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Organized Crime
Mitchel Roth
CHAPTER TWO: Explaining Criminal Subculture/Organized Youth Gangs
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The idea that humans have the capacity to make appropriate decisions based on observation
and reason is fundamental to which criminological philosophy?
a. classical*
b. biological
c. positivist
d. psychological
2. Who proposed that there is a criminal type that is demonstrable by certain physical anomalies?
a. Merton
b. Lombroso*
c. Bentham
d. Durkheim
3. The sociologists of the Chicago School studied crime on which level?
a. international
b. national
c. state
d. city*
4. Which theory noted the relationship between America‟s increasing urban complexity and
higher rates of deviance?
a. cultural transmission theory
b. social disorganization theory*
c. labeling theory
d. classical theory
5. Who suggested that crime is a normal aspect of society and that it is functional for society?
a. Merton
b. Lombroso
c. Bentham
d. Durkheim*
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6. “Anomie” refers to
a. normlessness*
b. social organization
c. criminal succession
d. conformity
7. Which theory focuses upon the process by which negative status restricts life opportunities?
a. cultural transmission theory
b. social disorganization theory
c. labeling theory*
d. classical theory
8. Who is known for suggesting that crime is a result of block opportunities to achieve goals such
as financial success?
a. Merton*
b. Lombroso
c. Bentham
d. Durkheim
9. In his work, The Gang, Thrasher found that Chicago gang activity accounted for 95% of all
a. juvenile delinquency*
b. organized crime
c. arrests
d. career criminals
10. Hirschi, and similar theorists, suggested that ineffective child rearing leads to
a. criminal succession
b. downward mobility
c. low self-control*
d. antisocial personality disorder
11. Services which gangs have been known to provide politicians have typically included all the
following except
a. dissemination of literature
b. intimidation of voters
C. coercing donations
d. providing security*
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12. The oldest immigrants groups in a city typically live in
a. residential areas*
b. highly concentrated areas
c. the center of the city
d. all of the above
13. Who is considered the founder of the Positivist school of criminology and the “father of
modern criminology?”
a. Merton
b. Lombroso*
c. Bentham
d. Durkheim
14. The process by which a marginalized group fills a vacuum in an illegal market sector is
commonly referred to as
a. ethnic succession*
b. criminal transmission
c. crime culture displacement
d. criminal succession
15. Which is not designated a key variable for studying gangs?
a. dialect*
b. class
c. community
d. ethnicity
16. The attributes of prototypical gangs include all the following except
a. illegal behavior
b. solidarity of membership
c. ambiguous leadership*
d. territoriality
17. Retreatist gangs primarily fixate upon
a. violence
b. theft
c. extortion
d. drugs*
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18. All the following are ways in which street gangs in differ from organized crime, except that
street gangs are not typically
a. more socially oriented
b. more focused on economic gain*
c. more organized
d. younger in terms of age of their members
19. The chief rival of the biological theories were referred to as
a. theological
b. environmental*
c. endomorphic
d. anthropological
20. Sutherland‟s cultural transmission theory of differential association suggests that criminal
behavior is
a. learned*
b. genetically inherited
c. not cultivated through association
d. triggered by antisocial personality disorder
21. Which theory stressed that the usual controls of delinquent behavior were largely absent in
areas of highest delinquency?
a. cultural transmission theory
b. social disorganization theory*
c. labeling theory
d. classical theory
22. Which of the following significantly undermined recruiting efforts by Jewish gangs in
America?
a. immigration laws*
b. federal crackdowns
c. prison gang classification
d. community policing programs
23. During which time period were youths most likely to join a gang for fun and adventure?
a. 1920s*
b. 1960s
c. 1980s
d. 1990s
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24. The theories of anomie/strain, differential opportunity, cultural transmission, culture conflict,
and control are all rooted in the ideas of which scholar?
a. Merton
b. Lombroso
c. Bentham
d. Durkheim*
25. In regard to their involvement in criminal activities, as gang members grow older they
typically
a. age-out*
b. use more violence
c. become more predacious
d. develop antisocial personality disorder
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True / False Questions
1. “Rational choice theory” was advocated by Beccaria and Bentham.
a. True*
b. False
2. The studies of Lombroso have been some of the most frequently replicated and strongly
supported in criminal justice research.
a. True
b. False*
3. According to the body-type theory, delinquents typically have a endomorphic body-type.
a. True
b. False*
4. The Chicago School” refers to the University of Chicago‟s Department of Sociology.
a. True*
b. False
5. The Enlightenment spurred the classical school of criminology.
a. True*
b. False
6. American anthropologists proposed that individual bodily differences determined an
individual‟s criminal disposition.
a. True*
b. False
7. According to Sheldon‟s somatypes, delinquents are typically endomorphic.
a. True
b. False*
8. Sutherland proposed that the principal part of learning criminal behavior occurs within
intimate personal groups.
a. True*
b. False
9. During the 1950s America experienced a crime hysteria focused upon juvenile delinquency.
a. True*
b. False
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10. Theorists asserted that the primarily consequence of labeling was low self control.
a. True
b. False*
11. Asian gangs that proliferated in the 1980s were typically extremely mobile.
a. True*
b. False
12. Identification of gang membership through observation of symbols, dress, and mannerisms is
considered outdated.
a. True*
b. False
13. Urbanization has decelerated the growth of gangs throughout the world.
a. True
b. False*
14. The scholar who suggested that the anatomical feature of an individual‟s skull can indicate
their criminaliaty was Lombroso.
a. True*
b. False
15. According to Hooten, a body type theorist, criminals are characterized by superior bodily
measurements compared to civilians.
a. True
b. False*
16. Among the variables used to predict criminality, intelligence has been the strongest predictor
and least debated among scholars.
a. True
b. False*
17. Throughout most of recorded history, the word “gang” has implied the criminal activity of a
group of individuals.
a. True
b. False*
18. Modern transportation and urban renewal have weakened the relationship between gangs and
their neighborhoods.
a. True*
b. False
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19. The less formally structured and less organized a gang becomes, the more likely it will
engage in organized crime enterprises such as drug trafficking.
a. True
b. False*
20. When defining a gang, most scholars do not include the element of criminal activity.
a. True
b. False*
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Glossary
Cesare Beccaria
rational choice theory biological/anthropological theories
Cesare Lombroso
criminal types Gabriel Tarde Ernest A. Hooten
Body type theories
William H. Sheldon antisocial personality
Psychological theories
sociological theories
Emile Durkheim
The Chicago School
Robert E. Park
Ernest Burgess
Clifford Shaw
Henry McKay
Cultural transmission theory Robert Merton
Albert Cohen
delinquent subcultures
Differential association
Travis Hirschi
Frederic Thrasher
the gang
Social Disorganization Theory
Edwin Sutherland
Richard Cloward
Lloyd Ohlin
differential opportunity labeling theory
ethnic succession Daniel Bell
turf and territoriality
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learning theories
anomie
Howard Becker
“queer ladder thesis”
Websites for Further Research
Criminology Mega-Site
A website with detailed explanations of criminological theories.
http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/criminology.htm
Modern Gangs A website maintained by The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center.
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/topics/gangs.asp
The Growth of Youth Gang Problems in the United States: 1970–98
A publication of the U.S. Department of Justice
www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/ojjdprpt_yth_gng_prob_2001/
Street Gangs or US
A website providing extensive resources on street gangs.
http://www.gangsorus.com/streetgangs.html
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