Exam 5: Deviance and Crime

Why is rape is prosecuted more often today than in the past?

Which type of crime is committed disproportionately by people from lower social classes?

Adopt a conflict perspective and identify all the resources that insulate the rich and powerful from being apprehended by the law.

Negatively assessing a person and labelling the person as undesirable based on visible characteristics that distinguish them from others is characteristic of which of the following?

Research a biography of a famous person who was a deviant in his/her time, but who is remembered as a hero today. Cite events of that person's life to illustrate the claim that deviance is a social construct shaped by a specific social and cultural context.

List and briefly describe the goals of incarceration. Identify which goal has the greatest public support today.

Some critics argue that the existing prison system does little to help inmates develop pro-social behaviour. They recommend programs to keep criminals, especially young offenders, out of jail. What are these programs known as?

Strain theory explains that deviance results not simply from the actions of the deviant, but also from the responses of others who define the action as deviant.

Which theorist developed the strain theory of deviance?

Explain how self-report surveys and victimization surveys differ. How do they minimize some of the bias inherent in conventional crime statistics?

Describe recent and current crime trends in Canada.

Describe strain theory and distinguish it from subcultural theory. Identify the shortcomings of each of these theories.

A recent trend in incarceration, especially in the United States, involves the privatization of prisons. Research the expansion of privatized prisons in the United States and the efforts to introduce it in Canada. What light does your research shed on the changes in public perception of crime and punishment?

What are crimes such as embezzlement, false advertising, tax evasion, insider stock trading, fraud, copyright infringement, and price fixing examples of?

Why, with every passing year, do women make up a slightly bigger percentage of arrests?

"Zorro," a local dealer, cooks meth and deals it and other drugs from the basement of his mother's home. What type of crime is he guilty of committing?

Émile Durkheim, the earliest sociologist to defend a functional account of crime defended which of the following positions?

Rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation are among the several posited goals of incarceration. Which of the following is also put forward by some sociologists as a goal of incarceration?

What is ironic about the fact that a moral panic about crime is occurring in Canada?

According to conflict theories, of the following types of people, which would be most likely to be criminalized?