffers

Question 16

______ "no discrimination thesis" and ______ "discrimination thesis" were opposing views of the criminal justice system.

A) Hawkins's; Wilbanks's
B) Mann's; Blalock's
C) Hawkins's; Blalock's
D) Wilbanks's; Mann's

Question 17

William Wilbanks is credited with the ______, which he discussed in his controversial book, The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System.

A) no discrimination thesis
B) contextual discrimination thesis
C) rational discrimination thesis
D) Black discrimination thesis

Question 18

In The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray argued that low ______ leads to people being drawn to danger.

A) self-control
B) IQ
C) impulsivity
D) self-esteem

Question 19

Which of the following researchers have stated that mass incarceration contributes to social disorganization?

A) Du Bois and Work
B) Park and Burgess
C) Clear and Rose
D) Shaw and McKay

Question 20

______ proposes that inner city residents develop norms that do not view physical assaults as being wrong or antisocial.

A) Critical race theory
B) The r/K selection theory
C) Subculture of violence theory
D) Culture conflict theory

Question 21

Briefly explain the difference between Merton's anomie/strain theory and Robert Agnew's general strain theory.

Question 22

Which of the following is a tenet of critical race theory?

A) There is an "inconvenient truth" relating to the existence of race and the evolutionary basis of race-based patterns of behavior.
B) Individuals commit crime because they are unable to secure the "American Dream" in culturally acceptable ways.
C) Whites have little incentive to eradicate racism because they benefit materially from such beliefs.
D) The drop in crime rates in the 1990s can be attributed to the legalization of abortion in the United States.

Question 23

By not being exposed to mainstream individuals and institutions, socially isolated people tend to develop their own norms.

Question 24

The Bell Curve refuted the findings from the book Crime and Human Nature.

Question 25

In Lombroso's view, "Negro" women and "Red Indian" women were seen as manly looking, which contributed to their criminality.

Question 26

Robert Agnew used general strain theory to examine strain at a macro level.

Question 27

Sellin (1938) suggested that over a period of time, certain behavior becomes accepted within a culture, so that the violation of it arouses a group reaction. These rules or norms may be called conduct norms. Consider conduct norms in regard to contemporary gang activity. Does the contemporary gang culture and lifestyle provide an example of conduct norms? Explain your answer.

Question 28

Robert Merton never addressed race in his strain theory.

Question 29

What type of behavior do youth who end up in "retreatist" gangs typically engage in?

Question 30

A large weakness of the original incarnation of social disorganization is the so-called ______ fallacy.

A) economic
B) ethical
C) environmental
D) ecological

Question 31

Social disorganization cannot explain groups such as ______ communities that, while disorganized, retain low crime rates.

A) Jewish
B) Hispanic
C) Muslim
D) Native American

Question 32

Which of the following theories emerged from culture conflict theory?

A) strain theory
B) subcultural theory
C) conflict theory
D) all of these

Question 33

The connection between biology and behavior has become a more accepted area of study within criminology.

Question 34

Briefly explain John Wright's biosocial perspective on race and crime.

Question 35

Briefly explain Rushton's r/K theory and note its weaknesses.

Question 36

Emile Durkheim used the term anomie to refer to a state of normlessness or lack of social regulation in modern society.

Question 37

Scholars have found support for Donohue and Levitt's thesis about abortion and crime rates by applying it to other places, like England and Wales.

Question 38

In Park and Burgess's studies of crime in Chicago, Zone ______, or "the slums," had the most crime.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 39

Briefly explain the role of "social buffers" in reducing crime.

Question 40

Darnell Hawkins's theory, proposed as an alternative to the subculture of violence theory, argues that history has nothing to do with current violence in African American communities.

Question 41

Consider the enforcement of laws and the distribution of punishment in contemporary society. Does conflict theory provide an example of an association between race and crime in contemporary society?

Question 42

John Wright's Biosocial Thesis on Race and Offending offers two reasons for race and problem behavior that he maintains are based on "an evolutionary understanding of race differences." What are these two reasons?

Question 43

Provide a contemporary example of collective efficacy in a community. How does collective efficacy deter crime?

Question 44

Explain how the concentric zone theory contextualizes race and crime.

Question 45

Consider racial differences in criminal offending. A general strain theory explanation implies that African-Americans experience disproportionate strain. What are some of the strains that Kaufman and his colleagues cite?

Question 46

Describe how the colonial model contextualizes race and crime.

Question 47

Consider the weakness of the subculture of violence theory posited by Hawkins (1983). Did Hawkins feel that the theory adequately addressed differences in the administration of justice for Blacks? What did Hawkins believe could prevent homicides in the African American community?

Question 48

What limitations of Merton's original strain/anomie theory did Bohm note?