Deck 7: Deviance and Crime

Question 1

From a functionalist perspective, when punishment of deviant behavior is public it serves to

A) reaffirm the collective beliefs and values of the society.
B) protect the prosecutors from appearing unethical.
C) reinforce the idea that crime brings one publicity.
D) encourage future deviant behavior.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

How do sociologists define deviance?

A) As any behavior that is extreme and unsettling
B) As behavior that violates expected social norms
C) As behavior that matches social values
D) They look at what the media focuses on

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When a student violates customary norms, he or she is engaging in deviance.

A) informal
B) formal
C) impersonal
D) personal

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In order for something to be considered deviant

A) it must be against the law.
B) everyone in society must regard it as deviant.
C) it must violate socially created rules and norms.
D) it must have negative consequences.

Question 5

Which of the following questions would a sociologist not be likely to ask about deviance?

A) Why are some behaviors defined as deviant while others are not?
B) Why is deviance more common in some social groups than others?
C) Why do some personality types act more deviant than other personality types?
D) How does the criminal justice system reflect social inequality?

Question 6

According to Durkheim, why do societies actually need deviance?

A) In order to recognize normal behavior
B) To make most people feel morally superior
C) To support the existence of a prison system of employment
D) In order to shake up society so it can be reorganized in a better fashion

Question 7

Acquaintance rape (also called "date rape"), for example, was not considered social deviance until.

A) the Stone Age.
B) the Middle ages.
C) fairly recently.
D) the Industrial Revolution.

Question 8

The sociological studies of gangs in the U.S. has found that

A) gang behavior is always extremely deviant.
B) joining a gang may be an adaptation to conditions of poverty, racism, and sexism.
C) girls who are given too much freedom to make choices about their lives are more likely to commit acts of deviance, including joining gangs.
D) family dynamics are unrelated to the decision to join a gang.

Question 9

Sociologists would consider crime to be a form of deviance.

A) informal
B) formal
C) situational
D) inherent

Question 10

According to the text, the example of attitudes toward smoking in the U.S. demonstrates the notion that

A) perceptions of deviance are influenced by social change.
B) smoking should not have been considered acceptable.
C) laws are needed in order to best define deviant behavior.
D) evidence of risk is enough to change behavior.

Question 11

From a sociological standpoint, the situation of the rugby team stranded for months in the Andes demonstrates that eating human flesh

A) is immoral and irrational.
B) stems from a psychologically disordered behavior.
C) may be a rational response to a difficult situation.
D) is normal.

Question 12

A soldier who kills in battle is not considered deviant, but a murderer is. This illustrates the point that

A) killing is not morally deviant.
B) whether or not behavior is considered deviant depends on the context.
C) soldiers are not judged as harshly as others in the general population when it comes to how they behave.
D) military law supersedes civil law.

Question 13

According to Durkheim, deviance is functional because it

A) threatens the social order.
B) helps members of a society know what is considered normal behavior.
C) points out the flaws in how a society is organized.
D) creates employment for a large number of people.

Question 14

From a sociological perspective

A) a specific behavior is either always deviant or never deviant.
B) a behavior may be judged as deviant in one situation but not in another.
C) all members of a society must agree on which acts are deviant and which are not.
D) deviant behaviors never affect large groups of people.

Question 15

If a culture considered tattoos a form of deviance, it would categorize it as a type of deviance.

A) formal
B) situational
C) anomic
D) informal

Question 16

Which of the following statements about deviance is false?

A) Even the most aberrant or odd behavior may be understood if we understand the situation in which it occurs.
B) Most deviant actions are deviant regardless of the circumstances.
C) Definitions of what is considered deviant behavior may change over time.
D) Some actions are only considered deviant when certain people commit them.

Question 17

Psychological explanations of deviance emphasize as the underlying cause of deviant behavior, unlike sociological explanations.

A) individual factors
B) the context within which the deviance occurred
C) the effects of labeling
D) patterns of inequality in society

Question 18

The sociological definition of social deviance

A) stresses social context, not individual behavior.
B) focuses on individual nonconformity.
C) recognizes deviance as being the same for all groups and settings.
D) argues that definitions of deviance remain the same over time.

Question 19

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, many Americans publicly demonstrated their patriotism. This is an illustration of Durkheim's belief that

A) people only mobilize when they feel threatened.
B) the definition of deviance is relative to the situation.
C) deviance produces social solidarity.
D) deviant labels only apply to the powerless.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of informal deviance in US culture?

A) Breaking speeding laws
B) Underage drinking
C) Body piercing
D) Bigamy

Question 21

Durkheim's research on formed the foundation for the functionalist perspective of deviance.

A) suicide
B) homosexuality
C) altruism
D) labels

Question 22

The primary sociological criticism of the medicalization of deviance is that it

A) makes deviance too expensive to cure.
B) makes it too easy for people to behave in deviant ways.
C) ignores the impact of the social structure in the creation of deviant behavior.
D) assumes there exists a trained medical profession.

Question 23

The recommended solution for alcoholism usually includes some type of treatment and possibly hospitalization. In contrast, the use of crack cocaine is legally punished. The difference may be explained by the fact that alcoholism has been and crack cocaine use has not.

A) medicalized
B) accepted as non-deviant
C) contextualized
D) normalized

Question 24

Which of the following is an example of egotistic suicide?

A) Suicide among the wealthy
B) Suicide bombers
C) Elder suicide
D) Suicide for religious reasons

Question 25

When teens perceive themselves as having a deviant identity, they are considering which sociological perspective?

A) Conflict
B) Symbolic interactionist
C) Functionalist
D) Rational choice

Question 26

Which of these statements about deviant behavior would be considered true from a sociological perspective?

A) Some people are born rebels and deviants.
B) Deviance may be an adaptation to the social structures in which people live.
C) In most cases, there is a medical approach to solve problems of deviance.
D) Evolutionarily, humans are predestined to push the limits.

Question 27

Durkheim believed that the causes of suicide were

A) best explained by the problems a person was facing.
B) found in the social environment.
C) the result of genetics.
D) the direct result of emotional stress.

Question 28

Smoking as deviant emerged due to what societal change?

A) Increase in crime
B) Social movements
C) Development of Labeling theory
D) Fashion

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of the medicalization of deviance?

A) Gang violence
B) Body piercing
C) Alcoholism
D) Gender inequality

Question 30

Which of the following questions about deviance is more psychological than sociological?

A) How is deviance related to patterns of social inequality?
B) Was a particular type of behavior always considered deviant?
C) Does pressure from one's peer group encourage deviance?
D) What is it about a person that causes deviance?

Question 31

Functionalist theories of deviance

A) fear that deviance creates the breakdown of society.
B) view deviance as necessary in order to clarify what the norms of society are.
C) believe that punishment of deviance is dysfunctional because it prevents the deviance that is necessary for society.
D) assume that norms are largely meaningless.

Question 32

According to Durkheim, which of these factors was responsible for causing suicides?

A) A person losing his or her job
B) The degree to which people felt integrated into the structure of society
C) Psychological stress created from depression
D) Marital status

Question 33

The shooting of students and faculty at Virginia Tech University in the spring of 2007 fits the pattern of Durkheim's _____ .

A) anomic suicide
B) altruistic suicide
C) egoistic suicide
D) fatalistic suicide

Question 34

Anomie, as defined by Durkheim, is frequently referred to as a state of

A) extreme depression.
B) excessive social integration.
C) total detachment from society and societal forces.
D) relative normlessness caused by the breakdown of social influences.

Question 35

According to sociologists, the actions of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are an example of _.

A) anomic suicide
B) altruistic suicide
C) egoistic suicide
D) situational suicide

Question 36

How do sociologists explain the fact that women have lower rates of suicide than men?

A) Women are more fearful in general.
B) Women are very hesitant to do harm, even to themselves.
C) Women are more embedded in relations of care and responsibility.
D) Women have less access to the means for committing suicide.

Question 37

Explanations that focus solely on the physical or genetic roots of deviant behavior are collectively referred to as _____ by sociologists.

A) the medicalization of deviance
B) the social disorganization theory
C) the social construction of deviance
D) the social conflict theory

Question 38

Durkheim referred to suicide associated with excessive regulation of individuals by social forces as .

A) anomic suicide
B) altruistic suicide
C) egoistic suicide
D) situational suicide

Question 39

Durkheim used the term to refer to the condition existing when social regulation in a society breaks down.

A) dysfunction
B) culture conflict
C) anomie
D) egoism

Question 40

A policy maker wants to address drug abuse with therapy. Which of the following is he or she advocating?

A) Mass incarceration
B) Medicalization of deviance
C) That deviance is functional for society
D) The idea that street criminals are an exploited class

Question 41

According to the conflict perspective of deviance, when the elite in society violate norms or laws they avoid punishment because

A) their deviant behavior is not as damaging to society as that of the lower classes.
B) they do not violate norms that affect other people.
C) they have the resources to hide or mask their behavior.
D) they are punished for slight infractions.

Question 42

Social control theory suggests that deviance occurs when

A) a person is labeled as deviant.
B) a person's attachment to social bonds is weakened.
C) a person does not have access to legitimate means of reaching his or her goals.
D) social regulations in a society break down.

Question 43

When the goals of an individual are accepted and the means of attaining the goals are made available to him or her via the social structure, Merton termed this as _.

A) innovation
B) conformity
C) ritualism
D) retreatism

Question 44

A criticism of the functional perspective of deviance is that it

A) places too much emphasis on the individual.
B) does not explain why some people are able to impose their ideas or judgments on others.
C) overemphasizes injustice and inequality in society.
D) fails to see the good that deviance accomplishes.

Question 45

The historic persecution of witches is presented in the text as an example of

A) a system that works for the good of the whole society.
B) how dominant groups can exert control over other groups by marking some populations as deviant.
C) how deviance may be functional for society.
D) the importance of shared values and beliefs within a society.

Question 46

When the labeling theory and the conflict theory of deviance are linked, they could explain

A) why youth cultures create their own types of styles, such as tattoos and piercings.
B) how deviance actually contributes to stability within society.
C) why members of oppressed groups are more likely to be incarcerated or institutionalized.
D) how deviance is defined.

Question 47

Social control theory is based on the assumptions that

A) there is a common value system and most people feel some impulse toward deviance.
B) those with the most power in society define what is considered deviant or not.
C) deviance is a result of labeling.
D) deviants agree with the goals of society, but are blocked from achieving them through legitimate means.

Question 48

Merton's structural strain theory traces the origins of deviance to

A) anomie in an individual.
B) emotional stress caused by job loss, divorce, and the like.
C) the tension between desired cultural goals and the means of achieving them.
D) the lack of any commitment to cultural goals.

Question 49

From the conflict perspective of deviance, all of the following are true, except,

A) deviance results from inequality in society.
B) powerless groups may be labeled deviant for small infractions.
C) deviance reaffirms social solidarity.
D) racial minorities are punished more frequently than others.

Question 50

Conflict theorists argue that

A) the power to define deviance is an important form of social control.
B) how much power a group possesses has no effect on whether its members will be labeled deviant.
C) all groups in a society are equally subject to social control.
D) labels of deviance have nothing to do with social control.

Question 51

According to social control theory, deviant behavior occurs

A) when the means for achieving culturally approved goals is blocked.
B) when people have given up and no longer accept the goals considered desirable by society.
C) when attachment to social bonds breaks down.
D) as a result of emotional stress.

Question 52

When a wealthy and powerful executive engages in deviance representing his or her organization it is referred to as _____.

A) corporate deviance
B) white-collar deviance
C) elite deviance
D) class deviance

Question 53

According to the social control theory, what is the primary reason that people internalize social norms?

A) They fear punishment.
B) They care what others think of them.
C) They hope for economic gain.
D) They think they will find spiritual peace.

Question 54

The Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis are both examples of which type of cultural-structural strain?

A) Retreatism
B) Ritualism
C) Innovation
D) Rebellion

Question 55

Sociologists theorize that rampage shootings are best understood as _.

A) caused by socialization
B) caused by psychological predispositions
C) the combinations of personality and social structural variables
D) reactions to gun control

Question 56

A significant difference between the functionalist and conflict theories of deviance is that

A) the functionalist theory assumes the system works for the good of the whole, and the conflict theory does not.
B) the functionalist theory focuses more on the social structure than the conflict theory.
C) the functionalist theory pays more attention to the individual than the conflict theory does.
D) the functionalist theory ignores the role of deviance in society, while this is a focus for the conflict theory.

Question 57

Conflict and functionalist theories of deviance share

A) an emphasis on individual motivation.
B) a focus on how a shared definition of a situation affects deviance.
C) an emphasis on the social structure in creating deviance.
D) a common understanding of the role of crime and the legal system in defining deviance.

Question 58

Which of these statements about the functionalist theories of deviance is false?

A) It focuses on the social structure, not individual action
B) It argues that some things that are seen as dysfunctional are actually functional for society
C) It explains how social norms first become established in society
D) It sees deviance as having a stabilizing influence on society

Question 59

According to Merton, members of the are most likely to experience the structural strain that produces deviance.

A) super rich
B) working-class
C) middle-income
D) upper-income

Question 60

Sociologists using a symbolic interaction perspective argue that a physical disability can become _. In this case society devalues the status.

A) formal deviance
B) informal deviance
C) a stigma
D) a crime

Question 61

A weakness of the conflict theory of deviance is its failure to recognize

A) the significance of power in group relationships.
B) how the injustices of society produce crime.
C) that laws protect most people, not just the affluent.
D) the origins of crime

Question 62

Labeling theorists would explain recidivism among those released from prison as

A) behavior caused by the company they keep upon their release.
B) resulting from their anger at having been incarcerated.
C) a function of biology.
D) behavior caused by the difficulty in changing their classification as deviants.

Question 63

A disadvantaged group is more likely to be punished by the criminal justice system. Which perspective best explains this?

A) Functionalist
B) Conflict
C) Postmodern
D) Feminist

Question 64

Labeling theorists mention that once a person is labeled deviant

A) he or she will associate exclusively with others who are considered deviant.
B) he or she will no longer share an interest in socially desirable goals.
C) it will be difficult for him or her to reestablish a nondeviant identity.
D) he or she will turn to a life of crime.

Question 65

According to Sutherland's differential association theory, people become criminals when they

A) are more strongly socialized to break the law than to obey it.
B) are genetically predisposed to deviate.
C) lack socially approved means to realize socially established goals.
D) lack proper attachment to others.

Question 66

The symbolic interactionist theories of deviance originated from?

A) The Industrial Revolution
B) The perspective of the Chicago School of sociology
C) The works of Karl Marx
D) The ideas of Emile Durkheim

Question 67

W. I. Thomas explained deviance as

A) a normal response to social conditions.
B) behavior one learns from others.
C) behavior frequently associated with crime.
D) varied behavior dependent on one's social bonds.

Question 68

The differential association theory explains deviance by

A) emphasizing how deviance is culturally transmitted.
B) focusing on who has the power to label behaviors as deviant.
C) making reference to societal goals and the means of achieving them.
D) noting that some people have more power than others to define what is considered deviant.

Question 69

According to the people behave as they do because of the meanings they give to different situations.

A) functionalist theory
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interaction theory
D) social control theory

Question 70

Youths raised by parents who are deviant are more likely to be deviant themselves. This is an illustration of the

A) labeling theory.
B) functionalist theory.
C) differential association theory.
D) social control theory.

Question 71

When a person in a position of authority processes an individual without questioning the basis for the rules and procedures, he or she is engaging in .

A) consensus
B) labeling
C) exploitation
D) social control

Question 72

A strength of the conflict theory in terms of understanding deviance is

A) its insight into the significance of power relationships.
B) its ability to see how the entire social system works for the benefit of all.
C) its recognition of the importance of shared values and beliefs.
D) its benefits in explaining new forms of deviance.

Question 73

Social labeling theory focuses on who in society can determine that others are deviant and are able to apply sanctions. This aspect of social labeling theory makes it most associated with .

A) functionalism
B) social exchange theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) the feminist theory

Question 74

According to the differential association theory, people become deviant

A) when other means of achievement are blocked.
B) by learning from members of their primary groups.
C) when they lack attachment to other people.
D) in protest over unjust circumstances.

Question 75

The perspective that uses a microsociological approach includes _.

A) functionalism
B) conflict
C) symbolic interactionism
D) criminology

Question 76

A weakness of the conflict theory in terms of understanding deviance is that it

A) does not address inequity and injustice.
B) ignores the importance of the social structure.
C) is less effective in explaining forms of deviance other than crime.
D) does not explain the slow pace at which the legal system changes.

Question 77

A problem with differential association theory is that it

A) does not explain how people who are not members of deviant cultures become deviants.
B) fails to account for socialization.
C) ignores the influence of friends and family.
D) does not explain how deviance is learned.

Question 78

A high school student acts bored in class and the teacher decides she is a bad student. This teacher discusses the student with other teachers who then treat that student as if she were a bad student. This describes the process of .

A) differential association
B) cultural transmission
C) labeling
D) weakening social bonds

Question 79

The University of Chicago sociologist who defined deviance as a normal response to the social conditions in which people find themselves is .

A) W. I. Thomas
B) Michael Dyson
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Robert Merton

Question 80

Which of these is not one of the factors that the symbolic interactionist theory uses to explain deviant behavior?

A) The meanings people attribute to a situation
B) How people respond to the meaning of a situation
C) The interaction between different groups
D) The strength of people's attachment to social norms