Deck 7: Life-Course and Integrated Theories

Question 1

Which of the following is not one of the issues upon which life-course criminology focuses?

A) the effect of life events on individual development
B) risk factors at different ages
C) the effect of external social forces on behavior choices
D) the development of antisocial behavior

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which type of data is used in the construction of life-course theories?

A) cohort
B) time-series
C) survey
D) longitudinal

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to Patterson's developmental perspective on antisocial behavior, what is the first step in chronic delinquency?

A) poor parental discipline and monitoring
B) delinquency
C) commitment to antisocial peer groups
D) school failure and social rejection

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which theory is the Oregon Social Learning Center's work to help troubled families based on?

A) Moffitt's pathways to crime.
B) Patterson's developmental perspective on antisocial behavior.
C) Thornberry's interactional theory of delinquency.
D) Cullen's social support theory.

Question 5

Which of the following is not one of the interventions suggested by Patterson to prevent the development of antisocial behavior in children?

A) providing academic remediation
B) parent training
C) training children in social skills
D) providing positive social activities for at-risk youth

Question 6

Which of the following is most characteristic of a life-course-persistent offender?

A) They participate in antisocial behavior in some contexts while behaving in pro-social ways in other situations.
B) They desist from crime once they age out of their adolescent years and early twenties.
C) They are never fully integrated into conventional society.
D) They are not defined by delinquency.

Question 7

This is a place in which rigid rules and regulations, such as dress and communication, are clearly defined and strictly enforced.

A) total institution
B) mental institution
C) social institution
D) cultural institution

Question 8

The limited behavioral repertoire and the consequences of early antisocial behavior make it difficult for these offenders to break out of the cycle of antisocial behavior.

A) life-course-persistent
B) control balance
C) integrated
D) adolescent-limited

Question 9

According to self-report studies, most youths are, at one time or another, this type of offender.

A) life-course persistent
B) control balance
C) integrated
D) adolescence-limited

Question 10

When does the antisocial and delinquency pattern of the adolescence-limited offender peak?

A) early adolescence
B) late adolescence
C) young adulthood
D) middle age

Question 11

Which of the following is not one of the changes in life circumstances of adolescent-limited delinquents that precipitate desistance from crime?

A) being convicted of a criminal offense
B) joining the military
C) getting a full-time job
D) moving away from the old neighborhood

Question 12

What is the element that keeps people from crime, according to Laub and Sampson?

A) the quality of parenting received in early childhood.
B) the structure of the neighborhood.
C) the quality of social bonds to pro-social people and organizations.
D) early treatment by the criminal justice system.

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the areas in which Laub and Sampson consider the Gluecks' work to be especially influential?

A) stability of crime and deviance
B) age and crime
C) race and crime
D) career offenders and longitudinal research

Question 14

The Gluecks pioneered the use of this type of research to study crime and delinquency.

A) survey
B) cohort
C) participant observation
D) longitudinal

Question 15

According to Laub and Sampson, this is a major feature of turning points.

A) agency
B) desistance
C) persistence
D) arrest

Question 16

According to Laub and Sampson, this is an important element in desisting from crime.

A) agency
B) strain
C) conventional social bonds
D) a good job

Question 17

These theories use several theories to explain more types of antisocial behavior.

A) general
B) unicausal
C) integrated
D) conflict

Question 18

This theory holds that youths who bond strongly to parents are less likely to break the law.

A) classical
B) routine activities
C) interactional
D) labeling

Question 19

According to Thornberry, as individuals progress through their life course, these bonds generally weaken.

A) bonds to peers
B) bonds to parents
C) bonds to religious organizations
D) bonds to education

Question 20

According to Thornberry, which structural variable is an important determinant of an individual's initial involvement with delinquency?

A) age
B) race
C) sex
D) ethnicity

Question 21

Which of the following is not one of the delinquency perspectives incorporated in Thornberry's interactional theory of delinquency?

A) conflict
B) social learning
C) social bonds
D) life-course perspective

Question 22

According to Tittle, individuals with a _______ of control are less likely to break the law.

A) balance
B) surplus
C) deficit
D) excess

Question 23

According to control balance theory, everyone has a basic impulse to do this.

A) attain the American dream
B) obey the law
C) treat others as they themselves wish to be treated
D) engage in antisocial behavior

Question 24

According to Tittle, which these situations can provoke an individual to engage in antisocial behavior?

A) breaking up with a romantic partner
B) falling behind in paying debts and bills
C) being pushed while waiting in line
D) all of the above

Question 25

Which of the following is not one of Cullen's four main constructs?

A) Social support is not subject to individual perception.
B) Social support has individual and expressive dimensions.
C) Social support at the macro level is the influence of social networks connecting individuals to society.
D) Social support includes informal and formal relations with others.

Question 26

According to Cullen, this type of social support includes situations in which offenders receive concrete positive aid, such as receiving a scholarship.

A) expressive
B) instrumental
C) substantive
D) subjective

Question 27

According to Cullen's social support theory, the relationships offenders have with significant others is an example of this type of social support.

A) expressive
B) instrumental
C) substantive
D) subjective

Question 28

According to Cullen, the ______ social support in a community, the _____ the crime rate.

A) less/lower
B) less/higher
C) more/higher
D) social support is not directly related to crime rate

Question 29

According to Cullen, which of the following is not an example of instrumental support provided by parents?

A) sharing activities with children
B) supervising recreational activities with friends
C) demonstrating affection
D) maintaining a strict disciplinary and patriarchal home environment

Question 30

Which of the following statements about social support is not part of Cullen's social support theory?

A) Social support lessens the effect of exposure to strains that tend to produce crime.
B) Social support lessens involvement in crime.
C) Social support is not a pre-condition for the development of social control.
D) The more support a person's family provides, the less likely that person will break the law.

Question 31

This form of punishment does not repair the harm done by the offender and offense and excludes the offender from society.

A) integrative shaming
B) balanced shaming
C) discursive shaming
D) disintegrative shaming

Question 32

According to Braithwaite, this form of shaming seeks to draw the offender back into society.

A) labeling
B) disintegrative
C) reintegrative
D) empirical

Question 33

This is the idea that society defines an individual, treating him or her differently, and the individual internalizes this definition and acts it out.

A) conflict theory
B) labeling theory
C) strain theory
D) life-course theory

Question 34

Which of the following is not one of the life domains Agnew suggests are related to crime and delinquency?

A) work
B) school
C) the self
D) religious organizations

Question 35

According to Agnew's general theory, the five life domains that are related to crime and delinquency have this quality.

A) They act alone.
B) They are independent.
C) They are interdependent.
D) They are mutually exclusive.

Question 36

According to Agnew, which is not true of the relationship between parents and delinquency?

A) Delinquency is more likely when parents do not provide adequate supervision and constructive discipline.
B) Parents who are involved in antisocial activities provide poor role models.
C) Parents who are absent or not involved with their children cannot bond with them in positive ways.
D) Youths who do not bond to their parents in positive ways are just as likely to engage in antisocial behavior as those who do.

Question 37

Which of the following is not one of the classic criminological theories that has been incorporated into Farrington's integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory?

A) strain theory
B) labeling theory
C) routine activities theory
D) conflict theory

Question 38

Which of the following is not a disadvantage of Farrington's integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory?

A) It takes a large number of theories into account.
B) It does not explain variations in crime rates.
C) It focuses only on male offending.
D) It does not explain the development of gangs.

Question 39

According to Farrington, which is true of antisocial potential?

A) It is determined at birth and remains fairly constant throughout the life course.
B) It peaks during adolescence and remains fairly consistent over the life course.
C) It is variable and may change at any point over the life course.
D) It stabilizes in early childhood and remains fairly constant over the life course.

Question 40

Long-term antisocial potential is related to which of the following?

A) educational level
B) age
C) sex
D) rational choice

Question 41

Compare and contrast life course and integrated theories. How are they similar? How are they different? Identify the main strengths and challenges of each group of theories.

Question 42

What is a longitudinal study? Why is this methodology used by life-course researchers? What are the advantages and drawbacks of this approach?

Question 43

List and describe the four steps Patterson and colleagues identify as leading to chronic delinquency. How do they suggest chronic delinquency can be prevented?

Question 44

Compare Agnew's general theory of crime and delinquency to his earlier general strain theory. Which do you think does a better job of explaining crime and delinquency? Why?

Question 45

Explain Farrington's integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory. List and discuss the elements related to long-term antisocial potential. What are this theory's strengths and disadvantages?