Chapter 7 (pg 199-224)

Question 1

Natural areas

Answer 1

zones or neighbourhoods that develop as a result of social forces operating in urban areas, and become natural areas for crime

Question 2

Chicago school

Answer 2

pioneering research on the social ecology of the city and urban crime developed in the early 20th century by sociologists at the University of Chicago

Question 3

Culture of poverty

Answer 3

the lower class culture, characterized by values and norms in conflict with conventional society

Question 4

Underclass

Answer 4

a world cut off from society, its members lacking the education and skills needed to survive, which becomes a breeding ground for criminality

Question 5

Social structure theory

Answer 5

an approach that looks at the effects of class stratification in society

Question 6

Social disorganization theory

Answer 6

an approach that looks at neighbourhoods marked by culture conflict, lack of cohesiveness, transiency, and anomie

Question 7

Strain theory

Answer 7

an approach that looks at the conflict caused when people cannot achieve their goals through legitimate means, and are denied access to adequate educational opportunities and social support

Question 8

Cultural deviance theory

Answer 8

criminal behaviour is in conformity to lower-class subcultural values that develop in disorganized neighbourhoods due to strain and values in conflict with conventional social norms

Question 9

Transitional neighbourhood

Answer 9

an area undergoing a shift in population and structure, usually from middle-class residential to lower-class mixed use

Question 10

Cultural transmission

Answer 10

the cultural passing down of conduct norms from one generation to the next, which become stable and predictable

Question 11

Value conflict

Answer 11

the clash of deviant values of teenage law-violating groups with middle-class norms, which demand obedience to the law

Question 12

Social ecologists

Answer 12

those whose approach looks at community-level indicators of social disorganization, such as disorder, poverty, alienation, and fear of crime

Question 13

Siege mentality

Answer 13

a consequence and symptom of community disorganization, where fear cause the belief that the outside world is an enemy out to destroy the neighbourhood

Question 14

Concentration effect

Answer 14

the outcome when middle-class families flee inner-city poverty areas, taking with them institutional resources and support, which leads to the most disadvantaged people being consolidated in urban ghettos

Question 15

Income inequality

Answer 15

the differences in personal income that create structural inequalities in society, which may be at the root of crime

Question 16

Social injustice

Answer 16

the perception of unfairness, which leads to anger, especially where the poor and wealthy live in close proximity, and people can see how poorly off they are

Question 17

At-risk

Answer 17

the susceptibility of people to criminal activity as a result of a “cultural of poverty” passed from one generation to the next; marked by apathy, cynicism, and mistrust of social institutions

Question 18

Relative deprivation

Answer 18

the condition that exists when people of wealth and people of poverty live in close proximity to one another, affecting crime rates

Question 19

General strain theory (GST)

Answer 19

a micro-level analysis of how individuals who feel stress and strain are more likely to commit crimes

Question 20

Negative affective states

Answer 20

the anger, depression, disappointment, fear, and other adverse emotions that derive from strain