Deck 4: Defining Deviance Down, Daniel Moynihan

Question 1

Moynihan's normalizing method refers to ______.

A)The acceptance of alternative family structure
B)The decrease in crime rate
C)The fact that less serious crimes are no longer deemed deviant
D)The fact that crimes are no longer punishable

Answer 1

The fact that less serious crimes are no longer deemed deviant

Question 2

Moynihan's opportunistic method refers to ______.

A)Allowing deviancy to grow in order to justify a transfer of resources to those who control the deviant population
B)The acceptance of alternative family structure
C)The decrease in crime rate
D)The fact that less serious crimes are no longer deemed deviant

Answer 2

Allowing deviancy to grow in order to justify a transfer of resources to those who control the deviant population

Question 3

Moynihan's methods of redefining deviance do NOT include ______.

A)The altruistic method
B)The opportunistic method
C)The stabilizing method
D)The normalizing method

Answer 3

The stabilizing method

Question 4

According to Moynihan, the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill patients is an example of ______.

A)The altruistic method
B)The opportunistic method
C)The stabilizing method
D)The normalizing method

Question 5

In the face of "defining deviancy down," Moynihan suggests that we should ______.

A)Embrace the new social reality
B)Continue defining deviancy down
C)Return to old traditions and morals
D)Medicalize deviance

Question 6

"Over the past generation, since the time Erickson wrote, the amount of deviant behavior in American society has increased beyond the levels a community can "afford to recognize" and that, accordingly, we have been re-defining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized." What does Moynihan mean by this? Which deviance scholars is he responding to and what evidence does he provide to counter their claims?