Chapter 5: Explaining Crime and Delinquency: In the Beginning …

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the three conditions of causality?
2. establish a time priority
3. establish that a relationship is non-spurious
4. establish that there is relationship between concepts
5. establish an experiment to be conducted

2. Which of the following is a central tenet of the classical school of criminology as it pertains to human behaviour?

a. free will

b. psychology

c. social factors

d. the environment

3. How are theories of crime such as “the born criminal” and “types of people” classified?

a. sociological

b. psychological

c. positivist

d. classical

4. According to Sheldon’s work, Varieties of Delinquent Youth (1949), which body type is linked to delinquent behaviour?

1. mesomorph
2. ectomorph
3. endomorph
4. retromorph

5. What do most modern biological theorists argue about biology and criminal behaviour?

a. Criminality is genetically inherited.

b. Criminality is caused by feeblemindedness.

c. Criminality is a product of environmental factors.

d. Criminality is the result of social and biological interactions.

6. Which of the following would be included among the psychological positivism theories?

a. anomie

b. strain theory

c. social learning theory

d. social disorganization

7. Which of the following psychological positivist theories lends itself to the law-and-order approach to juvenile justice?

a. behaviouralism

b. antisocial personality

c. moral development

d. psychoanalytic

8. Which theory argues that rates of delinquency are always higher in the area surrounding the centre of the city?

1. differential opportunity
2. containment theory
3. drift and delinquency
4. social disorganization

9. A person pulled over for speeding tells the officer, “I see the police speeding all the time without their lights on, so giving me a ticket would be hypocritical.” What technique of neutralization is this?

1. denial of injury
2. denial of responsibility
3. condemnation of the condemners
4. appeal to higher loyalties

10. Which of the following theories begins with the assumption that unless people are constrained in some way, they will behave on the basis of self-interest?

a. control theory

b. consensus theory

c. drift and delinquency theory

d. differential association theory

11. Which of the following was NOT one of the components conceptualized as part of the social bond according to Travis Hirschi’s (1969) Social Bond Theory?

1. communication
2. attachments
3. commitment
4. involvement

12. According to Hirschi (1969), what must be present in a young person’s life to prevent him or her from engaging in delinquent behaviour?

a. self-control

b. social bond

c. social consensus

d. social control

SHORT ANSWER

1. Summarize the three conditions that must be met before causality can be established.

• First, it has to be established that there is a relationship between concepts both within and among the propositions that constitute a theory.
• Second, a time priority has to be established between the concepts so that the cause comes before the effect.
• Third, “spuriousness” has to be ruled out so that we can be certain that there is no other causal factor related to both concepts being examined.

REF: 156-157

1. Summarize the four elements of the social bond outlined by Hirschi (1969) and give an example of each.

• Attachments: young people with attachments to parents, schools, and other agents of socialization are less likely than those without such attachments to become delinquents

– Example: A person who is has a close and open relationship with his parents

• Commitment: refers to successes, achievements, and ambitions and the extent to which one has invested in these things

– Example: A straight-A student in her last year of high school before going to university decides not to vandalize the school when her friends ask her to.

• Involvement: refers to activity and the extent to which young people are engaged in productive activities

– Example: A person has little time to commit delinquent behaviour because he plays hockey, golf, is involved with Scouts, and helps his grandparents out two nights a week.

• Beliefs: a person who is committed to or believes in a conventional value system will be constrained from getting involved in delinquent behaviour

– Example: A person raised in a family with a strong sense of morals who believes that for a society to function everyone needs to follow the law.

REF: 175

ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between consensus theory and control theory? Compare one consensus theory and one control theory to demonstrate how they differ.
2. Consensus theory refers to a group of theories based on a fundamental assumption that people are essentially law-abiding. Therefore, compliance is assumed to be the natural state of affairs so theories need to explain why some people are involved in criminal or delinquent behaviour.

b. Control theory refers to a group of theories premised on an assumption that people will operate on the basis of self-interest unless constrained. Therefore, acting in self-interest, which leads to delinquent and criminal behaviour, is assumed to be the natural state of affairs so what needs to be explained is why most people are not involved in delinquent or criminal behaviour.

Example of a consensus theory: Merton’s “modes of adaption” or anomie theory

• All people in North American society are socialized to aspire to the same culturally mandated goals: a good job, marriage, home ownership, children, etc.
• However, legitimate means for achieving these goals are limited by social structure, such as the educational system. Postsecondary education is difficult to access for those who don’t have the money to pay tuition and other costs associated with school.
• Contradictions or discrepancies between cultural goals and structural means—anomie—are created and reinforced by a class system of reward distribution.
• The anomic conditions create “strain” or pressures to find other means to success, some of which may be illegal.
• Modes of adaption: (1) Conformity—accept the cultural goals and institutionalized means of goal achievement; (2) Innovation—accept cultural goals but reject institutionalized means of goal achievement, which can lead to white-collar crime or theft; (3) Ritualism—reject cultural goals but accept the means of goal achievement (4) Retreatism—reject both institutionalized means and cultural goals, which can lead to drug addiction, alcoholism, or life on the street; and (5) Rebellion—reject institutionalized means and cultural goals and implement their own means and/or goal achievement.

Example of a control theory: containment theory, developed by Walter Reckless (1953)

• Used to explain why some boys in high-crime neighbourhoods get into trouble while others do not.
• Four factors influence delinquent behaviour: outer pulls, inner pushes, external containment factors, and internal containment factors

– “Outer pulls”: environmental factors pulling people into delinquency such as poverty and unemployment

– “Inner pushes”: psychological or biological factors, such as psychosis or hostility, pushing people into delinquency

– External containment factors: outer controls, such as community ties, that protect young people from delinquent behaviour

– Internal containment factors: the most important of these is a positive self-concept. A pro-social self-concept is the best defence against delinquent temptations

REF: 168-175

1. Summarize the five techniques of neutralization according to Sykes and Matza (1957). Provide an example of each technique of neutralization.
2. Denial of responsibility

• Occurs when young people refuse to accept any responsibility for their behaviour and blame others instead.

– Example: That isn’t me on the video stealing the chocolate bar; that must be someone else.

1. Denial of injury

• Occurs when a youth insists that no one was hurt in any way.

– Example: That store makes millions of dollar each year so they won’t notice or care about the pack of candy I took.

1. Denial of victim

• Occurs when a young person argues that the victimization was deserved in some way

– Example: That guy is a bully, so he deserved it when I threw that rock at him and put him in his place.

1. Condemnation of the condemners

• Refers to the argument that those in authority, who could be police, parents, or teachers, are hypocrites.

– Example: A person pulled over for speeding tells the officer “I see the police speeding all the time without their lights on, so giving me a ticket would be hypocritical.”

1. Appeal to higher loyalties

• Occurs when a young person argues that his or her motivations were essentially honourable.

– Example: I didn’t want to cheat on the test, but my parents put so much pressure on me to do well in school, so that I can go to university and get a good job that I had to do it so I wouldn’t let them down.

REF: 174