Deck 7: Socialization and Crime

Question 1

Jim has been told all his life that he is "bad" and that he will not amount to anything. As Jim gets older he starts to get into trouble with the law. What stage or process is Jim engaging in?

A)retrospective reading
B)primary deviance
C)reflective role taking
D)secondary deviance

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Travis Hirschi argues that the social bond a person maintains with society is divided into four main elements. Which of these lists includes all of these bonds?

A)attachment, education, loyalty, belonging
B)commitment, confidence, strength, education
C)involvement, attachment, commitment, belief
D)belief, involvement, self-concept, religion

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to cross-national research, what is the relationship between church attendance and crime rates?

A)There tend to be higher crime rates in countries with high church attendance rates.
B)There is virtually no crime in countries with high church attendance rates.
C)Crime rates are generally lower in countries with high rates of church attendance.
D)There tend to be more delinquent girls in countries with high rates of church attendance.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Fourteen-year-old Anna insisted that she went along with her friends who were fighting after school because they needed her help. Which neutralization technique is Anna using?

A)condemnation of the condemners
B)denial of injury
C)denial of responsibility
D)appeal to higher loyalties

Question 5

Which of the following statements best represents the perspective of social control theorists on the relationship between crime and self-concept?

A)The focus is on external agents of control rather on internal ones, so self-concept does not influence deviant behaviour.
B)A strong self-image is linked to lower involvement in crime.
C)A weak self-concept leads youths to be introverted and less inclined to commit crime.
D)The linkage between self-concept and crime has not been researched adequately to draw any conclusions.

Question 6

Which family characteristic contributes most significantly to delinquency in children?

A)parental separation or divorce
B)inconsistent discipline and ineffective communication
C)no connections to extended family
D)family members who have experienced serious health concerns

Question 7

When asked why he assaulted the man at the bar, David commented that he shouldn't be in trouble because the man made him angry and he deserved what he got. Which type of neutralization is this an example of?

A)denial of injury
B)denial of the victim
C)appeal to higher loyalties
D)denial of responsibility

Question 8

Who developed the differential association theory?

A)David Matza
B)Travis Hirschi
C)Edwin Lemert
D)Edwin Sutherland

Question 9

Which theory would suggest that parents who will NOT let their children spend significant amounts of time hanging around with delinquent peers are protecting them from a life of crime?

A)social learning theory
B)labelling theory
C)social reaction theory
D)neutralization theory

Question 10

The notion that the poor and minority groups are more likely to be detained, arrested, charged, convicted, and jailed than the rich and powerful is best explained using which theory?

A)differential association
B)neutralization
C)social reaction
D)differential enforcement

Question 11

Which theory would suggest that regular school and church attendance along with strong family connections can buffer the likelihood that an individual would engage in criminal behaviour?

A)social learning theory
B)neutralization theory
C)social control theory
D)anomie theory

Question 12

Parents of teenagers are often concerned about who their teens spend time hanging out with. What does research evidence indicate about what role parents should play in the lives of their teens in order to discourage involvement in criminal behaviour?

A)Young people who attend school regularly are buffered against the influence of delinquent peers so this should be a priority for parents.
B)Teens that are permitted to drink at home, in the company of their parents, are less likely to become addicted to alcohol later in life.
C)Parental involvement in time management balance for youths is important to keep youths from having time to engage in criminal behaviour.
D)Parents should be involved in peer selection since delinquent peers increase the likelihood of a young person engaging in and staying involved in delinquent activities.

Question 13

According to many criminologists, how does the school system contribute to criminality?

A)by allowing children to advance a grade even when they should fail
B)by labelling youths and streaming them according to their abilities
C)by maintaining a rigid system of discipline
D)by being underfunded in their resources to identify learning disabled youths

Question 14

What is one of the most relevant aspects of social control theory?

A)Its goal is to resocialize criminal adults using backward-planning techniques.
B)It can track criminal characteristics from infancy onward.
C)It provides a way of understanding the onset of misbehaviour in youth.
D)It provides treatments and therapy for deviant children.

Question 15

Which statement outlines the underlying principle of social process theories?

A)All people are basically good and will remain law-abiding citizens for life.
B)Everyone has the potential to become a criminal.
C)Criminal behaviour is genetic, regardless of race or gender.
D)People of the lower social classes are more prone to committing crime.

Question 16

What would a social control theorist say is the most important factor in determining whether or not an individual will engage in or repeat criminal behaviour?

A)the existence of positive role models and ways of thinking
B)whether or not the individual has been labelled as deviant
C)the ability of the individual to be "good" at being deviant
D)how the individual was mentored by other deviant or nondeviant role models

Question 17

Which of the following terms is used to refer to the fact that criminals engage in prosocial activities as well as deviant ones?

A)deviance amplification
B)float
C)neutral engagement
D)drift

Question 18

According to social reaction theorists, what are criminal careers are based on?

A)race and gender
B)differential associations and educational streaming
C)social bonds and social reaction
D)negative social interactions leading to stigmatization

Question 19

What would a social reaction theorist say is the most important factor in determining whether or not an individual will engage in or repeat criminal behaviour?

A)the size of the reward to be obtained
B)if the person and others perceive the individual as a deviant
C)the ability of the individual to be "good" at being deviant
D)if the individual was mentored by other deviant or nondeviant role models

Question 20

According to social process theorists, which of the following youths is most likely to become a prosocial, positively contributing member of society?

A)the young person who has many friends and is popular at school
B)the young person whose parents remind her regularly to "be good"
C)the young person who is mentored by her family, church, and basketball team
D)the young person who has not missed a day of school and is now in grade 10

Question 21

Which of the following is a key criticism of social process theories?

A)They do not examine the role of agents of social control in criminal behaviour.
B)They do not explain geographical and seasonal fluctuations in crime rates.
C)They do not distinguish between criminal acts and criminal careers.
D)They focus on young male offenders and their gang activities but exclude female gangs.

Question 22

Research attempts that have been made to verify the assumptions of neutralization theory have been inconclusive.

Question 23

Children who fail in school are more likely to commit more serious offences that persist into adulthood.

Question 24

A major premise of social reaction theory is that the law is differentially constructed and applied, depending on the offenders.

Question 25

According to Lemert, secondary deviance involves resocialization into a deviant role.

Question 26

Empirical evidence supports the view that labelling plays an important role in persistent offending.

Question 27

There is little empirical evidence to show that negative labels dramatically influence the self-image of offenders.

Question 28

A social reaction theorist views crime as a subjective concept whose definition depends entirely on the viewing audience.

Question 29

The most serious criticism of differential association theory is that it fails to account for the origin of criminal definitions.

Question 30

Labelling theory is one which provides for equal treatment of offenders across class and racial lines.

Question 31

An important principle of social reaction theory is that the law is applied equally to everyone.

Question 32

What is retrospective reading?

A)looking back over a criminal career and reflecting on where the cause of crime began
B)using a variety of tactics to justify criminal behaviour to avoid feelings of guilt
C)evaluating a person's behaviour according to an attached label rather than reacting to the actual behaviour
D)isolating the offender from the larger community by those who could make the most positive impact

Question 33

The Aboriginal Head Start program is an urban and northern communities project funded by Health Canada. Which of the following functions does it serve?

A)It provides breakfast to children who do not otherwise have three available meals.
B)It provides healthy socialization opportunities which lead to lower crime rates.
C)It provides an opportunity for parents to have a break from difficult children.
D)It enables young children to visit with their parents under the supervision of health-care workers.

Question 34

Another name for social reaction theory is labelling theory.

Question 35

The Youth Criminal Justice Act seeks to use the least restrictive means of dealing with youth and this includes diversion from the formal court process where possible. Which social process theory does this model support?

A)social control theory
B)social reaction (labelling) theory
C)neutralization theory
D)differential association theory

Question 36

Which of the following terms would be used by a social reaction theorist to describe a situation in which a young person goes to a party and smokes marijuana but achieves honour roll standing and never breaks the law again?

A)primary deviance
B)secondary deviance
C)all criminal behaviour
D)delinquency only

Question 37

Sutherland argued that learning criminal behaviour is similar to learning nearly all other patterns and is not a matter of mere imitation.

Question 38

Social process theories share the same single concept that all people, regardless of their race, class, or gender, have the potential to become delinquent

Question 39

In its purest form, social reaction theory argues that even such crimes as murder, sexual assault, and theft are only bad because people label them that way.

Question 40

According to the social reaction approach, crime and deviance are defined by the moral content of the illegal act itself.

Question 41

Discuss how social process theories have had a major influence on social policies.

Question 42

Some criminologists believe that criminality is a function of individual socialization and interactions. Do you agree? Support your answer drawing from the text.

Question 43

Travis Hirschi links the onset of criminality to the weakening of the ties that bind people to society. Discuss the elements of the social bond he has identified. What does the empirical research tell us about this theory?

Question 44

Discuss what labelling theory tells us about crime. Do you agree with the major assumptions of labelling theory? Explain why or why not?

Question 45

Learning theories contribute significantly to our understanding of the onset of criminal behaviour. Nonetheless, the general learning model has been criticized. Discuss those criticisms.

Question 46

Evaluate labelling theory in terms of empirical support (or lack of it) and contributions to the study of criminality.

Question 47

Discuss the merits of Aboriginal Head Start Programs in Canada and whether you agree that such programs are necessary? Explain your position.

Question 48

Briefly compare and contrast social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction theory.

Question 49

Describe labelling theory and examine the debate about requiring that people convicted of certain crimes have their names and deeds published in newspapers. Is this a very good idea considering what we know of labelling theory? What possible consequences could arise from such actions?

Question 50

Gresham Sykes and David Matza suggest that people develop a distinct set of justifications for their law-violating behaviour. Their research has helped them identify several techniques of neutralization. Discuss these techniques using examples from your text to illustrate them.