Deck 7: Conformity, deviance, and Crime

Question 1

The authors claim all the following are true about people's adherence to norms EXCEPT that:

A) no one breaks all the rules
B) some people conform to all the rules
C) we are all conformist
D) we are all deviants
E) we create the rules

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A Medal of Honor,awarded by Congress to individuals serving in the armed forces who have exhibited valor in action against an enemy force,is an example of what type of sanction?

A) negative formal
B) negative informal
C) neutral
D) positive formal
E) positive informal

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Any reaction from others to the behavior of an individual meant to ensure that the individual complies with a given norm is called a:

A) law
B) punishment
C) reward
D) sanction
E) slap on the wrist

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Émile Durkheim's concept of _______________ describes a condition in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior.

A) anomie
B) differential association
C) labeling
D) mechanical solidarity
E) structural strain

Question 5

Jill's cell phone rang during an exam,and other students in the class turned around and stared at her.The instructor took the opportunity to remind the class that all cell phones should be turned off and put away.Both the class and the instructor used the moment to perform:

A) boundary maintenance
B) an informal sanction
C) labeling
D) a lecture
E) a positive sanction

Question 6

Nonconformity to a set of norms accepted by a significant number of people in a community is called:

A) sanction
B) labeling
C) devious
D) deviance
E) anomie

Question 7

People who reject both the existing values and the means of achieving them but work to substitute new ones and reconstruct the social system would be what type according to Robert K.Merton?

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

Question 8

Principles or rules that people in a society are expected to observe are referred to as:

A) sanctions
B) norms
C) deviance
D) crimes
E) controls

Question 9

A common criticism of the functionalist theories of crime and deviance is that:

A) there is little to be gained in connecting the macrosociological to the microsociological
B) they are outdated because their premises no longer apply in the information age
C) functionalists tend to presume that everyone has middle-class values
D) the aspirations held by groups in society do not coincide with available rewards
E) American society no longer experiences internal contradictions

Question 10

Sanctions applied by peer groups for actions such as making fun of someone's clothes are:

A) deviant
B) formal
C) informal
D) internal
E) positive

Question 11

What word would Robert K.Merton use to characterize members of a gang?

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

Question 12

Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber)engaged in a mail bombing spree that spanned nearly 20 years,killing three people and injuring 23 others.In 1971,he moved to a remote cabin in Montana without electricity or running water where he lived as a recluse.Utilizing Robert K.Merton's functionalist framework,Kaczynski could be classified as a(n):

A) conformist
B) innovator
C) rebel
D) retreatist
E) ritualist

Question 13

formal norms defined by governments as principles that their citizens must follow are called:

A) crimes
B) deviance
C) laws
D) sanctions
E) strains

Question 14

What type of sanction is applied only by people officially designated to enforce norms?

A) criminal
B) formal
C) informal
D) negative
E) positive

Question 15

Who used the concept of "delinquent subculture" to refer to groups such as gangs who reject middle-class norms and celebrate defiance?

A) Merton
B) Lemert
C) Hirschi
D) Cohen
E) Brando

Question 16

According to Robert K.Merton's structural strain theory,people who accept the cultural goals of success but use illegal means to achieve their goals,for example pimps,illustrate which mode of adaptation?

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

Question 17

The two theories explaining deviance that are classified as interactionist are:

A) differential association and labeling theory
B) labeling theory and delinquent subcultures
C) labeling theory and control theory
D) strain theory and delinquent subcultures
E) strain theory and differential association

Question 18

According to Robert K.Merton's strain theory,the majority of people in society are:

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

Question 19

When a professor is delivering a lecture and some students begin to whisper back and forth,the professor may stop the lecture,remain silent,and stare at the students.The professor's behavior is an example of:

A) deviant behavior
B) role-playing
C) civil inattention
D) negative sanction
E) positive reinforcement

Question 20

Robert K.Merton's functional analysis of deviance and crime addressed the issue that although society has become much more affluent in the twentieth century,crime rates continued to rise.Merton responded to this quandary by:

A) determining that economic factors were no longer relevant to crime
B) emphasizing the morality socialized into particular groups
C) identifying a sense of relative deprivation as a factor in deviance
D) recognizing that people with deviant peers are more likely to participate in deviant behavior
E) uncovering the genetic processes that affect decision making of criminals

Question 21

In Wayward Pilgrims,Kai Erikson built on Émile Durkheim's concept of deviance,concluding that:

A) a society needs a certain quota of deviants to function and maintain itself
B) the role of police, courts, and psychiatrists is to eliminate deviance and thereby improve society
C) the Puritans "refined deviance down," resulting in many of the social problems we face today
D) deviants were created by those people who would try to eliminate them
E) deviance is actually a cultural norm, not nonconformist as Durkheim believed

Question 22

With which of the following statements might a conflict theorist most closely agree?

A) The best method for understanding deviant behavior is to understand the conflict between the individual's ego, superego, and id.
B) Deviant behavior could be a response to inequalities in capitalist society.
C) Deviant behavior results from deviants associating with other deviants.
D) Deviant behavior can arise from various types of negative relationships that individuals have.
E) Deviants are born into a culture that rewards criminal behavior.

Question 23

Which theory explains why focusing on minor crimes like traffic violations and drinking or using illegal drugs in public underpinned proactive policing in the late 1980s and early 1990s?

A) broken windows theory
B) conflict theory
C) control theory
D) differential association theory
E) labeling theory

Question 24

Alisa's neighborhood is usually quiet,but the local newspaper noted an increase in criminal activity there.One morning,Alisa found her garage vandalized and covered in paint and eggs.She did not have time to clean up the mess right away.Her neighbors offered to help clean up her garage in the hope that the crime might stop.Later that week,Alisa's neighbor found his car windshield shattered.The following day,Alisa's bicycle was stolen from her porch.What type of theorist would be the most likely to agree with the idea that a vandalized garage could lead to more crime?

A) broken windows
B) conflict
C) differential association
D) functionalist
E) labeling

Question 25

Which of the following explanations for NOT cheating on this exam is supported by control theory?

A) None of your friends cheat, so you never really learned how to cheat.
B) You always receive an A on exams, so you have no reason to cheat.
C) You have been genetically programmed not to cheat.
D) You know that cheating is morally wrong.
E) You sit in the front of the class and are afraid of getting caught.

Question 26

Recent criminological research has found that adolescents in romantic relationships are less likely to commit crime than other adolescents,"perhaps because romantic love discourages offending by strengthening the social bond." (Source: McCarthy and Casey.2008."Love,Sex,and Crime: Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Offending." American Sociological Review 73: 944-969).This finding best supports which of the following theories of crime?

A) labeling
B) interactionist
C) functionalist
D) control
E) conflict

Question 27

Which of the following statements best illustrates Howard S.Becker's labeling theory of deviance?

A) Adolescents in romantic relationships are less likely to commit crime than other adolescents, "perhaps because romantic love discourages offending by strengthening the social bond." (Source: McCarthy and Casey. 2008. "Love, Sex, and Crime: Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Offending." American Sociological Review 73: 944-969).
B) The definition of crime is class biased; for example, the crimes listed in the Uniform Crime Reports are disproportionately committed by members of the lower class in the United States.
C) Deviant behavior can arise from various types of negative personal relationships that individuals have.
D) frustration arising from lack of access to legitimate means to success in achieving culturally prescribed goals lies at the root of crime and deviance.
E) Ex-offenders are much less likely to be called back by employers than men with similar resumes but no criminal record.

Question 28

Putting locks on mailboxes is an example of:

A) anomie
B) community policing
C) labeling
D) deviance
E) target hardening

Question 29

Which theory begins with the assumption that given the opportunity,all of us would engage in deviant acts?

A) labeling
B) interactionist
C) functionalist
D) control
E) conflict

Question 30

All of the following are unintended consequences of target hardening in recent years EXCEPT that:

A) because the wealthy are protected from crime, there is a declining interest in understanding the causes of crime
B) criminals target less affluent areas that cannot afford the protective measures to combat crime
C) fewer law enforcement officers are needed in urban areas
D) a "fortress mentality" develops among the wealthy to shield them from criminals
E) rates of crime against the poor and the wealthy widen, with the burden of crime falling disproportionately on the poor

Question 31

Labeling theorists interpret deviance as:

A) a genetically determined component of personality
B) an intrinsic characteristic of some actions
C) a macrosociological phenomenon determining social construction
D) a process of interaction between deviants and nondeviants
E) something that anyone would do given the opportunity

Question 32

Émile Durkheim argues that deviance allows us to understand the standards of a society.What solution to deviance does he propose?

A) Allow deviance to flourish and it will burn itself out.
B) Eliminate all deviance through social cohesion.
C) Keep deviance in acceptable boundaries.
D) Legalize certain types of deviance and heavily regulate the rest.
E) Remove all deviants from society to reestablish the moral order.

Question 33

The type of theorist who might argue that even the definition of crime is class biased,for example,that the crimes listed in the Uniform Crime Reports are crimes disproportionately committed by members of the lower class in the United States,is

A) labeling
B) interactionist
C) functionalist
D) control
E) conflict

Question 34

According to ________ theorists,the criminal justice system has become increasingly oppressive toward working-class offenders .

A) labeling
B) interactionist
C) functionalist
D) control
E) conflict

Question 35

According to Edwin Sutherland,criminals adopt criminal behavior because they:

A) are genetically predisposed to criminal activity
B) enjoy being incarcerated in prisons
C) learn criminal behavior from peers
D) respond to rewards and punishments
E) transfer their emotional issues to criminal behavior

Question 36

A common criticism of labeling theory is that labeling theorists:

A) argue incorrectly that people are constantly being labeled
B) do not account for social differences
C) ignore the effect of genetics
D) insist on explaining all of deviance as labeling
E) neglect the processes that lead to acts being defined as deviant

Question 37

If you live in a high-crime area,many of the people you will befriend will be involved in criminal activities,thus increasing your opportunity to learn criminal behavior.The conceptual context for this phenomenon is known as:

A) social deviance
B) nonconformity
C) labeling
D) environmental deviance
E) differential association

Question 38

According to differential association theory,a person who is more likely to be a delinquent is a:

A) poor person whose friends do not commit crime
B) middle-class person whose friends frequently commit crime
C) person with high aspirations but few opportunities
D) person with low aspirations but many opportunities
E) person who doesn't know how to commit crime

Question 39

In the movie One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest,one of the patients in the mental hospital tells the other inmates that they are not crazy and they should not act as though they are just because the head nurse tells them they are.Which of the following theories best explains the patients' behaviors?

A) broken windows
B) control
C) differential association
D) labeling
E) structural strain

Question 40

Sixteen-year-old Pat is arrested and held in juvenile detention for 30 days.When he is released and returns to school,he brags about his time incarcerated.Pat's boasting is an example of:

A) adaptive function
B) boundary maintenance
C) differential association
D) primary deviation
E) secondary deviation

Question 41

The federal Bureau of Investigation ranks _______________ as the third greatest threat to national security after nuclear war and other weapons of mass destruction.

A) corporate crime
B) cybercrime
C) hate crime
D) undocumented immigration
E) violent crime

Question 42

All of the following factors likely contributed to the change in American crime rates in the 1990s EXCEPT:

A) the aggressive efforts by police to reduce gun crime
B) a booming economy and the job growth of the 1990s
C) a decline in the market for crack cocaine
D) an increased stigmatization of crack among young urban residents
E) a reduction in the number of police officers

Question 43

If a female lawbreaker avoids punishment or prosecution by convincing authorities that she is impulsive and needs protection,she has invoked the:

A) chivalry thesis
B) fifth Amendment
C) gender contract
D) "nice girl" argument
E) Pollak approach

Question 44

Rank the following locations in terms of violent crime rates from highest to lowest:

A) cities, smaller towns, suburbs
B) cities, suburbs, smaller towns
C) smaller towns, cities, suburbs
D) suburbs, cities, smaller towns
E) suburbs, smaller towns, cities

Question 45

Which of the following research findings supports the chivalry thesis?

A) Blacks are treated worse by police than whites.
B) for a given criminal offense, women receive harsher sentences than men.
C) Older women offenders are treated more aggressively than male offenders of the same age.
D) Police are less likely to arrest women than men for similar activities.
E) Women are more likely to commit small-scale, property crimes than violent crimes.

Question 46

Which crime has the highest reporting rate in the United States?

A) auto theft
B) burglary
C) homicide
D) rape
E) robbery

Question 47

Sexual minorities experience a high incidence of violent crime and harassment and are often perceived as deserving crime rather than being "innocent" victims.This is because:

A) crimes toward gays and lesbians don't qualify as "hate crimes" and so carry less severe punishments
B) gay and lesbian couples who display their sexuality are seen under the law as asking for trouble
C) gay and lesbian relationships are seen as belonging to the private realm, and some people believe people should not display their homosexual identities in public
D) "homosexual panic" is often used successfully as a legal defense
E) in the past, the law has done little to recognize crimes against sexual minorities; thus, they are victimized without penalty

Question 48

Otto Pollak's contention that women are naturally more deceitful and skilled at covering up their crimes than men was based on:

A) case studies
B) empirical data from the 1980s
C) gender stereotypes
D) police reports of crime
E) sociobiology

Question 49

Who are the most common victims of murder and other violent crimes in the United States?

A) young Hispanic urban females
B) young African American urban males
C) older white suburban females
D) older white small-town males
E) middle-aged Native American rural males

Question 50

Most rapes in the United States are:

A) committed by strangers
B) committed by a woman
C) easily prosecuted
D) not reported to the police
E) victimless crimes

Question 51

Some scholars,such as Susan Brownmiller,contend that rape is:

A) committed equally by men and women
B) a crime in which the sexual act is the goal and purpose
C) less common than is statistically reported
D) part of a system of male domination that keeps all women in fear
E) unconnected to issues of power, control, and dominance

Question 52

Since the early 1990s,what has been the trend in crime rate in the United States?

A) Both violent and property crime rates have decreased.
B) Both violent and property crime has decreased until the 2007 recession; both have increased since then.
C) Property crime has increased, but violent crime has decreased.
D) Rates have remained stable.
E) Violent crime has increased, but property crime has decreased.

Question 53

The National Crime Victimization Survey has found that compared to rates reported by official agencies,actual crime rates are:

A) about the same
B) higher for both property and violent crime
C) higher for violent crime but lower for property crime
D) lower for both property and violent crime
E) lower for violent crime but higher for property crime

Question 54

Official crime statistics published by the government are based on information obtained from:

A) arrest records
B) eyewitness accounts
C) newspaper articles
D) police reports
E) surveys of victims

Question 55

According to the 2011 Hate Crime Statistics,there were approximately _______________ incidents against gays and lesbians in the United States.

A) 293
B) 1,293
C) 12,930
D) 129,000
E) crimes toward gays and lesbians don't qualify as "hate crimes" and so they are not included in these statistics

Question 56

According to Daniel Patrick Moynihan,an example of "defining deviance down" would be:

A) becoming alarmed at the rise in gang violence
B) being concerned about the number of people in prison
C) broadening the definition of rape
D) considering deviance as a necessary part of a functioning society
E) releasing people from psychiatric institutions and requiring them to try to live independently

Question 57

The approximate percentage of women in the American prison population in 2010 was

A) 7
B) 17
C) 27
D) 37
E) 47

Question 58

Crime carried out by more affluent individuals is called:

A) white-collar crime
B) status crime
C) organized crime
D) criminal networks
E) corporate crime

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT an example of corporate crime?

A) An automobile company manufactures a car that has a high possibility of exploding on impact with another object.
B) An administrative assistant embezzles money from her boss.
C) A pesticide company dumps pollutants into the local river.
D) Corporate executives lie to stockholders about company profits.
E) food manufacturers label an item as light when in fact it has as many calories as the regular item.

Question 60

The number of women in the United States who have been victims of a completed or attempted rape is:

A) 1 in 3,000
B) 1 in 200
C) 1 in 50
D) 1 in 6
E) 1 in 2

Question 61

Sociological studies show that prisons:

A) are effective at deterring crime
B) are more likely to create hardened criminals than rehabilitated citizens
C) focus on rehabilitation
D) reinforce low recidivism rates
E) will be obsolete in our society by 2035

Question 62

How might reintegrative shaming work to rehabilitate an offender in the United States?

A) It locks the offender in a permanent state of shame.
B) It lets the defender deny any wrongdoing.
C) It processes the shame in the offender in such a way that social bonds between the offender and the community can be rebuilt.
D) It stigmatizes the offenders such that they will be much more fearful of committing another crime.
E) Shaming would not work in an individualistic society like the United States.

Question 63

Police forces have grown steadily in the past 30 years in response to public demands for more protection.How has this affected the rate of violent crime in the United States?

A) Initially, violent crime decreased, but since the mid-1990s, violent crime has increased.
B) No causal relationship between the number of police and violent crime rates has been identified.
C) Violent crime has decreased.
D) Violent crime has increased.
E) Violent crime has remained stable over time.

Question 64

The term sanction refers only to a reaction from others meant to punish nonconformity.

Question 65

The average annual cost of housing a prisoner in the federal prison system in the United States is:

A) close to zero because most inmates work and pay for their keep
B) $15,00
C) $29,000
D) $45,000
E) $59,000

Question 66

Alice Goffman's research on men wanted by the police found that issuing warrants on a large scale for low-level violations:

A) benefits society by creating jobs in the criminal justice system
B) is an effective strategy to deter crime in urban areas
C) motivates poor black men to get jobs, pay child support, and see their children regularly
D) reduces violent crime rates in urban areas by removing potential offenders from the streets
E) transforms activities and social relations necessary to maintain a noncriminal identity into dangerous locations that could lead to arrest

Question 67

Which of the following most accurately describes the number of people in U.S.prisons?

A) Because of the excellent job the prisons are doing in rehabilitating inmates, the number of people incarcerated in the United States continues to decline.
B) Because many activities have been decriminalized, the number of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons is at an all-time low.
C) The ethnicity of state prisoners resembles the proportion of citizens in that state.
D) The United States has the highest incarceration rate per capita in the world.
E) The United States has more people in prison than other countries, but it has a larger population than other countries.

Question 68

What do sociologists call a group such as a drug-dealing gang that follows some social norms but many of its own were considered strange by most people?

A) aggregate
B) deviant subculture
C) normative group
D) sanction
E) social control

Question 69

Which of the following best describes Americans' beliefs about capital punishment?

A) The majority of Americans have always supported killing convicted criminals.
B) Americans' beliefs about capital punishment are similar to the beliefs of Europeans.
C) The percentage of Americans supporting the death penalty has nearly doubled in the past 40 years.
D) fewer Americans support capital punishment today than a generation ago.
E) Americans support capital punishment because it is distributed equally among all criminals, men and women, whites and blacks, and so on.

Question 70

Even "deviant" groups have their own norms to which members are expected to conform.

Question 71

The process of bringing community and family members into court to publicly state their condemnation of a criminal's behavior and to accept the responsibility for reintegrating the offender back into the community is called:

A) community policing
B) hazing
C) labeling
D) reintegrative shaming
E) stigmatizing shaming

Question 72

Traditionally,police work involved controlling crime.Increasingly,however,police officers are:

A) deviants, committing rather than preventing crime
B) corrections officers, herding criminals to prison
C) knowledge workers, mapping and predicting risk within the population
D) safety patrollers, guarding the health and welfare of citizens
E) traffic directors because of increased volume of cars on the roads during rush hour

Question 73

Most people at some point engage in behavior that could be considered deviant.

Question 74

Alice Goffman found that the men she studied who were wanted by the police for low-level violations reduced their likelihood of being arrested when they:

A) were secretive and unpredictable about their whereabouts
B) stayed at their mother's house
C) showed up to work regularly
D) reported to court when required
E) paid child support and visited their children regularly

Question 75

Community policing involves all of the following elements EXCEPT:

A) fostering citizen involvement in crime prevention
B) including all economic and ethnic groups in partnerships with police
C) increasing the use of incarceration to remove offenders from the community
D) creating partnerships between government agencies and community associations
E) renewing emphasis on crime prevention

Question 76

The term "prison-industrial complex" has been used by critics to describe the current American prison system.This refers to the fact that:

A) recent crackdowns on corporate crime have increased the proportion of inmates who are corporate executives
B) prisons increasingly employ inmates in factory work (e.g., constructing furniture or imprinting license plates)
C) large numbers of people have vested economic and political interests in the expansion of the prison system
D) jails and prisons have instituted costly job training programs for inmates to enter industrial jobs upon release
E) high rates of incarceration of persons of a lower class have led to a decrease in the industrial labor force

Question 77

In his study of a criminal gang in inner-city Chicago,Sudhir Venkatesh found that:

A) even the lowest-level drug dealer made lots of money
B) gang members had low aspirations
C) gang members were unintelligent
D) the gang ran its operations much like legitimate businesses
E) the gang was highly unorganized and chaotic in its operations

Question 78

At the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of 2004,police restricted demonstrators to a specific location.In this way,authorities believed they could minimize any law violations.This tactic is referred to as:

A) censorship
B) community policing
C) institutionalized discrimination
D) shaming as punishment
E) situational crime prevention

Question 79

Which country has the highest incarceration rate in the world?

A) China
B) Cuba
C) Russia
D) South Africa
E) United States

Question 80

Policy makers favor situational crime prevention techniques because they:

A) address the root causes of crime
B) affect all types of people equally
C) reassure citizens by giving the impression of decisive action against crime
D) reduce victimization of all segments of the population
E) shift the burden of crime reduction to residents