Deck 1: Introducing Deviance

Question 1

To most sociologists, what defines deviance is an "audience"-a collectivity of persons who evaluate whether a given act, belief, or trait is acceptable or unacceptable.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Religious views are off-limits for the sociologist of deviance.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Diversity regarding what is considered wrongful is infinite and without boundaries.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Most of us abide by all of society's rules all of the time.

Question 5

Sociologically, whatever is defined as deviant is that which should be condemned.

Question 6

Deviance is a descriptive, not an analytic concept.

Question 7

Sociologists of deviance only study serious violations of moral codes, such as violations of the Ten Commandments.

Question 8

The terms "deviance" and "deviant" are non-pejorative; they are descriptive terms that sociologists use to refer to what members of a society, or social circles in a society, think, or how they react to behavior, beliefs, and traits they consider unacceptable.

Question 9

Another term for the "horizontal" conception of deviance is the "grass roots" conception of deviance.

Question 10

Gay sex, once de-deviantized, is in the process of becoming re-deviantized.

Question 11

Most sociologists of deviance study only motivated behavior; involuntarily-acquired undesirable conditions, such as blindness and dwarfism, cannot be regarded as deviance because they are not the person's fault.

Question 12

There is an "inner essence" to deviance, a universal, inherent evil that defines what is wrongful everywhere.

Question 13

The constructionist approach to deviance is guided by the central question, "Why do they do it?"

Question 14

Polluting the environment is seriously deviant to all audiences everywhere on the planet.

Question 15

Deviance and harm are two words for exactly the same thing.

Question 16

"High" consensus deviance comprises only economic crimes.

Question 17

Beliefs are deviant to the extent that they are false.

Question 18

Sociologists agree that mental experiments should not be performed to identify what a society considers deviant.

Question 19

Premarital sex is less frequently discussed in deviance texts today as opposed to the past.

Question 20

Deviance is an either-or proposition.

Question 21

To the sociologist, deviance is behavior, beliefs, and conditions that are likely, if discovered, to be punished and/or condemned.

Question 22

To the sociologist, the only audience that matters in defining deviance is the society at large.

Question 23

Sociologically, "deviance" is simply something that is different from or deviates from a social norm; nothing else matters.

Question 24

The key to defining deviance sociologically is social disapproval.

Question 25

Withdrawal of sociability-leaving the presence of someone-is a form of social disapproval of what they say or do.

Question 26

It is unfair to judge someone for something that is not the person's fault.

Question 27

A definition is a theory; the two are different terms for the same thing.

Question 28

Sociologically racism is deviant because it is immoral.

Question 29

A majority of the population of France considers atheism as morally unacceptable.

Question 30

Sociologist do not consider any form of physical characteristic as the basis for defining deviance.

Question 31

The sociologist regards expressing an unpopular belief as a form of deviance.

Question 32

Holding (and expressing) an unacceptable belief may be regarded as an example of cognitive deviance.

Question 33

Definitions of behavior that are regarded as wrongful "here, but not there" represent the mosaic dimension of deviance.

Question 34

Today, smoking is unacceptable in more situations and by more audiences than was true in the past; this is an example of defining deviance up.

Question 35

The Crusades represents a historical example of cognitive deviance-two factions in conflict because they defined right and wrong in different ways.

Question 36

Sociologically, deviance only refers to:

A) behavior
B) blemishes of individual character
C) beliefs
D) physical traits or characteristics
E) none of the above; deviance can refer to all of the above

Question 37

An example of "high" consensus deviance in the United States is:

A) premarital intercourse
B) homosexuality
C) white collar crime
D) gambling
E) extramarital sex

Question 38

According to the typology spelled out in Erving Goffman's book Stigma-and according to most sociologists of deviance-in contemporary America, blemishes of individual character include:

A) physical deformities
B) blindness
C) being Jewish
D) alcoholism
E) none of the above

Question 39

Most sociologists of deviance believe that since:

A) it is unfair to label someone with a physical handicap as a deviant, having a physical handicap should not be regarded as deviant.
B) lying and committing adultery are extremely common, lying and committing adultery should not be not regarded as forms of deviance.
C) nearly everything is considered deviant to someone, we are all deviants.
D) everything is deviant somewhere, deviance is a meaningless concept.
E) none of the above

Question 40

Deviance is a/n:

A) fictional concept
B) fanciful concept
C) analytic concept
D) biased concept
E) prejudicial concept

Question 41

The sociology of deviance:

A) accepts historical relativity, but rejects relativity from one collectivity to another.
B) accepts relativity from one collectivity to another, but rejects historical relativity.
C) accepts both historical relativity and relativity from one collectivity toanother.
D) rejects both historical relativity and relativity from one collectivity toanother.
E) none of the above.

Question 42

Over time, public attitudes toward gay sex represents an example of defining deviance:

A) down.
B) up
C) neither up nor down
D) both up and down
E) none of the above

Question 43

Most of the forms of deviance discussed in courses and textbooks on deviance are:

A) abominations of the body
B) violations of esthetic standards
C) behavioral
D) unconventional beliefs
E) tribal stigma of race, nation, and religion

Question 44

Medical marijuana is legal in:

A) no states of the United States
B) all states of the United States
C) some states of the United States but not others.
D) most but not all of the states of the United States
E) None of the above

Question 45

In the United States, according to federal law, medical marijuana is:

A) legal, but illegal according to all state laws.
B) illegal, but legal according to all state laws.
C) legal, as well as according to all state laws.
D) illegal, as well as according to all state laws.
E) None of the above

Question 46

Sociologically:

A) Achieved statuses can be the basis for judgments of deviance; ascribed statuses cannot.
B) Ascribed statuses can be the basis for judgments of deviance; achieved statuses cannot.
C) Neither achieved nor ascribed statuses can be the basis for judgments of deviance.
D) Both achieved and ascribed statuses can be the basis for judgments of deviance
E) none of the above

Question 47

In the United States, which of the following is the most morally unacceptable and therefore the most "deviant" of the following activities?

A) using pornography
B) abortion
C) cloning humans
D) extramarital sex
E) interracial marriage

Question 48

The form of deviance that Goffman does not include in his typology is the stigma of:

A) race, religion, and nation
B) abominations of the body
C) blemishes of individual character
D) absolute evil
E) none of the above; all are included in Goffman's typology

Question 49

Polluting the environment is deviant according to:

A) all definitions of deviance.
B) no definitions of deviance.
C) some definitions of deviance but not others.
D) the answer to this question is unknown and unknowable.
E) none of the above

Question 50

The sociological definition of deviance is based on:

A) statistical rarity.
B) psychopathology.
C) harm.
D) the reaction of audiences.
E) none of the above

Question 51

Do the sociology of deviance textbooks include a chapter on suicide?

A) All of them do.
B) None of them does.
C) Some do, some don't.
D) The answer to this question is unknown and unknowable.
E) none of the above

Question 52

According to Adler and Adler's "ABCs" of deviance:

A) Behavior can be the basis for judgments of deviance, but physical traits cannot.
B) Physical traits can be the basis for judgments of deviance, but behavior cannot.
C) Both behavior and physical traits can be the basis for judgments of deviance.
D) Neither behavior not physical traits can be the basis for judgments of deviance.
E) none of the above

Question 53

Sociologists pinpoint four defining criteria for deviance. Which of the following is not one of them?

A) a rule or norm
B) someone who violates that rule or norm
C) an audience who judges that a violation has taken place
D) the likelihood that an audience reacts negatively to a given violation
E) none of the above is not a criterion for deviance

Question 54

The ABCs of deviance are:

A) affairs-the banality of evil-cupidity
B) arrogance-babbling-cruelty
C) absence-backwardness-confusion
D) attitudes-behavior-conditions
E) none of the above

Question 55

The perspective that focuses on explanations for why deviant behavior takes place is referred to as:

A) contextualism
B) constructivism
C) relativism
D) positivism
E) criminalization

Question 56

The first comprehensive modern deviance textbook was:

A) Erving Goffman's Stigma
B) Howard Becker's Outsiders
C) Marshall Clinard's Sociology of Deviant Behavior
D) Ned Polsky's Hustlers, Beats, and Others
E) Edwin Sagarin's Deviance and Deviants

Question 57

An example of "situational" deviance is behavior that is or was punished as wrongful:

A) everywhere in the world
B) in France and the United States
C) among Third World countries as well as in fully developed industrialized nations of the world
D) throughout historical time
E) none of the above is an example of situational deviance

Question 58

Which of the following behaviors was recognized as a form of seriously wrongful behavior only within the past decade or so?

A) the use of pornography
B) sexual harassment
C) rape
D) sex before marriage
E) adultery

Question 59

Sociologists define deviance as______________ that violates a collective's norms, the violation of which tends to attract negative reactions from specified audiences.

A) behavior only
B) behavior and beliefs only
C) behavior and conditions only
D) behavior, beliefs, and conditions (along with racial, ethnic, national, and religious characteristics)
E) none of the above

Question 60

In deviance, sociologically considered:

A) no genuine universals exist
B) one universals exists-"Thou shalt not kill."
C) many universals exist
D) the answer to this question is unknown-and unknowable
E) none of the above

Question 61

Sociologically, what is deviance is:

A) a matter of degree, a spectrum, a continuum from being regarded as mildly to seriously wrongful
B) an either-or proposition, wrongful or not-wrongful
C) neither a spectrum nor an either-or proposition
D) unknown and unknowable as to one or the other
E) none of the above

Question 62

Sociologically, deviance is:

A) is a simple quality or characteristic resting within an action, belief, or characteristic.
B) that which is considered wrongful by designated audiences and reacted to as such by members of those audiences.
C) that which is considered wrongful everywhere and throughout human history.
D) an unknown or unknowable phenomenon.
E) none of the above

Question 63

There is one categorical or generic cause of deviant behavior:

A) a lack of education.
B) a genetic defect.
C) godlessness.
D) poverty
E) none of the above

Question 64

Looking at deviance from a hierarchical perspective raises the question of:

A) the dominance of one category over others in a given society.
B) horizontal definitions of wrongdoing.
C) the grass-roots of the society
D) eternal definitions of right and wrong.
E) none of the above

Question 65

Sociologically, deviance, by definition, is:

A) immoral
B) psychopathological
C) harmful
D) ungodly
E) none of the above

Question 66

Why are courses that are called "Deviant Behavior" somewhat misnamed?

A) They aren't about deviant behavior at all.
B) They aren't about behavior at all.
C) They aren't about deviance at all.
D) The concept, "social deviance," refers not only to behavior that is designated as deviant, but also beliefs and traits that are regarded as deviant as well.
E) none of the above

Question 67

Which of the following is not a "necessary ingredient" that defines deviance?

A) the existence of a rule or a norm
B) someone who violates-or who is thought to violate-a norm
C) an "audience": one or more persons who evaluate something to be a normative violation
D) a certain likelihood that one or more audiences will react negatively to a perceived normative violation
E) none of the above; all are necessary ingredients that define what's deviant

Question 68

To the sociologist of deviance, when considering whether something is deviant or not, the most relevant question is:

A) How does God feel about it?
B) Does it violate human nature?
C) How do relevant audiences feel about it and react to it?
D) How uncommon or statistically infrequent is it?
E) none of the above is a sociologically relevant question

Question 69

Cognitive deviance includes:

A) holding unpopular, unconventional, unorthodox, or despised religious beliefs
B) organizational deviance
C) tribal stigma of race, nation, and religion
D) alcoholism, addiction, and homosexuality
E) none of the above

Question 70

In defining what's deviant, sociologists reject the concept of:

A) absolutism
B) relativism
C) "audiences"
D) empirical reality
E) none of the above

Question 71

To the constructionist, deviance exists because:

A) Certain behavior is immoral everywhere and for all time.
B) Some behavior violates God's law.
C) It is factually and empirically wrong.
D) It is caused by certain forces that can be explained.
E) none of the above

Question 72

The perspective that asks the question, "Why do some people engage in deviance?" is:

A) positivism
B) social constructionism
C) defining deviancy up
D) defining deviancy down
E) the study of cultural representations

Question 73

Excluded from Goffman's concept of "blemishes of individual character" is:

A) unemployment
B) alcoholism
C) treacherous and rigid beliefs
D) mental disorder
E) the violation of the norm of having a pleasing, esthetic appearance

Question 74

The principle of relativity-one of the foundation-stones of the concept of deviance-applies:

A) across societies, but not through time
B) through time, but not across societies
C) both across societies and through time
D) neither across societies nor through time
E) none of the above

Question 75

Over time, deviance has been defined:

A) down, but not up
B) up, but not down
C) both up and down
D) neither up nor down
E) none of the above

Question 76

Sociologically, deviance takes place or exists:

A) everywhere and anywhere people engage in behavior, hold and express beliefs, and possess traits that others regard as unacceptable or reprehensible
B) only among the marginal, disreputable segments of the society
C) only in the boardroom of large corporations and the headquarters of the military, that is, only among the most powerful segments of the society
D) only in the private, secret corners of the society
E) none of the above

Question 77

According to the author of the textbook, Deviant Behavior:

A) Only societal deviance is sociologically relevant; situational deviance is irrelevant.
B) Only situational deviance is sociologically relevant; societal deviance is irrelevant.
C) Both societal and situational deviance are sociologically relevant.
D) Neither societal nor situational deviance are sociologically relevant.
E) none of the above

Question 78

What are the "ABCs" of deviance? Why are all three regarded as types of deviance? How can sociologists refer to traits or characteristics that are "not the person's fault" as instances of deviance? Is this fair? Is it sociologically meaningful? What about belonging to a particular racial, national, or ethnic category--can this be regarded as a form of deviance? Why or why not?

Question 79

Does the principle of relativity mean that the sociologists cannot make moral judgments at all? Why or why not? Discuss fully and in detail.

Question 80

Cite some instances of the relativity of deviance according to variations from one society to another, through time, and in one situational context versus another? Do you believe that certain actions are "really and truly" deviant in spite of the fact that have been accepted, tolerated, even in encouraged in come places, times, and contexts? Is the sociology of deviance immoral in its acceptance of moral and ethical relativity?