soc 3

What are some factors that shape individuals in our environments and neighborhoods?

Strains and stressors.

How are our reactions to stressors and strains shaped?

By our neighborhood contexts, our levels of self-control, and our social bonds.

What impact does social disorganization have on residents of disadvantaged communities?

It can contribute to strain.

What role does Durkheim argue that strain plays in society?

He argued that strain is a normal part of society.

What function does crime serve in society according to Durkheim?

It serves a positive function in society.

What can social responses to crime contribute to?

Expanding social norms and social change.

What are the primary causes of crime and deviance according to Durkheim?

The structure of society and how groups interact.

How does Durkheim view the organization of society?

Society can be organized through either mechanical or organic solidarity.

What does the division of labor serve as for Durkheim?

A measure for understanding/determining how complex a society is.

What does Durkheim see as both an economic and moral issue?

The greater division of labor in a more complex society.

What is mechanical solidarity linked to?

The pre-modern era, where there was a greater degree of consensus surrounding social norms and values.

How did people live in the pre-modern era?

In smaller towns and villages.

What kind of occupations did people generally work in during the pre-modern era?

Similar occupations, such as farming, butchery, and baking.

What is the concept of 'collective conscious' in mechanical solidarity?

People are bound together by shared beliefs and are willing to sacrifice their individual freedoms for the common good.

What weakened the collective conscience in modern societies?

Increased complexity and weakened shared history and traditions.

What characterizes organic solidarity in modern societies?

Greater complexity and diversity, driven by interdependence.

What is the role of the legal system in organic solidarity?

It plays an essential role in binding individuals under organic solidarity.

What are repressive sanctions associated with?

Mechanical solidarity, with harsher sanctions meant to punish people breaking the law.

What are restitutive sanctions associated with?

Organic solidarity, addressing harm caused to ensure compensation or resolution.

What is the goal of punishment according to Durkheim?

To restore the status quo and make the body work again.

What does Durkheim see as a natural expression of a more complex society?

Recompense for the harm that was done.

What is anomie according to Durkheim?

A breakdown between the desires of the individual and the ability of society to fulfill those needs.

What does Merton's concept of anomie involve?

Feelings of alienation and isolation.

What are Merton's 'Modes of Adaptation' in response to strain?

Conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.

What are the legitimate means to acquire social goals?

Embracing socially approved means.

What is the most common mode of adaptation associated with crime and deviance?

Innovation.

What happens when someone accepts socially approved goals but rejects socially approved means of achieving those goals?

Innovation.

What do innovators want in their lives but are blocked from achieving in socially approved ways?

Material goods, status, respect, dignity, and access to nice things.

What do ritualists do to get pleasure/satisfaction from socially approved goals?

Abandon socially approved goals and turn to other parts of their lives.

What is an example of ritualism?

Joining a very conservative aspect of religious orders where they find belief, value, strength, and purpose.

What do people associated with retreatism typically reject?

Social values and the means to achieve those goals.

What are rebels trying to do?

Reject social means, values, and change them too.

What are rebels trying to challenge?

Existing social order and create new norms.

What is the focus of Merton's strain theory?

Lower-income neighborhoods.

How can we critique Merton's approach?

Not everyone shares the same values and beliefs, doesn't address white-collar crime, and does not consider crimes of the powerful or more affluent.

What is Mertonian strain also known as?

Classic strain.

What does Agnew's General Strain Theory consider besides monetary stressors?

Non-monetary stressors or strains.

What does Agnew's General Strain Theory seek to understand?

Why some people who experience strain commit crimes while others do not.

According to Agnew, what are the four major sources of strain?

Failure to achieve a positively valued goal, a disconnect between our expectations and achievements, the loss or removal of positive stimuli, and the presentation of negative stimuli.

How can sources of stress and strain impact individuals?

They can overlap and condition each other, leading to different coping behaviors and impacts on individuals.

What factors fundamentally shape the way individuals respond to strains?

Social, cultural, and biographical factors.

How can the type of resources individuals have influence their response to strains?

People with greater resources and stronger support systems may be more resilient to strains.

How can the neighborhood and associations influence individuals' responses to strain?

Living in a neighborhood with more crime and criminality may influence individuals to use certain measures as a response to strain.

What does control theory ask about human behavior?

It asks not only why do we choose to offend but also why we choose to conform.

What are the appeals of crime/deviance according to control theory?

Money, status, respect, adrenaline.

Why is conformity considered kind of dull?

Some people may find going on with our lives boring.

Why isn't crime more widespread or sustained according to control theory?

The influence of different social controls in our lives keeps us from engaging in crime and deviance.

Who is associated with modern control theory?

Travis Hirschi.

What does Hirschi argue in 'Causes of Delinquency' (1969)?

He advances his Social Control Theory and tests it against other leading theories.

What does Social Bonding Theory aim to explain?

Why do people obey the law?

What does a weakening of ties that bind to society cause according to Social Bonding Theory?

Crime.

What are the four elements of social bonds according to Social Bonding Theory?

Attachment, commitment, involvement, belief.

What does involvement in school, community organizations, clubs, and religious groups indicate according to Social Bonding Theory?

A way to get the benefits of commitment without a lot of involvement (time).

What does belief in social values, shared norms, and social responsibility prevent according to Social Bonding Theory?

Crime.

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, what is the General Theory of Crime also known as?

Theory of self-control.

What does the General Theory of Crime use concepts from?

Rational choice theory, including bounded rationality.

According to the General Theory of Crime, who is more likely to engage in crime and deviance?

People with low levels of self-control.

When does low self-control emerge according to the General Theory of Crime?

In childhood, and once somebody engages in it, it calls them for the rest of their lives.

What does low self-control result in, according to the General Theory of Crime?

Not just crimes, but also other risk-taking or impulsive behaviors.

What are the key factors contributing to criminality according to the concept of Low Self Control?

Impulsive personality, lack of self-control, withering of social bonds, the opportunity to commit crime, insensitivity to others.

How does low self-control manifest in personal relationships according to the concept of Low Self Control?

Weaker personal relationships, shaking marriages, unstable friendships, on/off work histories.

What are the policy implications of self-control theory?

The need to work with people at young ages in their life to develop self-control.

What is an example of a program mentioned in the policy implications of self-control theory?

Programs to help parents be better students, students foster low self-control in young adulthood to help them avoid low self-control in their childhood.

What is the focus of the policy implications of self-control theory?

Prevention of deviance in the first place instead of trying to respond to it later in life.