01
Choose one
1 point
A person wants to earn money but believes legitimate opportunities are blocked, so they turn to theft. Which perspective best explains this response?
Free Practice Quiz Question List
5 Social Theories of Crime Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 5 Social Theories of Crime, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
20 questions
02
True or false
1 point
Labeling theory holds that receiving an offender label inevitably leads a person to continue offending.
- A
True
- B
False
03
Fill in the blank
1 point
In Hirschi's social bond theory, acceptance of shared rules is called .
04
Choose one
1 point
After a conviction, a person is repeatedly denied work because of their record. Which perspective most directly examines how this social reaction may shape later opportunities?
- A
Control theory, because the person has lost commitment to a conventional goal
- B
Labeling theory, because the record and resulting exclusion may affect later opportunities
- C
Social learning theory, because the employer has taught the person a criminal technique
- D
Strain theory, because the original act necessarily resulted from unequal access to wealth
05
Written response
1 point
What term describes similar behavior receiving different responses depending on who is involved and how much social influence they have?
06
True or false
1 point
People experiencing strain may respond in different ways, and social support or lawful alternatives can influence how they cope.
- A
True
- B
False
07
Fill in the blank
1 point
The later strain perspective that considers stressful experiences such as losing something valued is called .
08
Choose one
1 point
A researcher compares enforcement of low-level street offenses with enforcement of harmful misconduct by powerful organizations, asking whose interests laws serve. Which perspective is the researcher applying?
- A
How strong ties to family and school restrain offending
- B
How people learn techniques and justifications from close relationships
- C
How social and economic power can shape which conduct is defined and policed as criminal
- D
How losing valued relationships can create stress
09
Choose all
1 point
According to differential association theory, what may people learn about crime through close relationships? Select all that apply.
- A
Techniques for committing offenses
- B
Motives for offending
- C
Justifications for treating crime as acceptable
- D
A guarantee that everyone exposed to offending will commit crimes
- E
The amount of influence a group has over lawmaking
10
Written response
1 point
In Akers's social learning theory, what term describes a consequence that makes a behavior more likely to occur again?
11
Choose all
1 point
Which factors can influence how a person responds to strain? Select all that apply.
- A
Access to coping resources
- B
Social support
- C
Opportunities for lawful responses
- D
A certainty that everyone experiencing strain will offend
- E
The idea that social labels always determine a person's future
12
Choose one
1 point
Which idea best summarizes Merton's classic account of strain?
- A
A mismatch between culturally valued success and unequal access to accepted opportunities
- B
A loss of conventional bonds as the only cause of offending
- C
A label that inevitably determines a person's future behavior
- D
A process by which people learn laws solely from formal institutions
13
True or false
1 point
A sociological explanation of crime can combine perspectives because pressures, learned behavior, social bonds, reactions, and power may all shape a situation.
- A
True
- B
False
14
Open ended
1 point
A person has difficulty finding lawful work, learns from peers how to steal, and is praised by those peers for doing so. After an arrest, the person struggles to find work because of the record. Explain how at least three sociological perspectives could interpret different parts of this situation.
15
Choose one
1 point
A person strongly values financial success but has little access to legitimate ways of earning money and turns to theft. Which perspective best explains the offense as a response to a gap between valued goals and lawful opportunities?
- A
Strain theory
- B
Control theory
- C
Labeling theory
- D
Conflict theory
16
Choose one
1 point
A teenager sees peers shoplift, receives praise after copying them, and sees no apparent consequences. Which process most directly explains why the behavior may become more likely?
- A
The person is responding to unequal access to conventional opportunities.
- B
The person may learn offending through modeling and reinforcement.
- C
The person is restrained by strong bonds to conventional society.
- D
The person is reacting to exclusion after receiving an official label.
17
Choose one
1 point
Someone avoids an offense because they do not want to jeopardize years of progress toward a career and education. In Hirschi's social bond theory, which bond best fits this reason?
- A
Attachment
- B
Involvement
- C
Commitment
- D
Belief
18
Choose one
1 point
After a person receives an official offender label, employers repeatedly reject their applications, making stable lawful work harder to obtain. Which interpretation best reflects a labeling perspective?
- A
The original act alone determines all later outcomes.
- B
Social reactions and exclusion may narrow later opportunities.
- C
Criminal behavior is necessarily learned from close relationships.
- D
Strong conventional bonds make offending more likely.
19
Written response
1 point
What is the name of Sutherland's theory that emphasizes learning criminal techniques, motives, and justifications through close relationships?
20
Written response
1 point
What term describes the possibility that similar behavior receives different responses depending on who is involved and how much authority or social influence they have?