Exam 6: Deviance

What evidence shows that the number of women who commit crimes is related to social structure?

Which of the following actions would be an example of in-group orientation?

Individuals or groups labeled as deviant are often stigmatized.They acquire what Erving Goffman called a "spoiled identity," which devalues them and often excludes them from normal social interaction.Illustrate the different ways that stigmatized individuals and groups cope with their stigmatization.

In what ways is deviance a social judgment rather than a moral judgment?

Structural functionalists like Émile Durkheim believe that every aspect of a social structure does something to help maintain the stability of society.According to Durkheim,what are some of the so-called functions of deviance within a society?

Explain the concept of cash register honesty.Provide two examples to explain your answer.

Let's say that a rash of thefts is occurring in a suburban neighborhood.It is determined that a group of teenage boys from the community has been stealing items from unlocked cars,and the perpetrators are caught within a few short weeks.According to the information in Chapter 6,which factors likely made them initial suspects? What factors made it more likely that they would behave in this way?

What happened to the pseudo-patients in David Rosenhan's "On Being Sane in Insane Places"?

The idea that individuals learn to be deviant by interacting with others who are already deviant is called

Which of the following statements helps describe how Jack Katz's book Seductions of Crime explained deviance in a new way?

What theory argues that punishments for rule violators are unequally distributed,with those near the top of society subject to more lenient rules and sanctions than those at the bottom?

Nowhere to Grow by Les Whitbeck and Dan Hoyt explored the lives of homeless and runaway teens in the Midwest.The authors found that "associating with deviant peers" had a dramatic effect on a wide range of deviant behaviors including increasing "the likelihood of serious substance abuse almost 32 times." What theory of deviance considers the way such interpersonal relationships help to predict deviant behavior?

There are many competing and often incompatible ideas about how to best deal with criminal behavior.Deterrence,revenge,incapacitation,and rehabilitation are all believed by some to have merit.Discuss the ways in which these different methods for dealing with deviance reflect the different ways society views criminals.

What did David Rosenhan describe in "On Being Sane in Insane Places"?

The vast majority of crimes come to the attention of the police in response to citizen complaints.Citizens do not usually bother to inform the authorities if they do not think a crime is serious enough or feel that nothing can be done.This means that there might be serious bias in the

Chapter 6 describes several ways in which the Uniform Crime Report may present an inaccurate picture of the demographics of crime.Describe the sources of bias that lead to these inaccuracies.Are these biases better explained by conflict theory or functionalism? Justify your answer.

Howard Becker's labeling theory argues that no act is deviant until a society labels it as deviant.Explain why Becker and other sociologists,like David Rosenhan,author of "On Being Sane in Insane Places," believe that labeling can have long-lasting effects on the individual who is labeled a deviant.

Martha Stewart was convicted of obstruction of justice after lying to the FBI during an investigation of her sale of a stock that dramatically fell in value immediately after she sold it.Her conviction was unusual,as this sort of white collar crime is much more likely to be dealt with in civil,rather than criminal,court.How does the tendency to deal with white collar criminals in civil court bias our understanding of the demographics of crime?

Corporal punishments like branding or amputation were commonly used in colonial America.What were these punishments designed to do?

After a woman's teenage son engages in deviant behavior,she says the reason for her son's behavior is that "he fell in with a bad crowd." Which symbolic interactionist theory of deviance does this explanation MOST closely resemble?