Deck 11: Social Control Theory

Question 1

Social control theory, as espoused by Travis Hirschi, has certain elements of the bond. Which of the following is NOT an element of the bond?

A) Commitment.
B) Involvement.
C) Belief.
D) Containment.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Time consuming activity like academics, sports and leisure best describe the social bond that Hirschi called: ______________.

Answer 2

Involvement.

Question 3

Social control theory has been criticized for being incompatible with cross-sectional data.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Hirschi blamed delinquency on:

A) Broken or weakened bonds to society.
B) Use of neutralizing techniques.
C) Improper Internal or external containments.
D) Institutional strain.

Question 5

Which of the following would not be considered a typical variable for analysis for social control theory?

A) Economic barriers.
B) Family structures.
C) Peer groups.
D) Educational levels.

Question 6

Social control theories generally assume that:

A) Explanations are required for deviance.
B) Conformity is relative.
C) Conformity not deviance must be explained.
D) Humans are basically evil.

Question 7

According to the textbook, another way to look at social control theory is to call it:

A) Neo-conflict theory
B) Differential motivation theory
C) Socialization theory
D) Post-interactionism

Question 8

The most popular version of social control in the 1970s and 1980s was the one presented by:

A) Sykes and Matza.
B) Walter Reckless.
C) Travis Hirschi.
D) Emile Durkheim.

Question 9

Walter Reckless argued that an individual's _____________ containment is the most important type for resisting delinquency.

Question 10

According to the text, which is not one of three trends that led to the increase in popularity of social control theories?

A) A decrease in funds for federal housing and welfare assistance for the poor.
B) A decrease in research interest in labeling and conflict theories.
C) The rise of the study of criminal justice.
D) A rise in the use of self-report study methods.

Question 11

Social control theories appear to have trouble explaining why many people seem to age out of crime.

Question 12

Emile Durkheim stressed the functional nature of deviance in his reference to a society of ___________.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT one of the techniques of neutralization?

A) Denial of the victim.
B) Condemn the condemners.
C) Rejection of the implication.
D) Appeal to a higher loyalty.

Question 14

According to Durkheim, social controls are necessary for order to exist and for people to understand the boundaries of accepted behavior.

Question 15

Matza called the ties that exist between the individual and the dominant values of society:

A) Techniques of identification.
B) Relations of stability.
C) Conforming mandates.
D) Bonds to the moral order.

Question 16

Social control theories developed with the data directly gathered from the then-new research method called __________ surveys.

Question 17

Social control research relies predominantly on self-report data.

Question 18

Because humans seek preservation and gratification, theorists call their behavior __________.

Question 19

Durkheim purported that behavior is controlled by:

A) Personality dimensions.
B) Social reaction to someone else's behavior.
C) The law.
D) All of the above.

Question 20

While Reckless's containment theory focuses on both internal and external containment, he perceived the external to be the more important of the two.

Question 21

Describe the five techniques of neutralization that "free" one up to become delinquent.

Question 22

Describe Hirschi's four elements of the social bond

Question 23

What are three delinquency prevention programs that social control theories might suggest?

Question 24

How do social control theorists view human nature, and based on that view, what question does social control beg to answer?

Question 25

What are the major points of Walter Reckless's containment theory

Question 26

Describe the three things that delinquency would result from, according to Reiss.