Core Concepts
Microsociology
Theories of Criminality
Punished
Miscellaneous
100

The belief that sociologists can come to conclusive scientific answers about society - reducing the world down to hard data and analyzing it

Positivism

100

According to ___ ___ theory, sociology is the interpretation of social meanings.

Symbolic Interactionism

100

According to the ________ theory, criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of direct communication.

Differential Association 

100

Define the youth control complex

“The combined effect of the web of institutions, schools, families, businesses, residents, media, community centers, and the criminal justice system, that collectively punish, stigmatize, monitor, and criminalize young people in an attempt to control them.” (Rios, p. 40)

100

What is an example of a microaggression? 

Subtle acts of racism that people of color experience on a daily basis, such as being followed by security at a store, being stopped by police for matching the description of a criminal gang member, or being ignored at school by counselors because they are not expected to make it to college. 

200

The following are examples of ______.

-Abolishing state subsidies

-Defunding social safety-net programs

-Privatizing city or state resources

-Passing laws to weaken the power of unions

-Funding police and prisons

Neoliberalism

200

According to Charles Horton Cooley, the dimensions of the ______ ______ theory are threefold: First, we imagine our appearance or image in the eyes of the other; second, we imagine some judgment of that appearance; and finally, we experience some sort of self-feeling such as pride or mortification.

Looking Glass Self

200

The primary assumption of the ____ ____ theory is that while determining whether to commit a crime, individuals consider specific costs, benefits, and opportunities.

Rational Choice

200

Police in Oakland tend to harshly punish some crimes (e.g. violent arrests for minor shoplifting) while letting other crimes go uninvestigated (gang-related violence)

Overpolicing-underpolicing complex

200
A self-defense process for some inner-city residents to protect themselves from victimization in violent communities and to build respect from others. It involves appearing aggressive and willing to commit violence and is embedded in everyday interactions with various institutions in the community.

The code of the street

300

Explain snowball sampling and how it shows up in Punished. 

A recruitment technique in which research participants are asked to assist researchers in identifying other potential subjects. This is the primary way Rios develops the sample for his study. 

300

Erving Goffman defines ________ as the way individuals learn to adjust their presentation of self in order to create a certain image

Impression Management (a type of Dramaturgy)

300

According to ________, the words people choose to define or categorize someone can have an impact on how they are treated by others, as well as their own sense of identity and how they conduct themself

Labeling theory

300

Explain sympbolic punishment 


The process by which individuals come to feel stigmatized, outcast, shamed, defeated, or hopeless as a result of negative interactions and sanctions imposed by individuals who represent institutions of social control. 

300

Explain the difference between criminalization and hypercriminalization 

Hyper-criminalization is the process by which individuals' everyday behaviors and styles become ubiquitously treated as deviant, risky, threatening, or criminal, across social contexts. 

Criminalization is when some behaviors are treated as crimes.  

400

Foucault's term for the way that power has become decentralized, and social institutions such as schools, medical facilities, and social services have become disciplinary institutions

Governmentality

400

Pierre Bourdieu came up with three types of capital - economic, social, and cultural. What is Victor Rios' fourth type of capital and how does it relate to the other three forms of capital?

Organic capital - the skills and strategies the boys have developed to navigate their unique circumstances - often blocked by mainstream society from converting it into other forms of capital

400

One way to understand bullying is by expecting the bully to target those they think are weaker and would be too scared to report the abuse. This approach to criminality is an example of _______. From a different perspective, the bully acted this way because their parents treat them similarly at home. They suffered their parents' behavior and imitated it. This second approach of criminal thinking is an example of _______.

Rational choice theory; differential association theory

400

________ Is the process by which the boys incorrectly identify what is needed to succeed, as well as the process by which adults in power interpretwell-intentioned efforts by the boys as deviant and criminal (E.g. Ronny not shaking hands with his interviewer)

Misrecognition

400

A process by which agencies of social control further stigmatize and mark boys in response to their original label, creating a vicious cycle that multiplies the boys' experience with criminalization

Labeling Hype