Question 1

Which theory best explains why a neighborhood that had only minor problems, such as abandoned cars and graffiti, began to see an increase in other more serious types of property crime?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

A)   The majority of Americans have always supported capital punishment.
B)   The majority of Americans have always opposed capital punishment.
C)   The majority of adults supported capital punishment in 2012.
D)   Most adults supported capital punishment in 1965. C

Question 3

According to the textbook, at what age is a person most likely to be arrested for a crime?

Accepted Answer

A)   13 or 14
B)   18 or 19
C)   25 or 26
D)   35 or 36 B

Question 4

What do the Heaven's Gate cult and the computer hacker community have in common?

Accepted Answer

A)   Both are religious groups.
B)   Both groups are considered deviant subcultures.
C)   Both groups struggled financially.
D)   Both groups restricted their membership to men.

Question 5

Comparing biological and psychological approaches to criminality, a sociologist would argue that they both:

Accepted Answer

A)   tend to focus more on violent crimes than any other type of crime.
B)   view crime and deviance as an individual, not societal, problem.
C)   are inadequate to explain deviance caused by mental illness.
D)   view crime and deviance as a result of societal forces.

Question 6

A way of punishing criminal and deviant behavior based on rituals of public disapproval rather than incarceration is called:

Accepted Answer

A)   deviance control.
B)   differential control.
C)   target hardening.
D)   Shaming.

Question 7

Why have efforts to significantly decrease the supply of illegal drugs in the United States failed?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why have efforts to significantly decrease the...

Question 8

Which researcher found that boys in the lower working class who are frustrated with their positions in life often join delinquent subcultures that reject middle-class values and replace them with norms that celebrate defiance?

Accepted Answer

A)   Albert Cohen
B)   Robert Merton
C)   Émile Durkheim
D)   Kingsley Davis

Question 9

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

Accepted Answer

A)   a poor person whose friends do not commit crime
B)   a middle-class person whose friends frequently commit crime
C)   a person with high aspirations but few opportunities
D)   a person with low aspirations but many opportunities

Question 10

________ are norms governments define as principles that their citizens must follow; a ________ is any type of behavior that violates these norms.

Accepted Answer

A)   Laws; crime
B)   Informal codes; breach
C)   Taboos; sin
D)   Guidelines; deviation

Question 11

Which statement concerning deviance is true?

Accepted Answer

A)   All lawbreakers are deviants.
B)   Everyone participates to some degree in the creation of rules.
C)   All deviant behaviors are illegal.
D)   Everyone commits deviant crimes sometimes.

Question 12

According to the textbook, why is there widespread panic about youth criminality?

Accepted Answer

A)   Youthful deviants usually go on to become career criminals.
B)   Young people are often taken as an indicator of the health and welfare of society.
C)   Youth criminality is a direct outcome of increasing drug use.
D)   Middle-class youth are the leading cause of increasing crime rates.

Question 13

According to the textbook, police work traditionally consisted of controlling crime. Increasingly, however, police officers are more accurately described as:

Accepted Answer

A)   deviants who are committing rather than preventing crime.
B)   corrections officers who are herding criminals to prison.
C)   knowledge workers who are mapping, predicting, and reporting on risk within the population.
D)   safety patrollers who are guarding the health and welfare of citizens.

Question 14

Which of the following countries has the highest incarceration rate?

Accepted Answer

A)   China
B)   Japan
C)   France
D)   United States

Question 15

In Robert Merton's typology, the majority of people in society are:

Accepted Answer

A)   conformists.
B)   innovators.
C)   ritualists.
D)   retreatists.

Question 16

What do contemporary sociological theories about crime emphasize in their definitions of conformity and deviance?

Accepted Answer

A)   Crime is a personal choice that is shaped by social context.
B)   Definitions of deviance vary based on social context.
C)   Crime depends on a genetic tendency toward violence.
D)   Crime results from untreated mental illness.

Question 17

According to the textbook, a key reason that New York's "stop and frisk" policy was banned by a federal judge was that:

Accepted Answer

A)   it was not being applied in the high crime neighborhoods for which it was intended.
B)   it was most often applied only to young men and was determined to be ageist.
C)   it was costing the city too much revenue in law suits.
D)   it violated citizens' rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Question 18

Boys who live in a disadvantaged community can become frustrated with their prospects for material success. Of the possible responses to this frustration that are listed below, which fits most closely with the work of Albert Cohen?

Accepted Answer

A)   They sever ties with delinquent peers to enhance their chances of economic achievement.
B)   They give up hope of achieving success but still value the idea of success.
C)   They find a way to move to a different community as soon as possible.
D)   They join deviant subcultures and adopt deviant norms instead of middle-class values.

Question 19

The term used to describe modes of action that do not conform to the norms or values most members of a group or society hold is:

Accepted Answer

A)   anomie.
B)   alienation.
C)   conformity.
D)   deviance.

Question 20

Which theory proposes that we become deviant when exposed to a higher level of deviant people and influences, compared with conventional influences?

Accepted Answer

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

Exam 6: Conformity, Deviance, and Crime