Deck 6: Learning and Cultural Transmission Theories of Crime

Question 1

Learning theories contend that learning most necessarily involves what?

A) Socialization
B) Free will
C) Context
D) Drives

Answer 1

Socialization

Question 2

Which learning theorist is considered the founding father of positivistic criminology?

A) Akers
B) Braswell
C) Cohen
D) Sutherland

Answer 2

Sutherland

Question 3

From whom did learning theorists take the idea that people model or imitate what they observe in others and which is successful in meeting their own needs and desires?

A) Anderson
B) Bandura
C) Cloward
D) Duncan

Answer 3

Bandura

Question 4

What perspective in criminology, other than learning theory, holds that crime is mostly normative (relatively normal and reasonably expected) behavior?

A) Psychological
B) Biological
C) Control
D) Strain

Question 5

Which (numbered) propositions are considered the cornerstone of Sutherland's differential association theory?

A) 5 and 6
B) 9 and 10
C) 13 and 14
D) 23 and 24

Question 6

Which one of Sutherland's propositions points to the idea of "normative conflict" where there is no absolute sense of right and wrong?

A) Criminal behavior is learning in interaction with others in a process of communication.
B) Learning includes techniques, motives, drives, rationalization, and attitudes.
C) The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
D) Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.

Question 7

Akers's social learning theory incorporates which of the following into differential association theory?

A) Principles of reinforcement and punishment
B) The concept of unconscious motivations
C) Considerations of poverty and economic status
D) Societal influences by TV role models

Question 8

A toddler, for example, who starts to mimic a cuss word they hear their parents use is engaging in what process according to social learning theories?

A) Psychological transmission
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Symbolic reward
D) Imitation

Question 9

Whose subcultural theory is often treated as a strain theory in criminology?

A) Akers
B) Chambliss
C) Cohen
D) Miller

Question 10

Who developed the first general theory of subcultures in criminology?

A) Akers
B) Chambliss
C) Cohen
D) Miller

Question 11

What has been criminology's main response to the criticism that Cohen failed to present adequate empirical support for what was basically an untestable theory?

A) The empirical support was qualitative rather than quantitative in nature.
B) Cohen's work was only intended to be a theoretical commentary.
C) The theory can be adequately tested and supported using certain definitions of terms.
D) Cohen was a minor figure in the history of criminology anyways.

Question 12

In Cloward and Ohlin's typology, which type of gang represents "double failures" who have failed at most conventional as well as deviant endeavors?

A) Criminal
B) Conflict
C) Retreatist
D) Incompetent

Question 13

According to Cloward and Ohlin's theory, what variable most determines what kind of gang a youth joins in a community?

A) Self-benefit
B) Sociodemographics
C) Level of frustration
D) Opportunity

Question 14

Which of the following identifies the extension of social learning theory that the social learning social structure (SLSS) model provides?

A) Some of the lower-class values it found were also observable in the middle class.
B) It focuses more on blacks and atypical family structures.
C) It explains the link between social structural factors and exposure to delinquent peer groups.
D) It accepts the idea that crime and deviance are normal.

Question 15

Akers argues that which of the following concepts provides individuals with justifications or excuses for committing crime?

A) Reinforcement
B) Association
C) Definitions
D) Imitation

Question 16

Wolfgang and Ferracuti's subculture of violence theory gave rise to all but which of the following in criminology?

A) Further development of gang theory
B) Southern subculture of violence theory
C) Culture of honor theory
D) Code of the street theory

Question 17

Like Miller and Cohen before him, Anderson also suggests that a street culture or code emphasizes the fundamental importance of what?

A) The value of doing for yourself what society doesn't allow you to do
B) That no sign of weakness should be displayed
C) Alienated and socially isolated neighborhoods
D) The middle-class measuring rod metaphor

Question 18

Which social learning theory is the most general learning-based explanation of crime with strong empirical support?

A) Akers'
B) Chambliss'
C) Cohen's
D) Miller's

Question 19

Cultural transmission theories focus on which of the following?

A) Group values
B) Personality disorders
C) Genetic influences
D) None of the above

Question 20

Which of the following did Sutherland characterize as an agent of socialization?

A) School
B) Church
C) Family
D) All of the above

Question 21

Sutherland's theory of differential association identifies two primary socialization influences: agents of socialization and content of socialization.

Question 22

Differential association theory posits that crime is more likely when an infrequent, yet more personally significant, role model is interacted with.

Question 23

Differential association theory is considered the second general theory of crime, developed shortly after the first general theory, social disorganization.

Question 24

Cultures themselves are often the contexts in which socialization occurs.

Question 25

Subcultural and cultural theories assume that ideas, like values and norms, are fairly important essential ingredients in any attempt at understanding how crime is learned.

Question 26

Cultural transmission theory is a subcultural theory in criminology.

Question 27

Subcultures are typically found only in middle-class settings where there has been a rebellion of sorts from conventional culture.

Question 28

Albert Cohen was the first to develop a general theory of subcultures.

Question 29

Subcultural theories in criminology declined in popularity during the 1960s and never again experienced any resurfacing of interest.

Question 30

Differential association can vary by frequency, intensity, and duration.

Question 31

If you were to drink a shot of alcohol and your friends responded by cheering and encouraging you to take another shot, this is an example of positive punishment.

Question 32

If after you did a particular behavior such as smoke some pot and your friends responded by ending their friendship with you, this would be an example of negative punishment.

Question 33

According to Sutherland an individual becomes delinquent because of excess of definitions favorable to crime.

Question 34

One reason subcultural theories declined in popularity during the 1960s and 1970s was because of the rise in popularity of strain theory.

Question 35

Walter B. Miller proposed his focal concerns theory to explain gang delinquency.

Question 36

_______________ theories emphasize the influence of the social environment and the socialization process for explaining individual-level criminal involvement.

Question 37

_______________ is the theorist who is primarily credited with making significant revisions and advancements to differential association theory (e.g., including how learning takes place).

Question 38

When an individual observes behavior in others and mimics it without necessarily understanding the consequences of their behavior, this process refers to _______________ ____________ ____________.

Question 39

Cohen argued that differential experiences of lower-class youth leaves them ill-prepared to compete in a world gauged by what he refers to as the _______________.

Question 40

Trouble, toughness, and smartness are some of what Walter B. Miller describes as _______ ________ or characteristics of lower-class culture that foster gang delinquency.

Question 41

Wolfgang and Ferracuti based their subculture of violence theory on the study of ________.

Question 42

A parent that issues chores to their teen who violated their curfew time is demonstrating an example of ____________ ____________.

Question 43

___________ ____________ refers to the balance of anticipated or actual rewards and punishment that follow behavior.

Question 44

Of Miller's focal concerns, ______ was identified as the ability to be cunning, or "outsmarting" others.

Question 45

According to the differential association theory, associations that develop earliest in life are termed __________.

Question 46

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Middle-class measuring rod

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 47

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Frequency

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 48

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Learning theories

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 49

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Focal concerns

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 50

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Reinforcement

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 51

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Agents of socialization

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 52

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Imitation

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 53

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Duration

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 54

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Intensity

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 55

Match the terms with the definition and/or description

-Socialization

A) Refers to a process of human interaction on both one-to-one and group levels
B) Refers the influences who are closest to an individual
C) Refers to influences of the longest-running
D) Emphasize the process in which criminal behavior is observed, learned, and carried out
E) Middle-class values, norms, and expected standards of academic, social, and civic achievement
F) Refers to the influences who an individual comes into contact most frequently
G) Refers to who does the socialization
H) Occurs when a behavior is wanted to continue
I) When behavior is observed and mimicked without understanding of behavior consequences
J) Elements that combine to characterize lower-class culture

Question 56

Why is it that Sutherland's differential association theory is considered the first general theory of crime?

Question 57

What is meant from a learning theory perspective when it is said that crime is simply normative behavior?

Question 58

Describe Walter Miller's focal concerns theory and differences from other delinquency theories? Identify what Miller considered the purpose of gangs.

Question 59

Discuss the nine propositions of differential association theory and further elaborate on the two propositions that are the "cornerstone" of Sutherland's theory.

Question 60

Describe Albert K. Cohen's middle-class measuring rod theory and the debate centered on including his theory in the context of subcultural theories.