Deck 11: Social Structure Theories: Community, Strain, and Subcultures

Question 1

Which types of theories consider the availability of legitimate opportunities for material success at both the individual and societal level in their explanations for crime?

A) Social disorganization theories
B) Social control theories
C) Anomie and strain theories
D) Labeling theories

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT one of the five structural characteristics that Rodney Stark says summarize the idea of social disorganization?

A) Density
B) Dilapidation
C) Incivility
D) Poverty

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to the _____________ model of urban growth, cities in the early 1900s grew through progressive expansion from the central city outwards, in a series of zones associated with different types of land use.

A) multiple nuclei
B) sector
C) concentric zone
D) zone formation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which sociologist developed the concentric zone model of urban development?

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Clifford Shaw
C) Robert Merton
D) Ernest Burgess

Question 5

The proponents of social disorganization theory are often referred to as the:

A) Marxist School.
B) Chicago School.
C) New York School.
D) Critical Criminology School.

Question 6

Which theory was most extensively advanced by persons affiliated with the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago?

A) Social disorganization theory
B) Social control theory
C) Strain theory
D) Labeling theory

Question 7

Durkheim's theoretical concept of anomie is best described as:

A) frustration over blocked means of achieving legitimate goals.
B) a societal condition of normlessness in which the mechanisms of societal regulation break
C) down.
D) a form of ritualism.
E) the transmission of subcultural values through personal interaction.

Question 8

Social structure theories center on the idea that high rates of crime are caused by:

A) personality structures of individuals, inherited from parents.
B) organizational features of the social environment that are external to individuals.
C) processes of learning within the context of peer groups.
D) All of the above.

Question 9

According to Cloward and Ohlin, which type of subculture predominates in areas that lack criminal traditions?

A) Criminal subculture
B) Conflict subculture
C) Conformist subculture
D) Retreatist subculture

Question 10

According to Cloward and Ohlin, which type of subculture exists in neighborhoods that are well organized for crime, where norms all but require criminal involvement?

A) Criminal subculture
B) Conflict subculture
C) Conformist subculture
D) Retreatist subculture

Question 11

Which of the following was NOT a conclusion drawn by Shaw and McKay?

A) Some areas of Chicago were characterized by high rates of crime and delinquency, while others were not.
B) The nearer to the center of the city a given locality is, the higher its rates of crime and delinquency.
C) Differences in rates of truancy, delinquency, and crime reflect differences in community characteristics.
D) Areas of the city with high rates of delinquency were characterized by high rates for only short periods of time.

Question 12

Shaw and McKay's argument is that three structural characteristics are especially disruptive of community social organization. Which of the following is NOT one of these characteristics?

A) Lack of political clout
B) Ethnic heterogeneity
C) Residential mobility
D) Low economic status

Question 13

What is the term that Merton used to refer to the accepted avenues for achieving cultural goals?

A) Culture of competition
B) Institutionalized means
C) Successive approximation
D) Illegitimate opportunities

Question 14

Anomie theory assumes that a single dominant value fills all of American society, and there is widespread consensus regarding this value. What is that value?

A) Patriotism
B) Belief in God
C) Hard work
D) Monetary success

Question 15

Merton based his societal-level theory on Durkheim's concept of:

A) mechanical solidarity.
B) organic solidarity.
C) anomie.
D) institutional means.

Question 16

The origins of anomie and strain theories can be traced to the work of:

A) Robert Merton
B) Robert Sampson
C) Albert Cohen
D) William Julius Wilson

Question 17

In his contemporary version of social disorganization theory, Robert Sampson uses which term to refer to the willingness of community residents to be involved with each other and to exercise informal control?

A) Reaction formation
B) Spatial efficacy
C) Collective efficacy
D) Residential collaboration

Question 18

Who played a leading role in revitalizing social disorganization theory in the 1980s by showing its relevance for understanding and responding to high rates of crime in inner-city neighborhoods?

A) Robert Merton
B) Robert Sampson
C) Albert Cohen
D) Robert Agnew

Question 19

Social disorganization theory was vitally important in directing criminological attention toward:

A) race and gender factors.
B) community and societal factors.
C) age and social class factors.
D) cultural goals and institutional means.

Question 20

How did Shaw and McKay incorporate the element of culture into social disorganization theory?

A) Loss of a common culture in disorganized communities.
B) Development of delinquent subcultures in disorganized communities.
C) Transmission of delinquent culture from older offenders to younger delinquents.
D) All of the above.

Question 21

Why do socially disorganized neighborhoods have high crime rates, according to social disorganization theory?

A) Police in those areas are more likely to arrest lower-class kids.
B) Socially disorganized neighborhoods attract crime-prone individuals.
C) Socially disorganized neighborhoods lack effective social control mechanisms.
D) Socially disorganized neighborhoods are racially homogeneous.

Question 22

Cloward and Ohlin identify three types of subcultures. Which of the following is NOT one of these subcultures?

A) Criminal subculture
B) Conflict subculture
C) Conformist subculture
D) Retreatist subculture

Question 23

In their differential opportunity theory, Cloward and Ohlin focus on:

A) individuals' modes of adaptation to anomie.
B) both legitimate and illegitimate opportunities for success.
C) the "middle-class measuring rod."
D) only illegitimate opportunities for success.

Question 24

Cohen's theory contends that lower-class boys often experience status frustration as a result of failure in school, join delinquent gangs, and develop values and norms in opposition to middle-class society. This latter process is called:

A) innovative adjustment.
B) status inoculation.
C) reaction formation.
D) resource management.

Question 25

Agnew's general strain theory emphasizes the social psychological aspects of strain, rather than the structural limitation of low social class and lack of opportunity.

Question 26

Ritualism involves a rigid compliance with rules, without a clear commitment to goals.

Question 27

According to Merton, innovation is the most common adaptation to anomie.

Question 28

Anomie is an individual characteristic, not a structural characteristic of society.

Question 29

Anomie theory has been criticized as class-biased.

Question 30

Merton's anomie theory focuses on how criminal or delinquent behavior is learned.

Question 31

Anomie theory assumes that monetary success is the most prominent cultural goal in American society, and that there is widespread consensus regarding this goal.

Question 32

The origins of anomie and strain theories can be traced to the work of Robert Merton.

Question 33

Sampson and Groves provided a full test of social disorganization theory by developing a model in which community structure influenced social organization, which, in turn, determined levels of crime and delinquency.

Question 34

Cloward and Ohlin's strain theory of gang delinquency argues that, like legitimate opportunities, illegitimate opportunities are not always available or accessible.

Question 35

Anomie theory has been criticized for being:

A) race-biased.
B) gender-biased.
C) class-biased.
D) All of the above.

Question 36

According to Cohen, lower-class boys confronted with the common problem of status frustration turn to one of three adaptations. Which adaptation accepts the low status ascribed to those from the lower class and disengages from the competitive struggle for status?

A) The corner boy
B) The college boy
C) The delinquent boy
D) The retreatist

Question 37

Cohen suggests that lower-class youths often experience status frustration in schools that are dominated by:

A) affirmative agendas.
B) middle-class values and norms.
C) short-term hedonism.
D) ascending expectations.

Question 38

Which theorist noted that much delinquency in inner-city areas is committed by gang members and that most delinquent acts are done not for economic gain, but "for the hell of it"?

A) Robert Merton
B) Robert Agnew
C) Albert Cohen
D) Richard Cloward

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a source of strain, according to Agnew's general strain theory?

A) Loss of something valued.
B) Negative treatment by others.
C) Negative labeling by the juvenile justice system.
D) Failure to achieve goals.

Question 40

Agnew's general strain theory emphasizes the ___________ aspects of strain.

A) social psychological
B) structural
C) economic
D) demographic

Question 41

According to Merton, which adaptation to anomie is most related to crime and delinquency?

A) Ritualism
B) Conformity
C) Innovation
D) Retreatism

Question 42

According to Merton, which adaptation to anomie is least common?

A) Ritualism
B) Conformity
C) Innovation
D) Retreatism

Question 43

According to Merton, which adaptation to anomie involves a rigid compliance with rules, without a clear commitment to goals?

A) Ritualism
B) Conformity
C) Innovation
D) Retreatism

Question 44

Which theory explains how groups and individuals adapt to the condition of anomie in society?

A) Social learning theory
B) Strain theory
C) Social disorganization theory
D) Conflict theory

Question 45

Social disorganization theory focuses only on structural characteristics of communities and does not include cultural aspects of social disorganization.