Foundations & Durkheim
This French engineer turned philosopher is often credited for coining the term sociology and founding the positivist movement.
Who is Auguste Comte? (p. 139)
Who were the two scholars who introduced the Broken Windows Theory in 1982?
James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling page 156 and 160
According to Merton, this condition may result “when there is a disjunction between the goals of a society and the appropriate means to achieve those goals.”
anomie? (p. 144)
What are Agnew's three sources of strain?
(These strains occur at the individual level)
1. failure to achieve positively valued goals
2. removal of positively valued stimuli
3. presentation of noxious (negative) stimuli
page 148
What setting did the Chicago School focus on? What made Chicago useful to study?
urban page 150
rapid growth and influx of people, especially immigrants from foreign nations 150
This key term refers to the framework and relationship between institutions, groups, and norms in a society.
Social structure? (p. 139)
What was the central claim of the Broken Windows Theory?
Environments filled with disorder, such as broken windows or graffiti, indicate an inability for the neighborhood to supervise itself, therefore leading to an increase in criminal activity page 156
Merton explicitly noted that this specific adaptation out of his five is the adaptation that is most closely linked with crime.
innovation/innovators (p. 146)
Innovators are people who very much want to reach conventional goals but reject or are incapable of reaching them through socially accepted means.
A theory that posits different types of strain, felt at the individual level, can lead to frustration and negative emotions that may lead to crime if someone does not have adequate coping skills to deal with those strains.
General Strain Theory Key terms 138
Park and Burgess identified this zone as most associated with criminal behavior. Which Zone? and What is it called?
Zone 2, the zone of transition page 151
Defined as a key term, this is a state of normlessness in society, especially during societal transition.
Anomie? (p. 138 or 143)
These type of laws nwhich originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s,criminalize activities considered undesirable, such as sitting or lying on sidewalks, sleeping in parks.
Civility laws page 156
the idea that inequality and the gaps between wealth and poverty in a single place can lead to negative perceptions of one's situation and result in crime
key term relative deprivation? page 139
Agnew’s second type of strain involves the loss of this. it can be losing something you like.
Which can include: getting laid off from your dream job, losing a loved one or pet, moving to a new city away from your friends, or even experiencing your parents'divorce.
removal of positively valued stimuli page 148
What is the theory that claims neighborhoods with weak community controls caused by poverty, residential mobility, and ethnic heterogeneity will experience a higher level of criminal and delinquent behavior?
Social disorganization page 151-152
This French sociologist in the 1890s argued that crime was not only normal, but necessary because it provided essential functions.
Émile Durkheim (p. 143)
Crime helps define society’s moral boundaries and can create bonds among members through shared ideas about right and wrong.
Broken windows policing requires police to focus on these crimes:
petty crimes that indicate disorder, with the assumption that this will reduce more violent crime. page 156
Merton identified five different ways people adapt to the goals of a society and the means to achieve those goals. Name all five.
conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreatism, and rebellion page 146
This type of strain involves experiencing something unpleasant/ something unwanted entering your life like abuse or discrimination from a loved one or acquaintance, developing health problems, or getting a new boss who is a major jerk.
presentation of noxious (negative) stimuli page 148
Social disorganization theory can also help explain crime in these communities____, though the factors may differ from those in urban communities.
rural communities/areas page 153
Durkheim described these societies as primitive and agrarian, with all members performing the same basic functions based on gender roles, leading to a collective conscience.
mechanical societies (p. 143)
Aggressive enforcement through citations or arrests for low-level crimes had these two effects on residents.
strained residents' finances and reduced their trust in the police page 156-157
Strain theory is useful for explaining particular types of crime, especially those focused on making money. However, it is less useful for explaining crimes that are non-utilitarian, such as....(3 items)
breaking windows, spray painting walls with graffiti, and shoplifting small items that are readily discarded after the act. page 155
Agnews three sources of strain lead to a negative affectivce state that leads to crime. What are the components of negative affective state?
anger, depression, disappointment, or fear page 149
What is one limitation of the concentric zone model?
while the concentric zone model may have worked for Chicago, it is not characteristic of all cities page 155
or The idea of disorganization itself has also been criticized.
*neighborhoods may look disorganized to outsiders, for those who live within them, there is a definite order made up of informal associations and networks. 155