Show:
ch7
ch8
ch11
The New Jim Crow, ch1-4
Race: the Power of an Illusion (episode 3) and Unnatural Causes
100
What is the irony of the relationship between deviance and a well-ordered society?
Deviance helps hold societies together by uniting people in opposition to behavior that is deemed unacceptable.
100
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (aka the welfare reform of 1996) requires welfare recipients to do what?
Get a job after receiving benefits for two years. Recipients are cut off after five years. The important things to remember aren't the numbers of years but the fact that a) they are required to work and b) there is a limit after which recipient are cut off. p256, 8th ed.
100
What is the difference between race and ethnicity?
Race refers to a classification system that assigns individuals and groups to categories that are ranked or hierarchical; ethnicity can be understood as the cultural practices and outlooks of a given community. p335 (8th ed)
100
What is the rate of incarceration in the US (or how many people total are incarcerated) and how does it compare to other countries?
Over 2 million (out of not quite 320 million) or 0.7% of the population, or 1% of the adult population. It's the highest incarceration rate in the world -- other countries sentence more prisoners every year, but the US has such long sentences that it comes out to a higher rate.
100
Race: The Power of an Illusion: How did federal housing policies institutionalize segregation and wealth disparities?
By lowering down payment requirements and extending the term of home loans from 5 to 30 years, New Deal programs like the Federal Housing Administration made it possible for millions of Americans to own a home for the first time. But the government also explicitly tied mortgage eligibility to race. Integrated and minority communities were ipso facto deemed a financial risk and made ineligible for low-cost home loans ("redlining"). Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government backed $120 billion of home loans but more than 98% went to white homebuyers. These government programs made possible all-white suburbs around the country after WWII, where property values soared. Meanwhile, African Americans and Latinos, largely confined to the inner city, saw their neighborhoods decline (e.g., as freeways were built through cities). from http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-teachers-07.htm
200
Define anomie. What sort of society is it found in? Provide an example of anomie.
It's a sense of disorientation or anxiousness that develops when there are no clear standards or norms to guide behavior in a given area of social life, or they lose their hold. It's attributed to members of modern societies (by Durkheim) where there is more choice, less constraint or conformity (of certain kinds). Many examples possible: Durkheim linked it to suicide. (p193, 8th ed.)
200
What has happened to the rich, the middle class, and the poor since the 1970s?
The rich have gotten much richer; people in the middle class have made no significant gains; and the poor have increased in number and grown poorer. (from ch8 quiz accessible through Blackboard)
200
Name an example of racialization.
Anything that shows the process by which people use understandings of race to classify individuals or groups: the shift in racial categorization for Irish immigrants to white, the related categorization of non-European populations in opposition to the European “white race", the establishment of apartheid in South Africa, etc. Arguably even the growing linkage in people's minds between blackness and criminality, along the lines of Alexander's arguments.
200
What facts/statistics about drug use and crime are important when assessing the timing of the War on Drugs?
Drug crimes were declining when the War was declared.
200
Race: The Power of an Illusion: What is Levittown and what is its significance? Was Levittown an exception or the norm? Why?
It was the first planned suburb, in the late 40s/early 50s. "Levittown itself arguably embodied the best and worst of the postwar American story; it was a result of the entrepreneurship and ingenuity that has come to define the American spirit, but it also participated in the violent prejudice that has also been part of American history." http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/levittown/
300
Which of the following demographic characteristics is the best predictor of whether someone will commit a crime: age, socioeconomic class, gender, race? Said another way, which of the following factors reveals the greatest disparity among people who commit crimes: age, socioeconomic class, gender, race?
gender
300
What is social closure?
when a certain group of people try to maintain exclusive control of resources such as land or minerals -- not just property but professional credentials, etc. p263 (8th ed)
300
Provide an example of "institutional racism" (Carmichael and Hamilton) and contrast it to another form of racism.
in the post-war period, white families are given Federal Housing Authority loans at a rate of 9:1 over black families... as opposed to a white cop arresting a black man for possession of marijuana, the KKK still being active in some parts of the country, and a white boss firing a Latina woman and using a racial slur. Remember that institutionalized racism is due to broader structural systems - whereas another form of racism - "everyday racism" can stem from everyday interactions with individuals. p337 (8th ed)
300
Explain three of the following subheadings from chapters 2-4: Kissing Frogs, It Pays to Play, Waging War, Finders Keepers, Cracked Up, Race as a Factor, No Place Like Home, Boxed In, Let Them Eat Cake, The Silent Minority.
Kissing Frogs: "you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince" (p71) -- high numbers of stops and searches to find a "criminal offense" It Pays to Play: federal money for police departments who make the drug war a priority (p73) Waging War: SWAT raids (p74) Finders Keepers: state/local authorities allowed to keep much of the cash/assets they seize in the Drug War -- although forfeiture laws are changing. still a lower degree of evidence required that it a given piece of property was used illegally. Cracked Up - Discriminatory Sentencing in the War on Drugs (p112) - crack v. powder cocaine Race as a Factor (p130) -- permissible for police to use race as a factor in deciding which motorists to stop and search -- just not allowed to be the only factor. No Place Like Home (p144) -- people with a criminal record barred from public housing. Boxed In (p148) -- checking the "box" on employment and other forms as to whether you have a criminal record Let Them Eat Cake (p157) -- individuals with drug-related felony convictions disallowed from welfare programs The Silent Minority (p158) -- losing temporarily or permanently the right to vote
300
Unnatural Causes: "the vast majority of improvements in health in our society over the last century have had very little to do with medical innovation..." -- and with what instead?
Social stuff: distribution of wealth, public health infrastructure, more/better education, better housing
400
what is conflict theory and how does it help explain crime and deviance? Give an example.
Conflict theory argues individuals choose to engage in deviant behavior in response to the inequalities of the capitalist system. Deviance is a deliberate choice and often political in nature - the black power movement for instance is deviant in behavior in an attempt to challenge social order. Deviance is defined by the elites to maintain their control. Lots of examples possible...
400
What is exchange mobility and how does it differ from intragenerational mobility?
Exchange mobility is when more talented people move up in the socioeconomic scale while less talented people move down. Exchange mobility is an "exchange of positions" within an equal society where everyone has the chance to succeed. Intragenerational mobility refers to how far an individual moves up or down the socioeconomic scale within their lifetime. Here - resources or the chances to succeed are assume to not be equal. p244 (8th ed)
400
Name two ways that international migration has changed today, compared to previous decades.
It has become more diverse, more feminized, accelerated, and more global. When thinking about these concepts - remember you have to "unpack" what they mean and their impact. p247-8 (8th ed)
400
Why have Civil Rights organizations not focused on or have been slow to focus on the issue of racial justice in the prison system?
They are focused on other issues, e.g., affirmative action. They treat it as a criminal justice issue. They see it as infected with "lingering racial bias" but not innately racist. Black elected officials name other priorities. They have focused more on litigation as a strategy, which has only had limited success in the area of criminal justice/mass incarceration. It's a more difficult sell to back convicted criminals rather than upstanding/innocent citizens.
400
Unnatural Causes: Wealth inequality reached a record low in what decade?
1970s (1976, to be precise) -- and it's soared since then, in the US.
500
What are target hardening and "situational" crime prevention and what have been their primary effect?
It means limiting the opportunities for crime (relates to control theory) through, e.g., car/house alarms, surveillance systems, gated communities. Effect: a shift in criminal offenses from one area or population to another, protecting one segment of the population but not lowering overall crime rates. p200, p216 (8th ed)
500
What is the culture of poverty thesis? What are some examples of the "culture of poverty"?
Theory popular in the 70s and 80s: Poverty is transmitted across generations because young people see no point in aspiring to something more and resign themselves to a life of poverty. Similar to dependency culture where people choose to rely on welfare rather than enter the labor market; their ambition and capacity for self-help has been eroded. Distinct from broad sets of theories that "blame the system" - rather than "blaming the victim". Different types of examples p254-5 (8th ed) helpful website here: http://web.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/urb_culture_of_poverty.htm
500
Historically -What do the United States, Canada, South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand have in common?
These were settler colonies (as opposed to many colonies in Africa that were not settled by white Europeans). The indigenous population was decimated by disease, war, and genocide.
500
What rights/privileges may be taken away as a result of a felony conviction? Name three. Note: many of these are state policies and so vary widely.
eligibility for public housing (even being arrested without conviction can affect eligibility), some welfare programs, food stamps, federal educational assistance cannot enlist in the military may lose the right to vote temporarily or permanently (varies by state) may be deportable if s/he is not a citizen driver's license may be suspended
500
Unnatural Causes follows three different people who work at the Louisville hospital: the CEO, a lab supervisor, and a floor technician (janitor). What's the point?
Chronic stress and its health effects are distributed on a gradient that matches income/status. The janitor, Corey, has hypertension, and people in his neighborhood live an average of two years shorter than the lab supervisor's, which is six years shorter than people in the CEO's neighborhood.