Deck 7: The Social Psychology of Deviance

Question 1

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A component of social control theory referring to emotional bonds with other people in society.

Answer 1

H

Question 2

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Attempts to hide an undisclosed stigma by concealing information about it.

Answer 2

Y

Question 3

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Theory that argues that deviance is a consequence of a social process in which a negative characteristic becomes an element of an individual's identity.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Theory that deviance is learned through interaction with others.

Question 5

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The process by which individuals index thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from their own perspective.

Question 6

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Widely held values and beliefs in a society.

Question 7

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The initial deviant act that causes other people to label the individual a deviant.

Question 8

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The process by which individuals think about a behavior within its social context and give meaning to it.

Question 9

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Reinterpretations of past behaviors in light of the person's new role as a deviant.

Question 10

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Less-serious rules of behavior in a group or society.

Question 11

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Component of social control theory referring to people's participation in acceptable social activities such as clubs, churches and other organizations.

Question 12

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Violations of behavior prescribed through mores.

Question 13

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ People labeled as deviants who accept the deviant labels.

Question 14

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ People who share the goals of society with conformists but employ illegitimate means to obtain those goals.

Question 15

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Component of social control theory referring to people's respect for law and order in society.

Question 16

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Component of social control theory referring to an individual's desire to obtain societal goals through legitimate means.

Question 17

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ People who neither accept the goals of the larger society nor the means to achieve those goals.

Question 18

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Any behavior that departs from accepted practices in a society or group.

Question 19

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Keeping a known stigma from creating tensions in interactions by downplaying it.

Question 20

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ People who try to obtain the goals of society through accepted means.

Question 21

According to Edwin Lemert, when is society involved in the deviance process?

A) during primary deviance, when society makes deviance symbolic in nature
B) during secondary deviance, when society labels a person as deviant
C) during primary deviance, when society hires police personnel to put away criminals
D) during secondary deviance, when members of a society commit a deviant act

Question 22

Which theorist is most associated with primary and secondary deviance?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Edwin Lemert
C) Robert Merton
D) Herbert Blumer

Question 23

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Theory that argues that people choose to commit deviance as a natural outcome of social conditions in which socially acceptable goals cannot be obtained through legitimate means.

Question 24

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Someone who approves of the ways people should live their lives but gives up trying to obtain societal goals.

Question 25

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ When individuals seek to challenge either the traditional goals or the accepted means of achieving those goals.

Question 26

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ An attribute that is deeply discrediting.

Question 27

Murder would most likely be considered the breaking of a __________; picking your nose in public would be breaking a __________.

A) more; folkway
B) folkway; more
C) norm; value
D) more; more

Question 28

Which of the following is true of William Chambliss' research on the Saints and the Roughnecks?

A) The Saints committed significantly less crime than the Roughnecks but were more likely to get caught.
B) The Saints committed significantly less crime than the Roughnecks but only the Roughnecks got caught.
C) The Saints committed somewhat higher levels of deviance than the Roughnecks but the Roughnecks were more likely to be caught than the Saints.
D) The Roughnecks committed less crime than the Saints and were rarely caught.

Question 29

A nurse regulary brings a six pack of beer to work and consumes it over his shift, brushing his teeth to keep his breath clean. According to Goffman, what kind of behavior is the nurse engaging in?

A) passing
B) covering
C) stigma
D) retrospective interpretations

Question 30

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Theory that deviance results when individuals' bonds with conventional society are weakened in some way.

Question 31

John regularly gambles on the weekends, often finding himself spending more money than he is making. When asked about his gambling, John starts to relate how he always had problems resisting temptation, even when he was a kid. What kind of behavior is John engaging in?

A) passing
B) covering
C) stigmatizing
D) retrospective interpretation

Question 32

Which of the following statements best describes interactionist perspective(s) on deviance?

A) Deviance is relative to a given group of people or society.
B) Deviance is relatively consistent across groups and society.
C) Deviance is based on biological norms.
D) Deviance has no impact on the social world.

Question 33

Which of the following examples is representative of a form of deviance from a sociological perspective?

A) a boy stealing a piece of gum from a New York City convenience store
B) a boy wearing a suit to a formal dinner
C) a girl wearing a nice dress to a formal dinner
D) a girl wearing a casual dress to friend's house

Question 34

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Crimes typically associated with middle- and upper-class individuals, such as embezzlement, cheating, and laundering money.

Question 35

Most college students represent __________ in Merton's typology of deviance.

A) conformists
B) innovators
C) ritualists
D) retreatists

Question 36

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Additional deviant acts that support the initial deviant label.

Question 37

According to labeling theory, a __________ occurs the first time someone does something that is defined as deviant.

A) primary act of deviance
B) secondary act of deviance
C) taboo
D) folkway violation

Question 38

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A sense of "normlessness," where there is little consensus about what is right and wrong.

Question 39

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter or letters before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The state's attempts to maintain social order through police and courts and other representatives of the state.

Question 40

How has Howard Becker's research contributed to our understanding of deviance?

A) It shows the important role of deviant subcultures in the maintenance of deviant identities.
B) It explains away the relationship between primary and secondary deviance.
C) It shows that some experiences, such as drug experiences, are not be influenced by social conditions.
D) It proves that deviance occurs only in criminal subcultures.

Question 41

Which of the following examples typifies strain, according to new interpretations of strain theory?

A) a strong relationship with family and friends
B) poverty
C) employment
D) a romantic relationship

Question 42

Which of the following theories interprets the responses of others as the most significant factor in understanding how deviant behavior is created and sustained?

A) differential association theory
B) social control theory
C) labeling theory
D) structural strain theory

Question 43

Scholars contend that __________ and __________ are two factors that affect the likelihood of committing a crime?

A) controls; formal sanctions
B) certainty; severity
C) certainty; informal sanctions
D) severity; formal sanctions

Question 44

Which theory of deviance tries to explain why individuals do not commit crime?

A) labeling theory
B) strain theory
C) social control theory
D) theory of differential association

Question 45

Which of the following crimes best exemplifies white-collar crime?

A) stealing a purse
B) simple assault
C) telling a lie to a friend
D) embezzling from work

Question 46

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
After being rounded up by the cops last Saturday night, three men sit in jail pondering their condition and how they ended up incarcerated. All of them are in jail for different reasons and have different backgrounds. All of them are fairly young, in their teenage years, and very poor. John and Franky have been arrested for the first time; Arny has been in and out of the justice system since he was a child. John has been arrested for stealing an engagement ring. He had no money to buy the ring. Franky and Arny have both been arrested for assault. The only other background information we have about the three men is that Franky is a member of the Bloods, a violent gang located in the surrounding area and that Arny has been in jail for assault many times in the past.
Given the information in this vignette, which theory best explains Franky's decision to commit a crime?

A) labeling theory
B) strain theory
C) social control theory
D) theory of differential association

Question 47

Sampson and Laub's research on delinquent and nondelinquent youths in Boston found delinquency was greater when bonds with which social institutions were weakest?

A) family
B) education
C) peers
D) church

Question 48

__________ are individuals who seek to challenge either traditional goals or the accepted means of achieving those goals.

A) Rebels
B) Ritualists
C) Innovators
D) Retreatists

Question 49

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
After being rounded up by the cops last Saturday night, three men sit in jail pondering their condition and how they ended up incarcerated. All of them are in jail for different reasons and have different backgrounds. All of them are fairly young, in their teenage years, and very poor. John and Franky have been arrested for the first time; Arny has been in and out of the justice system since he was a child. John has been arrested for stealing an engagement ring. He had no money to buy the ring. Franky and Arny have both been arrested for assault. The only other background information we have about the three men is that Franky is a member of the Bloods, a violent gang located in the surrounding area and that Arny has been in jail for assault many times in the past.
Given the information in this vignette, which theory best explains Arny's decision to commit a crime?

A) labeling theory
B) strain theory
C) social control theory
D) theory of differential association

Question 50

In high school, Janet rarely smoked or drank alcohol. In college, Janet met some friend who spent most of their downtime consuming large amounts of alcohol and other drugs. Soon, she did the same and did not know anyone who did not spend their time that way. Which theory best explains Janet's behavior, given this limited amount of information?

A) labeling theory
B) strain theory
C) social control theory
D) theory of differential association

Question 51

Along with deterrence, what other factor has been noted as important to the likelihood of someone committing a crime?

A) self-control
B) self-esteem
C) self-concept
D) self-identity

Question 52

How should a homeless person who decides to live in the woods be represented, according to Merton's typology of deviance?

A) as a conformist
B) as an innovator
C) as a ritualist
D) as a retreatist

Question 53

Pick any major crime committed today. Compare and contrast two theories of deviance to explain why people may commit those crimes. First, review the basic tenants of each theory, then apply one or more components of each theory to explain the deviant behavior. Which theory do you think best explains the deviance? Why?

Question 54

Discuss similarities and differences in the ways that interactionists and social structure and personality scholars approach the study of deviance. Use specific examples from the concepts or research reviewed in the chapter.

Question 55

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
After being rounded up by the cops last Saturday night, three men sit in jail pondering their condition and how they ended up incarcerated. All of them are in jail for different reasons and have different backgrounds. All of them are fairly young, in their teenage years, and very poor. John and Franky have been arrested for the first time; Arny has been in and out of the justice system since he was a child. John has been arrested for stealing an engagement ring. He had no money to buy the ring. Franky and Arny have both been arrested for assault. The only other background information we have about the three men is that Franky is a member of the Bloods, a violent gang located in the surrounding area and that Arny has been in jail for assault many times in the past.
Given the information in this vignette, which theory best explains John's decision to commit a crime?

A) labeling theory
B) strain theory
C) social control theory
D) theory of differential association