Conflict Theorists Argue That

Question: social structure

Answer: Any relatively stable pattern of social behavior.

Question: social conditions

Answer: environments, cultural influences, family relationships, social support.

Question: social pathology

Answer: A problem that potentially threatens the survival of society.

Question: Social disorganization theory

Answer: crime is due to social conflict, social change, and a lack of consensus in the group.

Question: anomie

Answer: normlessness.

Question: Robert K. Merton

Answer: argued that every society has cultural goals and acceptable means to achieve them.

Question: Conformity

Answer: In most cases, people continue to accept the goal and the means to achieve that goal. In other words, most people continue to go to school and get jobs.

Question: Innovation

Answer: In this case, individuals accept the societal goal but use new ways of reaching that goal. For example, individuals may turn to theft, fraud, selling drugs, or other illegal ways of getting rich.

Question: Ritualism

Answer: With this adaptation, people reject the goal, but continue to observe the means of reaching the goal. In other words, people may continue to go into their job and do their work, but not believe that they will ever achieve riches by doing so.

Question: Retreatism

Answer: In this case, people reject both the goal and the means of reaching the goal. Individuals in this category may quit or drop out of normal life, becoming drug users or alcoholics.

Question: Rebellion

Answer: With this adaptation, people reject both the goal and the means of reaching the goal, but replace them with different goals and means of reaching them. Often, this adaptation involves individuals seeking to change society. For example, people might reject the goal of gaining wealth, replacing it with seeking an egalitarian society where everyone is equal. Crimes may be committed as these revolutionaries and radials try to change society.

Question: Environmental criminology

Answer: criminology of place/Environmental criminology is the study of how different criteria aids or deters criminal activity by target hardening.

Question: criminology of place

Answer: examines how geographical location and features in that location affect crime.

Question: Rodney Stark

Answer: believes that there is something about these places that influences higher crime rates.

Question: Poor, dense neighborhoods

Answer: have crowded houses, with many people living together. This may increase conflicts between individuals.

Question: Crowded homes

Answer: people are more likely to spend time outside of their home and children will often have less supervision.

Question: Mixed-neighborhoods

Answer: with homes and businesses, offer more opportunity for deviance.

Question: theory of deviant places

Answer: reflects the idea that it is the type of place that makes a difference in crime, more than the kinds of people that live in a certain place.

Question: Differential opportunity theory

Answer: people have differing amounts of access to illegitimate means of reaching society's goals. In other words, some people have a greater access to illegal opportunities than other people.

Question: Interactionist perspectives

Answer: rely on the process of interaction in order to explain crime or other social aspects.

Question: Social learning theories

Answer: argue that crime like most human behavior is learned through watching other people and interacting with them.

Question: Labeling theory

Answer: the negative labels given to individuals by society may become a "self-fulfilling prophecy." In other words, the individual may become the label given to the individual by society.

Question: Primary deviance

Answer: the initial act of deviance that a person might commit.

Question: Secondary deviance

Answer: One accepts the "label" and acts deviantly

Question: Conflict theories

Answer: the law is one part of the overall struggle between those who have power in society and those who do not. Conflict theorists argue that the powerful use the law in order to reinforce their own dominance in society.

Question: bourgeoisie

Answer: who own the means of production or things like factories, real estate, and technology

Question: proletariat

Answer: who work for the bourgeoisie

Question: William J. Chambliss and Robert T. Siedman

Answer: argued that:• One's place in life affects the norms and values that one is expected to follow. • Societies may have conflicting sets of norms for different groups in society.• The likelihood that a group's norms will be reflected in the laws of society is related to the group's power and wealth.

Question: William J. Chambliss

Answer: believed that the upper and middle classes are more likely to escape arrests and convictions because the legal system has an interest in going after individuals that it will be rewarded for going after and who will cause the least amount of problems for the system.

Question: Radical criminology

Answer: based on the conflict perspective and argues that the causes of crime are located in the social conditions of a society that empower the wealthy and disenfranchise the poor and others less fortunate.