Exam 7: Deviance and Crime

According to sociologist Edwin Sutherland's rational choice theory of deviance,people learn the necessary techniques and motives,drives,rationalizations,and attitudes of deviant behavior from people with whom they affiliate.

According to Robert Merton's strain theory,______________refers to when people abandon both the approved goals and the approved means of achieving them.

The Marxist/critical theory views deviance and crime as a function of the capitalist economic system.

______________ seeks to reduce criminal activity by instilling a fear of punishment in the general public.

Describe the criminal justice system and explain how the police and courts have considerable discretion in dealing with offenders.

From the______________approach,institutions such as schools,prisons,and mental hospitals use knowledge,norms,and values to categorize people into "deviant" subgroups such as slow learners,convicted felons,or criminally insane individuals,and then control them through specific patterns of discipline.

Research shows young,single,urban males are more likely to be perceived as______________and receive stricter sentences in criminal courts.

Sociologist______________believed that deviance is rooted in societal factors,such as rapid social change and the lack of social integration among people.As social integration (bonding and community involvement)decreases,deviance and crime increases.

A bureaucrat pays so much attention to the rules that he loses sight of what the organization he works for is trying to accomplish.This illustrates:

A______________is a minor crime that typically is punished by less than one year in jail.

The image of police departments may change as greater emphasis is placed on______________.This is an approach to law enforcement in which officers maintain a presence in neighborhood settings such as walking up and down the streets or riding bicycles,getting to know people,and holding public service meetings at schools and churches.

The use of negative sanctions that proscribe certain behaviors and set forth the punishments for rule breakers and nonconformists is an example of:

In a classic study of the "Saints and the Roughnecks," sociologist William Chambliss concluded that:

A socioeconomically disadvantaged teenager decides that she must resort to crime in order to buy some clothes she wants.This illustrates:

According to sociologist Howard Becker,______________are often the ones who create the rules about what constitutes deviant or conventional behavior.Becker believes that these individuals use their own perspectives on "right" and "wrong" to establish the rules by which they expect other people to live.

Sociologist Walter Reckless stated that society produces pushes and pulls that move people toward criminal behavior;however,many people do not resort to deviance because of inner containments-such as supportive family and friends,reasonable social expectations,and supervision by others.

Deviant behavior varies in its______________,ranging from mild transgressions of folkways,to more serious infringements of mores,to quite serious violations of the law.

A person who shoplifts an item of clothing from a department store is apprehended and labeled as a "thief," and subsequently accepts that label.Then the person shoplifts more items from stores on numerous occasions.This is an example of:

Persons from______________socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be arrested for violent and property crimes.

______________ refers to a violation of law or the commission of a status offense (such as cutting school or running away from home)by young people.