Deck 6: Deviance and Crime

Question 1

Enrolling in a substance abuse program as an alternative to incarceration may be considered ______

A) probation
B) parole
C) specific deterrence
D) primary deterrence

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Human trafficking is an example of ______ consumption.

A) dangerous
B) deviant
C) labeled
D) institutionalized

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to the structural-functionalist theoretical perspective, deviance is ______.

A) socially constructed through our interactions with others
B) defined by those who have power
C) used to define and clarify a group's norms and values
D) always considered to be an issue in society

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When someone commits murder, he or she goes to jail, and when someone walks around nude, he or she receives strange looks. These are both examples of how societies use ______ to enforce conformity.

A) social control
B) social agents
C) group action
D) moral panic

Question 5

______ was one of the leading structural-functionalists who developed strain theory in the mid-1900s.

A) Travis Hirschi
B) Robert K. Merton
C) Erving Goffman
D) Talcott Parsons

Question 6

Sarah has been working as an administrative assistant at the same company for 30 years. She goes through the motions at her job with little motivation. She has realized that she will never get promoted, and has become extremely defeated. According to strain theory, Sarah is an example of a(n) ______.

A) ritualist
B) rebellionist
C) conformist
D) innovator

Question 7

According to research by Laub and Sampson, a lack of social control during childhood socialization is a key cause of ______.

A) juvenile delinquency
B) rule innovation
C) delinquent behavior as an adult
D) nonconformist behavior as an adult

Question 8

Jimmy thinks about stealing money from a coworker so that he can buy new shoes. Jimmy ultimately decides against this because he knows it would be morally wrong. This is an example of which theory?

A) strain theory
B) social control theory
C) labeling theory
D) primary deviance theory

Question 9

Deviance can be defined as ______.

A) an action that always starts with malicious intent
B) an action, belief, or human characteristic that violates group norms
C) an act that is the same everywhere across the globe
D) an act that does not vary across time from one era to another

Question 10

Explanatory theories of deviance are said to be the most ______.

A) structural
B) positivistic
C) functional
D) underrepresented

Question 11

Sociologist Miller studies criminal behavior in gangs, focusing on how each gang member defines his or her behavior, as well as how they interact with one another. Miller is using ______ theories as the basis for this study.

A) constructionist
B) strain
C) explanatory
D) collective

Question 12

Strain theory suggests that ______.

A) there is a disparity between what is considered valuable and what is available
B) people feel strained when labels are put on them, and it compels them toward deviance
C) when controls are weakened, deviant behavior is more likely to occur
D) the upper class is more harshly penalized for crimes than other groups

Question 13

The creator of social control theory is ______.

A) William Chambliss
B) Robert Merton
C) Travis Hirschi
D) Erving Goffman

Question 14

Rachel downloaded music from a site on the internet and didn't pay for it. She thought her actions weren't illegal since many friends of hers had done the same. Rachel is an example of a ______.

A) nondeviant customer
B) deviant consumer
C) rebellionist
D) revolutionary

Question 15

Theorists who attribute causes of deviant behavior to biology are utilizing ______ theories.

A) structural functionalist
B) constructionist
C) critical
D) explanatory

Question 16

Many individuals place emphasis on a minimalistic lifestyle in which they drastically reduce consumption of products, services, and goods. These individuals may be referred to as ______.

A) deviant consumers
B) dangerous consumers
C) rebellious consumers
D) millennial consumers

Question 17

The growing visibility of cohabitation before marriage was once considered ______, but it is now considered ______ in the United States.

A) normative; deviant
B) structural; functional
C) deviant; normative
D) criminal; deviant

Question 18

Tattoos are an example of ______.

A) something that has always been and always will be deviant
B) something that used to be considered deviant but is now commonplace.
C) something that used to be illegal but is now just stigmatized
D) something that used to be accepted for men but is now accepted for all

Question 19

In recent developments to strain theory, Robert Agnew developed a theory that was focused on ______.

A) global sanctions
B) what happens to a person who experiences strain
C) the globalizing effects of strain
D) why some people fail to commit deviant acts under strain

Question 20

______ was one of the creators of the structural/functionalist theoretical perspective.

A) George Homans
B) Howard Becker
C) Max Weber
D) Émile Durkheim

Question 21

What did early criminologists primarily focus on?

A) which criminals get caught and which criminals go free
B) how social institutions encourage or discourage crime
C) the physical and/or psychological characteristics unique to criminals
D) how family and friends influence a propensity to commit criminal acts

Question 22

______ is the term for a widespread, but disproportionate, reaction to deviance.

A) Stigma
B) Critical action
C) Secondary deviance
D) Moral panic

Question 23

Labeling theory is one variety of ______.

A) conflict/critical theory
B) symbolic interactionism
C) rational choice theory
D) structural-functionalism

Question 24

Court records of juvenile offenders are often hidden from the public or expunged to avoid stigmatizing relatively young individuals for life. This concept relates to what is known as ______.

A) invisible stigma
B) interactive stigma
C) contemporary stigma
D) discreditable stigma

Question 25

______ asserts that crime and deviance are perpetuated by urban disorder.

A) Broken neighborhood theory
B) Urban neighborhood theory
C) Broken windows theory
D) Urban chaos theory

Question 26

Which of these groups are more likely to be defined as deviant according to labeling theory?

A) the poor
B) the middle class
C) white-collar workers
D) the upper class

Question 27

An example of ______ was committed by Bernie Madoff, who was convicted of being the leader of a Ponzi scheme.

A) blue-collar crime
B) organized crime
C) white-collar crime
D) property crime

Question 28

When it was revealed that golfer Tiger Woods had cheated on his wife, his reputation suffered. This is an example of ______.

A) being labeled according to labeling theory
B) being socially controlled according to social control theory
C) being dysfunctional according to functionalism
D) being irrational according to rational choice theory

Question 29

Current criminological theory differs from traditional criminological theory in the sense that theorists today focus on ______.

A) crime and its effect on larger society
B) social control agents
C) the ways in which crime affects the family
D) the role of mental illness in the criminal justice system

Question 30

Conflict/critical theorists argue that when it comes to crime and deviance, the elite ______.

A) can commit criminal acts and receive lesser penalties
B) receive worse penalties than the lower class
C) pay steeper fines in the court system
D) are less likely to receive parole

Question 31

Sue has been struggling with prescription drug abuse for years. Her coworkers consider her behavior to be extremely disruptive, and they want her to get help for this addiction. Sue's coworkers are examples of ______.

A) labeling agents
B) deviant agents
C) social control agents
D) strain agents

Question 32

The main point in differential association theory is that ______.

A) criminals are genetically predisposed to maladaptive behaviors
B) people learn criminal behavior from others
C) people are associated with crime in different ways depending on stigma
D) people only commit crimes when they are not able to access other opportunities

Question 33

A ______ is a more serious crime that is punishable by a year or more in prison.

A) misdemeanor
B) felony
C) infraction
D) violation

Question 34

Walter is an ex-con who moves to a rural town after being let out of prison. He has moved there so that no one will know his identity and what he has done in the past. Walter is an example of a person with a(n) ______.

A) discredited stigma
B) discreditable stigma
C) criminal stigma
D) invisible stigma

Question 35

A key figure in criminology named ______ created the differential association theory.

A) Erving Goffman
B) Cesare Lombroso
C) Edwin Sutherland
D) Talcott Parsons

Question 36

When companies have misleading advertisements and distribute goods they know to be harmful to the public, this is an example of a ______.

A) political crime
B) organized crime
C) corporate crime
D) property crime

Question 37

When a person has internalized a deviant label that is placed upon him or her, this is referred to as ______.

A) primary deviance
B) entrenched deviance
C) secondary deviance
D) tertiary deviance

Question 38

When conflict/critical theorists look at deviant behavior, they often focus on ______.

A) how people interact and define the world around them
B) how deviance is caused by childhood socialization
C) how inequality causes the less powerful to engage in deviant and criminal acts
D) how individuals learn deviant behavior from the media

Question 39

Which of the following does the text identify as an important "built-in" characteristic of the criminal justice system?

A) standardization--treating all people the same way
B) discretion--deciding each case on its own merits
C) thoroughness--everyone who commits a crime should be charged
D) deterrence--basing all actions on crime prevention

Question 40

Burglary and motor vehicle theft are types of ______.

A) violent crime
B) organized crime
C) white-collar crime
D) property crime

Question 41

An example of a ______ is when personal information stored on a laptop is hacked and used to steal an individual's identity.

A) cybercrime
B) violent crime
C) white-collar crime
D) blue-collar crime

Question 42

Which country has the highest rate of incarceration in the world?

A) the United States
B) China
C) Russia
D) Mexico

Question 43

The supervised early release of a prisoner on behalf of good behavior is called ______.

A) parole
B) probation
C) recidivism
D) supervision

Question 44

Seemingly random acts of deviance, such as an occasional bout of drinking to excess, may be considered ______.

A) primary deviance
B) secondary deviance
C) social control
D) stigmatization

Question 45

Crimes are a form of deviance that are negatively sanctioned by law.

Question 46

What are the principle growth areas in the rise of global crime flows?

A) cyber crimes and hacking
B) money laundering and identity theft
C) drugs and terrorism
D) treason and spying

Question 47

If the punishment for a crime makes it less likely that individuals will commit future crimes, it is called ______.

A) specific deterrence
B) recidivism
C) general deterrence
D) public deterrence

Question 48

Prisons are expensive, but their cost might be justified if they help teach people that "crime doesn't pay." Do prisons deter those who end up incarcerated from committing more crimes after they are released from prison?

A) Yes, prisons greatly deter most prisoners from future crimes.
B) Yes, prisons deter some prisoners from future crimes.
C) No, prisons have little effect on the rates of prisoners who commit future crimes.
D) No, prisons lead to more, rather than fewer future crimes.

Question 49

An individual must act deviantly in order to be stigmatized.

Question 50

In strain theory, rebels and retreatists both reject traditional means and goals.

Question 51

Deviance is defined as an action, belief, or human characteristic that is inherently against human nature.

Question 52

Deviant consumers include those who consume too much, as well as those who do not consume enough.

Question 53

Constructionist theories of deviance focus on those who create and enforce moral order.

Question 54

Which of these aspects of cross-border drug crime account for why efforts to counter it have been unsuccessful?

A) Drug criminals do not need many resources.
B) Drug criminals lack expertise to commit crimes.
C) Drug crimes are hard to conceal.
D) Law enforcement is inactive.

Question 55

Something is considered "deviant" in all groups across all societies.

Question 56

Travis Hirschi's social control theory focuses on why people do not commit deviant acts.

Question 57

Explanatory theorists focus on childhood socialization as the primary contributing factor responsible for deviance.

Question 58

Global flows of illegal goods are affected by ______.

A) incarceration
B) the decline of international criminal cartels
C) the global decrease in hard drug use
D) the development of communication technology

Question 59

Rule creators are elite members of society who devise norms and laws.

Question 60

Research conducted by Sampson and Laub has shown that a lack of informal social control contributes to juvenile delinquency.

Question 61

Discuss the application of conflict theories to deviance, the elite, and the poor. Select one example of how this approach can be applied to a contemporary issue of deviance.

Question 62

Conflict theorists argue that laws created by social elites intentionally target the lower-class.

Question 63

Explain the origins of the structural functionalist perspective on deviance and detail how it explains deviance.

Question 64

Part of the interactionist perspective, as it pertains to deviance, is the interpretation of symbols.

Question 65

The USA PATRIOT Act and European Union laws to control global crime have resulted in increased border deaths.

Question 66

White-collar crimes are often committed by the lower-class.

Question 67

How do sociologists define deviance? How does deviant behavior vary from one time period to another? Give one example of this from the past 25 years and discuss how it has changed.

Question 68

In labeling theory, secondary deviance involves early random acts of deviant behavior.

Question 69

What is strain theory and why is it considered a contemporary version of the structural functionalist view of deviance? Who is the creator of this theory? What are the five adaptations to strain?

Question 70

Moral entrepreneurs lead campaigns to define certain acts as deviant and/or illegal.

Question 71

The USA PATRIOT Act has played a major role in eroding the distinction between law enforcement and national security.

Question 72

Use marijuana as an example to discuss the differences between explanatory and constructionist theories in understanding deviant behavior. How would these two approaches to studying deviance look at changes to marijuana's status?

Question 73

What is meant by the term deviant consumption? In your response, differentiate deviant consumption from dangerous consumers.

Question 74

Discuss the role of deterrence in the criminal justice system. What are two types of deterrence? How well does the U.S. criminal justice system currently accomplish these two forms of deterrence?

Question 75

Explain the difference between parole and probation. What happens if one breaks the conditions of their parole or probation?

Question 76

Rates of incarceration have been increasing more quickly in the United States than in any other nation. How has mass incarceration lead to what Michelle Alexander calls the new Jim Crow?

Question 77

Is criminalization always based on facts? Please provide an example to support your answer.

Question 78

Labeling theory is concerned with the reactions, actions, and interactions of social control agents who label an individual as deviant.

Question 79

Proponents of structural/functional theories trace the source of deviance to small structures in society.