Juvenile Delinquency and Criminology (SOC 386.01)
Dr. Debra T. Cabrera
Spring 2014
STUDY GUIDE FOR QUIZ # 1
The multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay questions on Quiz #1 will be drawn from the topics
listed in this study guide. A topic that is indented in the list is a sub-topic of the one listed before
it. Be prepared to define, explain, give examples, compare, contrast, and apply the topics listed
below:
I.
Defining Delinquency
The Status of Children
Status (Ascribed status, Achieved status, Master status)
Child Savers and Doctrine of Parens Patriae
Defining Delinquency and Delinquents
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquent
Continua of Delinquency
Number of Offenses (Frequency)
Gravity of Offenses (Seriousness)
Span of Offenses (Duration)
The Question of Status Offenses and Delinquency
Status Offense
II.
Measurement of Delinquency
How Do Criminologists Study Delinquency?
Case Study
Historical Research
Experiments
Survey Research
Interview Research
Observation Research
Participant Observation and Non-Participant Observation (Naturalistic Observation)
What Are Major Measurements of Crime?
Uniform Crime Reports
Collection Process
Three General Sections (Crimes known to the police, Number of arrests, Persons arrested)
Crimes Examined
Part 1 Crimes (Index Offenses)
Violent Index Offenses (Murder and non-negligent manslaughter, Forcible Rape, Robbery,
Aggravated Assault)
Property Index Offenses (Burglary, Larceny Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson)
Limitations of UCR data
Hidden delinquency
Hierarchy rule
Other limitations
Survey/Interview Data
Objectives of Survey/Interview Data
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Collection process
Crimes included
Limitations
Juvenile Delinquency and Criminology (SOC 386.01)
Dr. Debra T. Cabrera
Spring 2014
Offender Self-Reports (OSR)
Survey Data Limitations
Calls for Service
Advantages
Disadvantages
The Picture of Delinquents According to UCR, NCVS, and OSR
Sex/Gender and Delinquency
Race/Ethnicity and Delinquency
Social Class and Delinquency
Age and Delinquency
Aging-out phenomenon
Merton’s Anomie
Comaprison with Durkheim’s Anomie
Individual Modes of Adaptation
Conformity
Ritualism
Retreatism
Innovation
Rebellion
Evaluation of Theory
Biological and Psychological Theories
The “Atavistic Girl”
The “Inferior Girl”
The “Deceitful Girl”
The “Delinquent Girl”
Sociological Theories
Female Delinquency and Merton’s Anomie/Strain Theory
Female Delinquency and Status Frustration
Marxist-Feminist Theories
Power –Control Theory (Patriarchal Families and Egalitarian Families)
Liberation Hypothesis
Differential Oppression Theory
Doubly Oppressed
Adaptive Reactions
Passive acceptance of one’s status
Manipulation of peers to gain power
Exercise of illegitimate coercive power
Retaliation
Evaluation of Theories Listed
Juvenile Justice and Female Delinquency
The Chivalry Hypothesis
Policy Applications for Female Delinquency
Routine Activities Theory
Basic Assumptions
Three Necessary Components for Criminal Opportunity (Motivated offenders, Suitable targets,
Lack of Capable guardians)
Juvenile Delinquency and Criminology (SOC 386.01)
Dr. Debra T. Cabrera
Spring 2014
Biological Positivism
Foundational Work
Cesare Lombroso’s The Criminal Man
atavistic stigmata
William Sheldon’s Somatotypes
Endomorphy, mesomorphy, ectomorphy
Critique
Twins and Adoption Studies
Monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, and concordance
Sugar and Crime
Premenstrual Syndrome
Tumors
Chemical Poisoning
Evaluation of Biological Theories
Psychological Positivism
IQ and Crime/Delinquency
Psychoanalytic Theory
Three Structures or Parts of the Personality (Id, Ego, Superego)
Behavioral Theory (Imitation, Modeling, and the Media)
Juvenile Justice Policy Implications of Biological and Psychological Positivism
Differential Reinforcement Theory (Social Learning Theory) and Four Major Concepts
Differential Association Theory (Nine Different Principles)
Possible Essay Questions
1. Dr. Taitano is a criminologist who would like to study why some juveniles engage in theft.
Describe how Dr. Taitano should carry out the research using two different methods: 1) participantobservation method and the 2) survey research method. Which method do you think will give Dr.
Taitano more accurate information? Explain
2. Discuss three separate limitations of the Uniform Crime Reports. Include in your discussion the
limitations of hidden delinquency and the hierarchy rule. How are Calls for Service different from
Uniform Crime Reports? Which one do you think is the most accurate measurement of crime?
Explain.
3. Discuss the relationship between ethnicity and crime/delinquency according the Uniform Crime
Reports and the Offender Self Reports. What does each say about the ethnicity of the offenders?
What do you think explains the different pictures that emerge from these two measurements of
crime?
4. Choose a theory that you think best explains the case below. Discuss the arguments of the theory
and describe how it can explain this particular case, and how it fails to explain certain aspects of
the case. Also, discuss this theory's general weaknesses or limitations.
[Dr. Cabrera will provide the case at the time of the quiz.]
Juvenile Delinquency and Criminology (SOC 386.01)
Dr. Debra T. Cabrera
Spring 2014