Deck 7: Social Control Theories of Deviance

Question 1

Social control theory is traced to the eighteenth-century work of ______.

A) Karl Marx
B) Cesare Becarria
C) Cesare Lombroso
D) Travis Hirschi

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to Nye, _____ controls refers to rules and norms that are instilled in consciousness as children.

A) indirect
B) direct
C) internal social
D) external social

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Social control theories argue deviance is caused by ______.

A) insufficient internal and external controls
B) learned behaviors from parent
C) imitation and observation of others
D) lack of social structures and strain

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to Hirschi's Social Bond Theory, ______ refers to emotional bonds that keep us from engaging in deviant behaviors.

A) attachment
B) commitment
C) involvement
D) belief

Question 5

Which of the following summarizes the main idea of Hirschi's Social Bond Theory?

A) Children are not inherently deviant.
B) Everyone wants to be deviant.
C) Nothing can stop people from being deviant.
D) If we associate with deviants, we learn deviance.

Question 6

Which component of Hirschi's four social bonds is the "rational" bond?

A) belief
B) involvement
C) attachment
D) commitment

Question 7

What does Power-Control Theory focus on explaining?

A) gender differences in deviance
B) gender similarities in deviance
C) race and class variables in criminal behavior
D) the influence of psychology on deviant behavior

Question 8

According to Power-Control Theory, ______ is/are the primary agent of socialization in the family.

A) siblings
B) the father
C) the mother
D) grandparents

Question 9

The ______, in addition to predicting deviant behavior, is designed to predict all behaviors.

A) Power-Control Theory
B) Critical Race Theory
C) General Theory of Crime
D) Self-Control Theory

Question 10

The General Theory of Crime suggests that ______ is the cause of low self-control.

A) ineffective parenting
B) psychopathy
C) child abuse
D) genetics

Question 11

According to Life Course Theory, how is a trajectory different from a transition?

A) Transitions are planned; trajectories are random.
B) Trajectories are internal; transitions are external.
C) Transitions occur less frequently.
D) Trajectories take place over a longer time frame.

Question 12

Mike was raised in a working class household; his trajectory was toward a working class lifestyle. He got a scholarship that allowed him to afford a two-year degree and established his own handyman service. The scholarship that paid for his education is an example of a ______.

A) radical adjustment
B) transition
C) realignment
D) social safety net

Question 13

Which theory involves trajectories, life events, and social bonds?

A) Social Bonds Theory
B) Life Course Theory
C) Control Theory
D) General Theory of Crime

Question 14

As people age, they commit less crime. What is one way that life course theories summarize this phenomenon?

A) maturity norm
B) transition
C) trajectory completion
D) aging out

Question 15

According to Moffit, the deviance of the ______ group stems from social processes.

A) deviant-peer-bonded
B) life-course-persistent
C) adolescence limited
D) power-controlled

Question 16

Brittany is in a corner store. She wants to shoplift a candy bar. She goes over the reasons why it was wrong inside her head and does not take the candy. What stops Brittany from taking the candy?

A) social differentiation theory
B) internal social controls
C) external social controls
D) the law

Question 17

Alex wants to try marijuana, but knows it is against the law. He knows that if he gets caught, he will face arrest, even though he doesn't think there is anything wrong with smoking marijuana. According to Hirschi's Social Control Theory, what social bond stops Alex from smoking marijuana?

A) attachment
B) commitment
C) involvement
D) belief

Question 18

Nye (1958) suggests that most deviant behavior is the result of ______.

A) rigid, inflexible, laws
B) anomie
C) moral depravity
D) insufficient social control

Question 19

The debate central to the difference between the theory of self-control and life course theory is whether ______.

A) self-control is variable or constant
B) internal or external social controls are more effective
C) social bonds are strong or weak
D) all people are inherently deviant

Question 20

The ______ tradition of criminology involves the belief in a rational mind, the idea that individuals want to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain, and the idea that individuals must be restrained from engaging in deviance.

A) psychological
B) functional
C) classical
D) legal-rational

Question 21

A common critique of social control theories is that they are better at predicting minor deviance than major crimes.

Question 22

Travis Hirschi is considered a social control theorist because he asks why most people are not being deviant rather than why some people are deviant.

Question 23

Hirschi and Gottfredson developed both Social Bonds Theory and a General Theory of Crime.

Question 24

Deviant acts that provide immediate gratification of desires can only be prevented through external social controls.

Question 25

Trajectory is the pathway or line of development of deviancy over a lifespan, referring to long-term patterns of life behavior and marked by sequence of transitions.

Question 26

A trajectory is shorter than a transition.

Question 27

Cross-cultural studies suggest that a General Theory of Crime does not explain deviance that occurs in socialist countries.

Question 28

A General Theory of crime has never been tested cross-culturally.

Question 29

Gottfredson and Hirschi emphasized child-rearing and emotional involvement of parents in children's lives when describing the origins of self-control.

Question 30

List the four components to social bonds of Hirschi's social control theories. Provide an example of each or brief explanation of what it means.

Question 31

According to social control theorists, the blame for crime lies with weak institutions and their agents. Do you agree? Explain by using an example that supports your position.

Question 32

List the six elements that construct low self-control according to Hirschi and Gottfredson's General Theory of Crime.

Question 33

Provide several critiques of social control theories.

Question 34

Compare and contrast the central arguments of Social Bond Theory, a General Theory of Crime, and Life Course Theory.