MCQ Reverse Theories

Question 1

Theory: criminal behavior is caused by undue frustration experienced as a result of pathological social structures (e.g., social inequality, poverty) that prevent a person from achieving the middle-class expectations for material success. The frustration leads the person to engage in socially deviant behavior, such as crime, to attain goods and social prestige.

Answer 1

Strain Theory, Merton

Question 2

Theory: individuals who engage in criminal activity are merely conforming to the hedonistic, hostile, and destructive values of lower-class culture. Indeed, in the deviant subculture, the nonconformists who do not engage in theft, drug use, and gang affiliation are said to be the true deviants.

Answer 2

Subculture theory (Wolfgang & Ferracuti, 1981)

Question 3

Theory: criminal activity represents learned behaviors that develop through a person’s interactions and experiences with the social environment. This learning takes place as a result of various processes, including observing and imitating the criminal behavior of others, receiving positive consequences for engaging in criminal behavior (e.g., peer approval), realizing that such behavior can effectively lead to desired outcomes (i.e., have instrumental value), and developing a high sense of self-efficacy in using antisocial means to achieve one’s aims.

Answer 3

Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory

Question 4

Theory: crime occurs when three elements converge: (1) a motivated offender, (2) a suitable target, and (3) the absence of a capable guardian.

Answer 4

Routine activity theory, from Cohen and Felson (1979)