Sociology 222 - Criminology

EXAM REVIEW SHEET

You will NOT be allowed to enter the exam 20 minutes after it has started, so make sure you leave enough time to allow for bad traffic if you commute. If you haven't received written permission from me at least 24 hours before the exam that you can take a makeup, you will NOT be allowed to take one. NO EXCEPTIONS. I administer this policy to ensure that some students are not at an advantage when they take the exam. Asking me to make an exception is not fair to your fellow students.

Come prepared. Please don’t bring a bag unless absolutely necessary. Bring a #2 pencil and eraser with you.

The format of the final exam will be as follows:

65 multiple choice questions

To study for the exam:

1. The exam will cover readings, lectures, films and issues covered in discussion groups.
2. Be familiar with the lecture outlines and know how to answer the questions posed in these outlines (which were also discussed in lectures). Know the points not raised in lectures that you discussed during the discussion group meetings.
3. You do not need to remember specific statistics mentioned in the textbooks, but you should be able to make educated guesses.
4. You are responsible for all the material we've covered since the first quiz. However, bear in mind that the more times you hear or read something, the more likely it is to appear on the exam.
5. If you've attended class regularly (and paid attention), done all the reading assignments and actively participated in the discussion groups, you will find the exam reasonable.

Topics to review for the exam:

Theories of Crime

Introduction to theories: What constitutes a good theory? Different types of research designs and their strengths and weaknesses?

Distinguishing between association versus causation?

(1) Two factors must be related.

(2) Causal factor must precede outcome in time.

(3) No spurious or confounding third factor.

History of Criminological Thought: Originally founded in religious explanations, followed by the Age of Reason and the Classical School of Criminology (1700s), followed by the Positivist School of Criminology in the 1800s.

What are the main beliefs and who are the major figures of the Classical and Positivist Schools of Criminology?

Capital Punishment: The Death Penalty Debate: What are the arguments for and against the death penalty? What is the evidence? Which countries and states have the death penalty and which regions within the U.S. have the most executions? What is the history of capital punishment in the U.S.? How do Americans feel about the death penalty? What is the brutalization effect?

For all theories (see the list of theories we've reviewed in class below), you should know:

1. how the theory attempts to explain crime.
2. the criminologists associated with the theory and the approximate time period in which it was introduced.
3. Assumptions the theory makes.
4. Empirical studies that have examined the theory and what they’ve found.
5. The strengths and weaknesses of each theory.
6. Policy implications of each theory.

Be able to formulate a hypothesis based on a particular theory and to interpret a table to determine whether support for your hypothesis is found (as we reviewed in class).

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES

CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY (1700s) à

Rational Choice

Deterrence Theory

THE POSITIVIST SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY (1800s) à

Biological and Psychological Theories of Crimes

Social Process Theories

Social Structure Theories

Individual-level Theories of Crime

Classical School (Beccaria and Bentham);

    Recent developments of the Classical School:  Rational Choice (Cornish and Clarke); Deterrence Theory (Gibbs)

Biological explanations

Early: Phrenology (Gall); Atavism (Lombroso); Early hereditary School (Jukes and Kallikaks); Somatology (Sheldon)

Modern: Twin and adoption studies

Psychological explanations - Relationship between IQ and Crime?

Micro-Social Explanations of Crime

Social Structure Theories

Social Disorganization

Concentric zone theory (Park and Burgess; Shaw and McKay)

Social Ecology - 'The Chicago School'

Broken Windows Thesis (Kelling and Wilson)

Subcultural Theories

Conduct norms/Focal Concerns (Sellin; Miller)

Theory of delinquent subcultures (Wolfgang and Ferracuti; Anderson)

Theory of differential opportunity (Cloward and Ohlin)

Strain Theory

Anomie Theory (Merton)

General Strain (Agnew)

Social Process Theories

Social Learning

Differential Association (Sutherland)

Neutralization/Drift Theory (Sykes and Matza)

Social Control

Containment Theory (Reckless)

Social Control Theory (Hirschi)

Labeling (Becker;Lemert)