MIDTERM REVIEW QUESTIONS - SOCI 488
The mid-term exam will be placed on homepage on MARCH 5. It will be
due NO LATER THAN March 8.
I will be out of town from March 7-9, so be sure to look at the exam
early and ask any questions before I leave.
These are TYPICAL of the kinds of questions you will see. For
other study tips, read the review questions at the end of each
chapter. Different questions will have different weights.
For example:
50 point questions:
1. Select any THREE of the following theories and compare and
contrast completely and thoroughly (answer MUST include summary
of the theory, the major premises, the policy applications, and
strengths and weaknesses):
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
ANOMIE THEORY
SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION
CLASSICAL/NEO-CLASSICAL THEORIES
NEUTRALIZATION THEORY
"CRITICAL" THEORIES
LABELING THEORY
2. Select any two theories from the above list and FULLY EXPLAIN
their social and historical roots.
3. Select any three theories from the above list and apply them
to explain the incident on below (you CANNOT use a theory that
you used in question one).
25 POINT QUESTIONS
4. Which theory is the most politically radical we have
discussed? Which the most conservative? (see ideology handouts)
5. The instructor and text have argued that how we define crime/delinquency
shapes how we construct theories about it. Select ANY THREE
theories we have discussed and fully explain how the definition
of "crime" shapes or influences these theories. (Note--this is a
bit more complex a question than it seems).
6. How do conceptions of childhood shape our theories of
delinquency?
7. If you were going to teach a delinquency course using the
Internet, how would you do it? (this is your change to critique
the current use of the net by designing your own course--NOTE:
YOU MUST link your answer to course material).
8. Critique the Juvenile Crime Bill that we have discussed earlier
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Date - Thu, 29 Apr 1999 22:30:11 EDT
Boy, 17, Sentenced for 5 Killings
.c The Associated Press
OLNEY, Ill. (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy who admitted using a
hammer to kill five people, including three children, was
sentenced today to life in prison without parole.
Christopher Churchill of Noble, Ill. was 16 in February 1998 when
he killed his half-brother, Jonathan Lloyd, along with Lloyd's
35-year-old girlfriend and her three young children -- ages 12,
10 and 6 -- at their rural Richland County home.
Churchill also admitted having sex with one of the children as
she lay dying, and sexually molesting two other bodies. He then
bathed before leaving the house with cash, cigarettes, alcohol
and compact discs.
Churchill was not eligible for the death penalty because of his
age.
``He will live out the rest of his life in prison, which is a
fitting punishment for someone who would commit such violent and
senseless crimes,'' said State's Attorney David Rands.
In a videotaped statement played at his trial, Churchill told
police that he had fantasized about killing Lloyd for more than a
year to release pent-up aggression. He said he ``acted out a
little anger'' on the others on impulse because they teased him,
and because one of the children broke one of his CDs.
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