Chapter 9 – Nature and Nurture in Developmental Theories

Can you define genotype and phenotype?

What does “the expression of a gene” refer to?

What is the central causal mechanism proposed by “latent trait theories?”

What are the main ideas put forward by James Q. Wilson and Richard Hernstein in their book Crime and Human Nature? Why is their book controversial?

Can you give a short description of Hirschi and Gottfredson’s A General Theory of Crime? What do they assume characterizes human nature? Do they believe their theory applies to all types of crime by all types of persons or not? Do parental socialization practices have any role to play in crime according to these authors? Does change in family form over time have any effect? Explain.

What are the main criticisms of the general theory of crime put forward by Hirschi and Gottfredson?

How does the Nigerian Net Scam work?

What are the main points put forward by “control balance theory?” Whose name is closely associated with the theory? Does Tittle believe that a control imbalance always leads to crime? Explain briefly. How well proven is this theory?

Can you define “differential coercion theory?” Whose name is associated with it? What four dimensions does it postulate?

Can you give a general definition for “life course theories?”

What are “integrative theories?” What two main categories of integrative theories exist? Can you define each?

What author appears to have published the first integrated theory of crime (as seen in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in 1978)? What role did labeling theory play in this scheme? Other than labeling theory, which other main categories of theory appeared in this first integration?

Who were Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck? Can you describe their research in a sentence or two? Who reanalyzed their data in recent years? What do they think emerges as important?

Did the counseling methods used in the Cambridge (Mass.) experiment reduce delinquency?

What are the most important findings in the Wolfgang cohort studies of birth cohorts in Philadelphia? What percentage of the subjects were “chronic offenders?”

In what city did the subjects of the Cambridge, England study dwell? What was their social class standing? What were the main factors found to predict trouble with the law?

Can you describe the “social developmental model” (SDM) developed by Weis, Catalano, and Hawkins? (Hawkins, by the way, is a sociology professor at SMU). How does their model differ from Hirschi’s original internal social control (“bond”) theory?

Is “nature vs. nurture” a false dichotomy? Explain.

Can a theory be considered to the be the same thing as “truth?” Explain.

Do nearly all criminologists agree that integrated theories are better than non-integrated theories? Explain.