Deck 8: Deviance and Social Control

Question 1

_____ refers to blemishes that discredit a person's claim to a "normal" identity.

A) Crime
B) Norm
C) Deviance
D) Stigma

Answer 1

D

Question 2

About _____ of all those in prison have a father, mother, brother, sister, or spouse who has also served time in prison.

A) one-ninth
B) one-fourth
C) one-half
D) two-thirds

Answer 2

C

Question 3

_____ is the violation of norms.

A) Negative sanction
B) Deviance
C) Social control
D) Stigma

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In control theory, how many control systems are in place to work against our tendencies to deviate?

A) None
B) One
C) Two
D) Six

Question 5

Psychologists look at _____ as a possible cause of deviance.

A) factors outside the individual
B) social influences that recruit people to break norms
C) personality disorders
D) genes

Question 6

_____ violate(s) rules that are written into law.

A) Crime
B) Deviance
C) Personality disorders
D) Social order

Question 7

Killing is _____ in mainstream society; but for members of the Mafia, when certain of their norms are broken that threaten a person's honor, _____ would be a deviant act.

A) deviant; not killing
B) deviant; killing
C) frowned upon; killing
D) not deviant; killing

Question 8

The _____ our bonds are with society, the _____ our inner controls are.

A) weaker; more effective
B) weaker; less relevant
C) stronger; more effective
D) stronger; less effective

Question 9

Because deviance undermines predictability, a system of _____ was developed to enforce the norms.

A) street crime
B) sociology
C) social control
D) assumption reinforcement

Question 10

Street crime refers to acts such as

A) embezzlement.
B) identity theft.
C) mugging, rape, and robbery.
D) a corporation hiding large sums of money to avoid paying taxes.

Question 11

Techniques of _____ are ways of thinking or rationalizing that help people deflect, or neutralize, society's norms.

A) neutralization
B) the cyber age
C) control theory
D) degradation

Question 12

Symbolic interactionists stress that we

A) are prisoners of socialization.
B) in effect, are pawns in the hands of others.
C) help to produce our own orientation to life.
D) are predestined to think and act as our groups dictate.

Question 13

_____ states that the labels people are given affect their own and others' perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior into either deviance or conformity.

A) Deviance theory
B) Control theory
C) Labeling theory
D) Neutralization

Question 14

Ted gave a talk to his high school class that was laced with humor and understanding and showed that he really grasped the important points in the history of the French Revolution, which was what his history class was studying. When he was finished, Ted was praised by his teacher as well as by several classmates. The praise was an example of a

A) norm.
B) positive sanction.
C) stigmatization.
D) negative sanction.

Question 15

There are a variety of ways to approach deviance. _____ look for answers within individuals, such as a possible genetic predisposition to deviance.

A) All sociologists
B) Conflict theorists
C) Sociobiologists
D) Psychologists

Question 16

The motorcycle policeman appeared out of nowhere and pulled Teresa over for speeding. He was friendly and businesslike as he stood by Teresa's open window and issued her a $250 ticket. This is an example of a

A) negative sanction.
B) neutral sanction.
C) positive sanction.
D) street crime.

Question 17

Edward Sutherland used the term _____ to indicate that people who associate with some groups learn an excess of definitions of deviance, increasing the likelihood that they will become deviant.

A) control theory
B) labeling theory
C) shaming
D) differential association

Question 18

Shaming is

A) illegal.
B) a relic dating to colonial times.
C) starting to make a comeback.
D) a form of neutralization.

Question 19

A group's _____, or customary social arrangements, is brought about by norms.

A) social order
B) deviance
C) crime
D) stigma

Question 20

In families living in dangerous neighborhoods, parents want to move because they feel that if their kids have delinquent friends, they are likely to become delinquent, too. Sociological research _____ this belief.

A) rejects
B) supports
C) has not addressed
D) is mixed in its findings on

Question 21

Conflict theorists view the criminal justice system as

A) operating impartially to bring justice to all.
B) a tool designed by the powerful to maintain their power and privilege.
C) focusing on punishment of the powerful.
D) an honest endeavor by society to settle disputes equitably.

Question 22

_____ may force a group to rethink its moral boundaries, helping the group to adapt to changing circumstances.

A) Deviance
B) Strain theory
C) White collar crime
D) Social disintegration

Question 23

The system of police, courts, and prisons set up to deal with people who are accused of having committed a crime is known as

A) favoring the poor.
B) the criminal justice system.
C) a mockery.
D) class blind and color blind.

Question 24

When judges assign youthful offenders to social workers and counselors, rather than sending them to reform school or jail, they are using diversion, which testifies to the power of

A) labeling theory.
B) neutralization.
C) shaming.
D) degradation ceremonies.

Question 25

In strain theory, institutionalized means are

A) rejected.
B) approved ways of reaching cultural goals.
C) unapproved ways of reaching cultural goals.
D) outmoded.

Question 26

Outlaw bikers _____ a deviant identity.

A) reject
B) deny
C) neutralize
D) revel in

Question 27

A _____ is committed by people of respectable and high social status in the course of their occupations.

A) street crime
B) white-collar crime
C) victimless crime
D) crime that results in society's most severe punishments

Question 28

In a(n) _____, an individual is called to account before the group, witnesses denounce the person, the offender is pronounced guilty, and the offender is then stripped of the identity of being a group member.

A) example of labeling theory
B) degradation ceremony
C) example of differential association theory
D) illegal type of self-control

Question 29

How does deviance clarify moral boundaries and affirm norms?

A) By following the tenets of strain theory
B) Punishment of a deviating group member helps make clear what it means to be a member of the group.
C) By opening up the illegitimate opportunity structure
D) Rewarding deviance enhances the strength of the group as a whole.

Question 30

In the 20 years from 1992 to 2012, the percentage of people arrested for burglary who were women

A) decreased dramatically.
B) decreased slightly.
C) increased by 31%.
D) increased by 82%.

Question 31

In prison, _____ of inmates have less than a high-school education. In the U.S. population over 18 years of age, _____ of people have less than a high-school education.

A) 10.1%; 2.7%
B) 16.4%; 5.0%
C) 20.3%; 8.8%
D) 30.6%; 12.4%

Question 32

On any given day, one out of _____ African American, one out of _____ Latino, and one out of _____ white men in their 20s is in jail.

A) 20; 13; 19
B) 10; 20; 30
C) 8; 26; 100
D) 5; 30; 143

Question 33

Strain theory _____ the sociological view that deviants are the product of society.

A) rejects
B) offers an alternative to
C) diminishes
D) supports

Question 34

Sociologist Robert Merton developed

A) deviance theory.
B) a defense of white-collar crime.
C) strain theory.
D) modern sociology.

Question 35

Executives who committed corporate crimes at Macy's, Sears, and Bloomingdales spent _____ in jail.

A) an average of 10 years
B) an average of five years
C) an average of six months
D) no time

Question 36

The United States has 5% of the world's population and about _____ of the world's prisoners.

A) 3%
B) 5%
C) 13%
D) 25%

Question 37

Executives who are responsible for harm caused by creating pollution, manipulating prices, or making unsafe products can usually

A) get away with a modest amount of jail time.
B) bypass the courts altogether.
C) go into the witness protection program.
D) count on their corporations not having to pay any fines.

Question 38

The _____ refers to opportunities for crimes that are woven into the texture of life.

A) illegitimate opportunity structure
B) strain theory
C) legitimate opportunity structure
D) social disorder theory

Question 39

_____ attempt(s) to neutralize the moral demands of society.

A) None of us
B) Very few people
C) Only deviates
D) All of us

Question 40

According to functionalists, deviance _____ social unity.

A) encourages
B) has no discernible impact upon
C) destroys
D) discourages

Question 41

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, _____ of those put to death have been white and _____ have been African American.

A) 51%; 49%
B) 58%; 44%
C) 62%; 38%
D) 73%; 24%

Question 42

Women commit about _____ of murders, but make up only _____ of death row inmates.

A) 10%; 2%
B) 10%; 4%
C) 18%; 11%
D) 21%; 13%

Question 43

Serial murder is defined as the killing of several victims in _____ or more separate events.

A) three
B) five
C) eight
D) 15

Question 44

Describe the relationship between homelessness and mental illness.

Question 45

What is differential association theory?

Question 46

The sharp decline in violent crime can be attributed to

A) increased employment.
B) a variety of potential factors; research has not yet shown which.
C) a lower birth rate.
D) the elimination of lead in gasoline.

Question 47

_____, the decision to arrest someone or even to ignore a matter, is a routine part of police work.

A) Police corruption
B) Police discretion
C) Recidivism
D) Medicalization of deviance

Question 48

What are the five techniques of neutralization given by Sykes and Matza (1957/1988)?

Question 49

In the medicalization of deviance, deviance becomes a symptom of some underlying illness that demands treatment by

A) the court.
B) sociologists.
C) physicians.
D) the police.

Question 50

Who did the spate of "three strikes" laws actually end up convicting?

A) Nonviolent offenders
B) Murderers
C) Rapists
D) Child molesters

Question 51

How do norms make a social life possible?

Question 52

A good indicator that the death penalty applies to lower-class citizens is that _____ of all the prisoners on death row have not finished high school.

A) one-fourth
B) one-half
C) two-thirds
D) seven-eighths

Question 53

The term capital punishment refers to

A) white-collar crime.
B) nonviolent crime.
C) the death penalty.
D) laws regulating capitalism in countries under autocratic rule.

Question 54

Give three ways that functionalists such as Durkheim say that deviance contributes to the social order.

Question 55

The recidivism rate, which is the percentage of released convicts who are rearrested, is _____ within three years of release.

A) 15%
B) 38%
C) 68%
D) 91%