Deck 7: Deviance and Crime

Question 1

Among some Inuit ("Eskimo")communities at the beginning of the twentieth century,allowing newborns to freeze to death was not considered a deviant act.This illustrates that even when it comes to consensus crimes:

A)social definitions are immutable
B)social definitions are universal
C)social definitions are variable
D)social definitions are based on genetic information
E)none of these choices

Answer 1

C

Question 2

____ is not merely a departure from a statistical average.It implies violating an accepted rule of behavior.

A)conformity
B)informal punishment
C)deviance
D)sociology
E)all of these choices

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One might conclude,based on Nielson Media Research,that the United States is a society obsessed with ____:

A)absurd comedy
B)medicine
C)crime
D)politics
E)none of these choices

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which country has more people behind bars that any other country on earth?

A)Russia
B)China
C)India
D)the United States
E)none of these choices

Question 5

Mild sanctions such as raising eyebrows or ostracism,are called:

A)informal punishment
B)formal punishment
C)stigmatization
D)social sanctions
E)a and b

Question 6

The study of non-normative behavior that departs from expected behavior is known as the study of:

A)criminal justice
B)criminology
C)deviant behavior
D)sociology
E)all of these choices

Question 7

Whether a particular act is considered deviant or not depends upon the ____ definition of the behavior.

A)criminal
B)moral
C)ethical
D)social
E)legal

Question 8

The Los Angeles riot of 1992 shows that there may be competing understandings of an event.Typically,sociologists interested in understanding the Los Angeles riot of 1992 will try to understand how ____ led to the rioting and the labeling of the criminals by the police.

A)social definitions,social relationships,and social conditions
B)stereotyping
C)conformity
D)none of these choices
E)all of these choices

Question 9

People disagree about whether smoking marijuana should be considered a crime,especially since some advocates claim it may have therapeutic value in treating cancer or pain associated with cancer.This highlights which dimension of John Hagan's classification of deviance and crime?

A)severity of the social response
B)perceived harmfulness of the deviant or criminal act
C)degree of public agreement about whether an act should be considered deviant
D)the invariability of social definitions of deviance and crime
E)none of these choices

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a dimension of deviance and crime according to John Hagan?

A)severity of the social response
B)perceived harmfulness of the deviant or criminal act
C)degree of public agreement about whether an act should be considered deviant
D)the invariability of social definitions of deviance and crime
E)none of these choices

Question 11

According to sociologists who study crime,people commonly think of criminals as "the bad guys." This is:

A)only part of the problem with high rates of crime in the U.S.
B)common because American film and television depictions often fail to see the good side of criminals
C)an oversimplification
D)both a and b
E)all of these choices

Question 12

When people receive severe punishment because they broke a law they receive:

A)informal punishment
B)formal punishment
C)stigmatization
D)social sanctions
E)a slap on the wrist

Question 13

According to the text,deviance and crime:

A)are easy to define
B)are defined differently in different historical periods
C)are easy to understand because people always act in the same ways
D)are only deviance and crime in the eyes of the beholder
E)all of these choices

Question 14

Martin Luther King Jr.is today hailed by most Americans as a hero.This suggests how the social definition of ____ has changed over time.

A)crime
B)deviance
C)nonconformity
D)perceived harmful acts
E)all of these choices

Question 15

While some deviant acts,such as rape,are generally seen as very harmful,others,such as tattooing,are commonly regarded as being of little consequence.This demonstrates which dimension of deviance and crime?

A)severity of the social response
B)perceived harmfulness of the deviant or criminal act
C)degree of public agreement about whether an act should be considered deviant
D)the invariability of social definitions of deviance and crime
E)none of these choices

Question 16

____ involves breaking a norm.

A)conformity
B)informal punishment
C)deviance
D)sociology
E)all of these choices

Question 17

The labeling of certain behavior as deviant is ____.

A)objective
B)subjective
C)universally consistent
D)constant
E)easy

Question 18

About ____ people are incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States.

A)one million
B)two million
C)three million
D)four million
E)none of these choices

Question 19

When people are ____ they are negatively evaluated because of a marker that distinguishes them from others.

A)conforming
B)stigmatized
C)deviant
D)compliant
E)all of these choices

Question 20

Coca-Cola got its name because,in the early 1900s,the soda contained a derivative of cocaine.Now cocaine is an illegal drug because:

A)it was a severe issue
B)perceived harmfulness changed
C)there was no public agreement about whether cocaine in soda is bad
D)social definitions depend on what is profitable
E)all of these choices

Question 21

According to Diana Scully's research on convicted rapists,rape is still associated with a low rate of prosecution.She also notes that rapists often view:

A)women in contempt and do not regard rape as a real crime
B)women as strongly sexual beings
C)men as competitors
D)rape as not a serious crime
E)none of these choices

Question 22

Until recently,many types of crimes ____ were largely ignored in the United States and most other parts of the world.

A)against children
B)against women
C)against men
D)committed by young men
E)against corporations

Question 23

Rape involving strangers has been known as:

A)legal rape
B)simple rape
C)aggravated rape
D)real rape
E)none of these choices

Question 24

When many people agree that an act is deviant and somewhat harmful,and that the act should be subject to some kind of formal punishment,it is said to be a:

A)social diversion
B)social deviation
C)conflict crime
D)consensus crime
E)public-order crime

Question 25

The sociological approach that emphasizes how people socially create norms and laws is known as:

A)social control theory
B)strain theory
C)functional theory
D)social constructionism
E)conflict theory

Question 26

The continuum created by John Hagan moves from crimes in which there is ____ over the societal harm caused by the act to ____ over the societal harm.

A)confusion; high agreement
B)apathy; low agreement
C)severe reaction; mild agreement
D)no reaction; high agreement
E)none of these choices

Question 27

A mild public reaction such as amusement or disdain toward an act or person would be a characteristic of:

A)social diversions
B)social deviations
C)conflict crimes
D)consensus crimes
E)none of these choices

Question 28

Tsar Peter the Great of Russia imposed a tax on beards on September 1,1698.Which type of crime would this illustrate?

A)social diversions
B)social deviations
C)conflict crimes
D)consensus crimes
E)public-order crimes

Question 29

If you claim that crime is NOT inherent in certain actions,but is created because some people are in a position to create norms and pass laws that stigmatize other people,then you would be advocating:

A)social control theory
B)strain theory
C)subcultural theory
D)social constructionism
E)the theory of differential association

Question 30

According to John Hagan,consensus crimes are:

A)crimes that the state defines as illegal,but wider society defines as non-criminal
B)crimes that the state defines as illegal,but the definition is controversial in the wider society
C)crimes in which physical conflict occurs,such as assault and armed robbery
D)crimes in which legal conflict occurs,that is,crimes that are legally prosecuted
E)none of these choices

Question 31

Some things that Americans would consider insignificant,such as hairstyle:

A)are not necessarily trivial
B)are based on culture
C)are based on culture and time period
D)can be a matter of life and death in some cultures
E)all of these choices

Question 32

According to John Hagan,minor acts of deviance,such as participating in fads and fashions,or in dyeing your hair an unusual color,are called ____.

A)social diversions
B)social deviations
C)conflict crimes
D)consensus crimes
E)synthetic deviation

Question 33

A crime that generates little debate over its seriousness is a type of:

A)social diversion
B)social deviation
C)conflict crime
D)consensus crime
E)public-order crime

Question 34

Compared to 30 years ago:

A)rape and sexual harassment are less often prosecuted
B)white-collar crime is more often prosecuted
C)power between classes has become more evenly distributed,resulting in increased prosecution of white-collar crime
D)power between women and men has become less evenly distributed,resulting in increased prosecution of rape and sexual harassment
E)none of these choices

Question 35

Rape is prosecuted more often today than in the past because women's position in the following areas has changed:

A)the economy
B)the family
C)government
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices

Question 36

When considering John Hagan's classification of the types of deviance and crime,it becomes clear that:

A)as the actual harmfulness increases,agreement about seriousness increases
B)it is impossible to predict what makes an act deviant or criminal
C)consensus crimes become social deviations over time
D)trivial matters are universal across different cultures
E)as the perceived harmfulness increases,agreement about seriousness increases

Question 37

According to the text,which of the following is a crucial element in the social construction of deviance and crime?

A)mass media
B)language
C)power
D)individual psychology
E)desire

Question 38

If a woman is raped by a friend or an acquaintance it is often called:

A)legal rape
B)simple rape
C)aggravated rape
D)real rape
E)none of these choices

Question 39

According to Brym and Lie,definitions of crime are usually constructed so as to bestow advantages on the ____ members of society and disadvantages on the ____.

A)more powerful; less powerful
B)less powerful; more powerful
C)political; economic
D)mainstream; subcultural
E)all of these choices

Question 40

Increased public awareness of the extent of sexual harassment has probably made it less common.However,for some,sexual harassment is now considered a ____ ,even though many people consider it a crime under most circumstances.

A)social diversion
B)social deviation
C)conflict crime
D)consensus crime
E)public-order crime

Question 41

Which type of crime results in relatively few prosecutions and even fewer convictions?

A)white-collar crime
B)public-order crime
C)street crime
D)state crime
E)victimless crime

Question 42

Self-report surveys:

A)show about three times the rate of serious crime as official statistics
B)show about the same rate of less serious crime as official statistics
C)show about the same rate of serious and less serious crime as official statistics
D)are rarely conducted these days due to serious methodological flaws in their design
E)none of these choices

Question 43

The crime rate fell in the 1990s due to:

A)a decline in the proportion of young men in the population
B)increased policing
C)communities establishing their own systems of surveillance and patrol
D)low unemployment
E)all of these choices

Question 44

Sociologists have attributed the changing rate of crime in the 1990s to which of the following factors?

A)change in the proportion of young men in the population
B)increased policing
C)the introduction of legal abortion in 1973
D)high employment
E)all of these choices

Question 45

Such crimes as embezzlement,false advertising,tax evasion,insider stock trading,fraud,copyright infringement,and price fixing are all examples of:

A)white-collar crime
B)public-order crime
C)street crime
D)state crime
E)victimless crime

Question 46

Many sociologists believe that ____ crimes are costlier than ____ crimes.

A)street; white-collar
B)white-collar; street
C)victimless; street
D)white-collar; state
E)none of these choices

Question 47

A crime "committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his [or her] occupation" is called a:

A)street crime
B)public-order crime
C)white-collar crime
D)victimless crime
E)state crime

Question 48

Many crimes are not incorporated in the major crime indexes published by the FBI.Indeed,several types of crimes are excluded.These excluded crimes are often:

A)street crimes
B)state crimes
C)public crimes
D)victimless crimes
E)violent crimes

Question 49

Between 1960 and 1992,the United States experienced roughly a ____ increase in the rate of violent crime,including murder and non-negligent manslaughter,rape,robbery,and aggravated assault.

A)100%
B)200%
C)500%
D)1,000%
E)10%

Question 50

Although corporate crimes may kill more people than street crimes,most members of the American public are:

A)angry about corporate crimes
B)indifferent toward corporate crimes
C)worried about corporate crimes
D)none of these choices
E)all of these choices

Question 51

A controversial finding among some researchers is that the recent decline in crime started nineteen years after:

A)the Kennedy assassination
B)abortion was legalized
C)gun buy back programs
D)the Brady bill
E)none of these choices

Question 52

The reasons why white-collar crime results in few prosecutions and still fewer convictions include:

A)much white-collar crime take place in private
B)white-collar crime is difficult to detect
C)white-collar criminals can afford legal experts
D)white-collar criminals are able to influence how they are perceived
E)all of these choices

Question 53

The social construction of white-collar crime has ____ since 1970 because upper classes are about as powerful now as they were in 1970.

A)changed little
B)changed a great deal
C)balanced
D)greatly increased
E)greatly decreased

Question 54

Armed robbers netted perhaps $400 million in the 1980s,but the savings and loan scandal cost the American public between ____ dollars during that decade.

A)$300 - 400 million
B)$1 - 5 billion
C)$500 - 600 billion
D)$1 - 2 trillion
E)$50 - 100 billion

Question 55

Crimes that involve violations of the law in which no victim steps forward and is identified are known as:

A)street crimes
B)state crimes
C)public crimes
D)victimless crimes
E)violent crimes

Question 56

Rates of crime are:

A)calculated only for white collar crime
B)the actual number of crimes committed in a given crime category
C)calculated only by local police departments
D)the number of crimes committed in a given crime category per 100,000 population
E)all of these choices

Question 57

FBI crime statistics reported for the past several years show:

A)a slight decline in serious crime
B)a dramatic increase in serious crime
C)a dramatic decline in almost all forms of violent crime
D)no change in the rates or trends of crime
E)that there have been dramatic changes in the crime rate over the past twenty-five years

Question 58

____ crime is not reported to the police.

A)almost no
B)some
C)almost all
D)much
E)none of these choices

Question 59

What kind of crimes are committed disproportionately by people from the lower classes?

A)white-collar crime
B)public-order crime
C)street crime
D)state crime
E)victimless crime

Question 60

Which of the following is NOT a factor in explaining the decline of crime in the 1990s?

A)more police were put on the streets
B)communities established their own systems of surveillance and patrol
C)the number of young men in the population declined
D)the economic expansion of the 1990s
E)decreased business surveillance of shoplifters

Question 61

A collective adaptation to social conditions in which people create distinctive norms and values is known as a:

A)moral panic
B)rebellion
C)subcultural theory
D)survival strategy
E)unified social control

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT a feature of criminal subcultures?

A)different subcultures in a neighborhood influence the types of crime that occur
B)members usually justify their crimes
C)criminal generally use a whole series of rationalizations
D)criminals are strict conformists when it comes to the norms of their own subculture
E)none of these choices,these are all features of criminal subcultures

Question 63

Statistical bias in the way that crime statistics are collected is due largely to the absence of data on white-collar crimes in the official crime indexes.This makes it appear as if blacks commit a higher proportion of all crimes than they actually do.This explains the racial bias because:

A)racial characteristics are not collected in white-collar crime statistics
B)white-collar crimes are disproportionately committed by people of color
C)white-collar crimes are disproportionately committed by whites
D)racial characteristics are not collected on any crimes
E)none of these choices

Question 64

Robert Merton saw crime or deviance as ultimately a result of:

A)anomie
B)body type
C)peer group pressure
D)leaning
E)imitation

Question 65

Methods of ensuring conformity are known as:

A)criminal profiles
B)control theories
C)social controls
D)strain theories
E)punishments

Question 66

In the mid-1990s the crime rate of African-American men was not much different from their crime rate in 1980,but during that time period their imprisonment rate:

A)rose slightly
B)fell by over 100%
C)rose more than 300%
D)remained the same
E)followed the increase in prison construction

Question 67

The age cohort that is the most crime prone is:

A)8-15 year-olds
B)15-20 year-olds
C)130 year-olds
D)the baby boomer generation
E)there is no one single age cohort that is the most responsible for crime

Question 68

Most sociologists agree that the disproportionately high arrest,conviction,and incarceration rates of African Americans are due to:

A)bias in the way crime statistics are collected
B)the low average class position of blacks in American society
C)racial discrimination in the criminal justice system
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices

Question 69

Theories that seek to explain the attraction of criminal behavior by identifying the social factors that provoke or control deviance,crime,or conventional behaviors are called:

A)motivational theories
B)constraint theories
C)strain theories
D)subcultural theories
E)techniques of neutralization

Question 70

Today,the United States government spends eighteen times more on ____ than it did in 1980.

A)violent crime
B)property crime
C)drug control
D)vice control
E)stopping prostitution

Question 71

According to Robert Merton,which of the following social types would accept cultural goals but reject the institutionalized (cultural)means to obtain those goals?

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

Question 72

Which of the following is NOT one of the major policies on drug control?

A)drug legalization
B)stopping drugs at the border
C)arresting drug traders and users
D)drug prevention and treatment
E)controlling the drug trade abroad

Question 73

Which of the following is NOT a factor in the disproportionately high arrest,conviction,and incarceration rates of African-Americans?

A)geographical distribution
B)the low average class position of blacks in American society
C)racial discrimination in the criminal justice system
D)police attitudes toward racial minorities in American society
E)bias in the way crime statistics are collected

Question 74

Theories that seek to explain the attraction of criminal behavior by identifying the social factors that drive people to commit deviance and crime are called:

A)motivational theories
B)constraint theories
C)strain theories
D)subcultural theories
E)techniques of neutralization

Question 75

According to Jerome Miller,the criminal justice system efficiently searches out ____ for arrest and conviction.

A)young offenders
B)African-American males
C)middle class men
D)recent immigrants
E)all of these choices

Question 76

The majority of individuals arrested in the United States in 2001 were:

A)men
B)women
C)over thirty years of age
D)highly educated
E)men over thirty years of age

Question 77

Which of the following is NOT a feature of criminal subcultures?

A)different subcultures in a neighborhood influence the types of crime that occur
B)members usually justify their crimes
C)criminals often feel remorseful for their crimes in private
D)criminals are strict conformists when it comes to the norms of their own subculture
E)none of these choices,these are all features of criminal subcultures

Question 78

Men are 3.3 times more likely than women to be arrested because of:

A)traditional social controls
B)socialization
C)definitions of masculinity
D)definitions of femininity
E)all of these choices

Question 79

Which of the following is the most cost effective drug policy?

A)drug legalization
B)stopping drugs at the border
C)arresting drug traders and users
D)drug prevention and treatment
E)controlling the drug trade abroad

Question 80

The theory of deviance and crime that focuses on how American culture teaches people to value material success is called:

A)motivational theory
B)constraint theory
C)strain theory
D)subcultural theory
E)techniques of neutralization