Deck 8: Sexual Deviance

Question 1

The Bible contains virtually no injunctions against variant sexual behavior.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The distinction between constructionism and essentialism does not apply to sexual behavior or sexual deviance.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The designation of sexual disorders and dysfunctions is exactly the same as what sociologists mean by sexual deviance.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In the last 20 years or so, the percentage of the American population who believes that homosexual relations should be against the law has decreased.

Question 5

In the past 20 years or so, the percentage of the American population who believes that homosexuality should be regarded as an "accepted lifestyle" has increased.

Question 6

In Western society, homosexuality is decreasingly regarded as a form of deviance; it is in fact, "departing from deviance"

Question 7

Most Americans disapprove of extramarital sex; to them, it is a form of deviance.

Question 8

The majority of married persons are sexually faithful to their spouses for the entire length of their marriages.

Question 9

To the constructionist, the most important issue about human sexuality is the meaning we infuse into sex.

Question 10

Evolutionary psychologists argue that jealousy has been "hard-wired" into humans as a means of maximizing the likelihood that a given sexual partner's genes will be passed down to later generations.

Question 11

In a majority of societies around the world, most married persons have been sexually unfaithful to their spouses; most have engaged in sexual intercourse at least one time during their marriages.

Question 12

According to the constructionist, sexuality is in the service of the social world.

Question 13

Critics of the sociology of deviance have argued that the field's researchers have devoted far too much attention to sexual deviance.

Question 14

The sociologist's definition of sexual deviance carries no implication whatsoever of pathology or psychological disorder.

Question 15

Feminists regard sex work as degrading, oppressive-an expression of patriarchal privilege.

Question 16

Alexamder Liazos, a Marxist, argued that sociologists should pay more attention to sex work.

Question 17

Many feminists have a difficult time accepting the viability of the concept of "sex work."

Question 18

The "Sex in America" survey, eventually conducted in the 1990s, was defunded by the federal government because Jesse Helms, a conservative southern senator, believed its agenda was to legitimate and normalize gay sex.

Question 19

The "Sex in America" survey discovered that American sexual practices were a great deal more unconventional than most people expected.

Question 20

The most consistent finding of the "Sex in America" survey was that people usually have sex with partners who are (gender aside) much like themselves in most ways.

Question 21

Which of the following forms of sexuality does evidence suggest is "departing from deviance"?

A) adultery, or extramarital sex
B) engaging in sex work, including prostitution
C) homosexuality
D) sadomasochistic bondage and discipline
E) none of the above

Question 22

Which of the following questions would a constructionist be most likely to ask?

A) Is premarital sex more common today than it was 30 years ago?
B) What sorts of societies engage in high levels of adultery?
C) Is a vaginal exam regarded by the physician or the patient as a sexual act?
D) Which sex has the stronger sex drive?
E) Why do some people use pornography as a masturbatory aid?

Question 23

Sociologically, sexual deviance is defined by:

A) mental disorder
B) psychological dysfunction
C) self-destructiveness
D) sexual narcissism
E) a violation of social norms that is likely to generate condemnation

Question 24

Sociologists define "sex work" as referring:

A) only to "outdoor" enterprises, such as street prostitution.
B) only to "indoor" enterprises, such as phone sex, acting in a pornographic film, working in a massage parlor, working in a strip club.
C) both to "outdoor" and "indoor" enterprises.
D) neither to "outdoor" nor "indoor" enterprises.
E) none of the above

Question 25

The results of the study "Sex in American"--the Chicago sex survey--indicate that with respect to adultery, most married Americans:

A) both approve of it and engage in it.
B) do not approve of it but engage in it anyway.
C) approve of it but do not engage in it.
D) neither approve of it nor engage in it.
E) none of the above

Question 26

Which of the following is not a dimension that defines a sex act as deviant? The:

A) degree of consent
B) nature of the sex object
C) nature of the sex act
D) setting in which the act occurs
E) none of the above; all are dimensions that can make a sex act deviant

Question 27

Sociologically, "deviant":

A) means that which is "non-normative" and "likely to be condemned"
B) refers to that which is "freakish," fetishistic, and abnormal
C) psychologically and psychiatrically disordered behavior
D) dysfunctional behavior
E) none of the above

Question 28

The constructionist perspective on sex asks which of the following questions:

A) What is humanity's true sexual expression?
B) Is heterosexuality hardwired into our neurophysiology?
C) What rules do societies devise for appropriate and inappropriate sexual behavior?
D) What sexual strategies do human organisms devise to maximize passing their genes on to later generations?
E) Is sex the most powerful instinct we possess?

Question 29

Which of the following would a constructionist agree with:

A) Sex is a powerful instinct and societies have to control or channel it for their own survival.
B) Certain perversions are condemned or judged to be deviant more or less everywhere in the same way; they cannot be regarded as mere conventions.
C) Sex is a natural expression of the human animal and it takes a standard, universal form pretty much everywhere the world over.
D) What takes places sexually, what excites us sexually, how frequently we engage in sex, the sexual activities we engage in, are all largely learned
behavior, and they vary considerably from one society to another.
E) none of the above

Question 30

Which of the following theoretical positions on prostitution argues that sex for sale offers many hidden benefits to the society that no other institution or custom can supply?

A) Marxism
B) feminism
C) conventional moralism
D) functionalism
E) none of the above

Question 31

Psychological and psychiatric deviance, on the one hand, and sociological deviance, on the other:

A) are the same thing.
B) overlap but are not identical.
C) do not overlap at all.
D) bear an unknown and unknowable relation to one another.
E) none of the above

Question 32

The proportion of the American public that condemns homosexuality is:

A) zero.
B) 100 percent.
C) a substantial proportion, but dwindling.
D) a small proportion, and growing.
E) none of the above

Question 33

The relationship between education and condemnation of homosexuality is:

A) positive-the greater the education, the greater the likelihood that someone condemns homosexuality.
B) negative-the greater the education, the lower the likelihood that someone condemns homosexuality.
C) random-there is no relationship between education and the likelihood that someone condemns homosexuality.
D) unknown and unknowable.
E) none of the above

Question 34

In the 1990s, the "Sex in America" survey, the sex survey conducted in France, and the one conducted in the United Kingdom, turned up:

A) nearly identical findings
B) very different findings; sexual behavior in France and the UK was much more permissive, adventurous, and unconventional than it was in the U.S.
C) very different findings; sexual behavior in France and the UK was much more traditional, conservative, and conventional than it was in the U.S.
D) findings that indicated that sexual behavior in France was much more swinging, adventurous, and unconventional than was true in the U.S. and the UK
E) findings that indicated that sexual behavior in the U.S. and the UK was much more swinging, adventurous, liberal, and unconventional than was true in
France

Question 35

Men and women who report to an interviewer in a sex survey that they have many sexual partners describe themselves as:

A) sexually adventurous
B) sexually conservative and traditional
C) about average in sexual terms
D) different from everyone else
E) unknowable in sexual terms

Question 36

In comparison with persons who do not attend religious services at all, persons who attend religious services weekly or more are:

A) more likely to say that gay sex is acceptable.
B) less likely to say that gay sex is acceptable.
C) at about the average with respect to saying that gay sex is acceptable
D) refuse to answer questions about how they feel regarding gay sex
E) none of the above

Question 37

According to the General Social Survey, education is related to sexual permissiveness and tolerance for sexual diversity:

A) positively
B) negatively
C) in a random fashion
D) are related in an unknown and unknowable fashion
E) none of the above

Question 38

According to Nastal, a national survey on sexual attitudes and behavior, from the 1990s to 2010-2012, the average number of sexual partners in the UK:

A) has increased
B) has decreased
C) has remained the same
D) has fluctuated erratically and randomly from year to year
E) remains unknown

Question 39

In surveys around the world, a majority of the population says that gay sexuality "should be accepted" in which of the following countries:

A) Russia
B) Indonesia
C) China
D) the United States
E) South Africa

Question 40

The biggest sexual deviance "story of the year" of 2017 was about:

A) adultery
B) gay sex
C) sexual harassment
D) consensual faculty-student sexual relations
E) premarital sex

Question 41

In the opinion of sociologists of deviance:

A) sexual deviance can't be studied because it's too private.
B) sexual behavior should only be studied in the laboratory.
C) participant observation studies of sexual behavior are invalid because the researcher become too emotionally involved with his/her informants tobe objective.
D) sexual behavior is a major exception to the rule that human behavior is socially constructed.
E) none of the above is true

Question 42

Which of the following is never a source of sexual excitation?

A) the woman wearing stiletto heels
B) the man wearing stiletto heels
C) receiving an enema
D) watching a family play volleyball in the nude.
E) none of the above; any of them could result in sexual excitation for someone

Question 43

To the sociologist, sexual deviance is defined by:

A) one party inflicting harm on another.
B) the psychopathology of the participants.
C) the social disapproval that results in negative reactions
D) the extreme rarity of the act that is engaged in
E) none of the above

Question 44

To the sociologist:

A) psychiatric deviance typically qualifies as sociological deviance.
B) sociological deviance typically qualifies as psychiatric deviance.
C) psychiatric deviance never qualifies as sociological deviance.
D) sociological deviance never qualifies as psychiatric deviance.
E) psychiatric deviance and sociological deviance typically qualify for one another.

Question 45

Which of the four traditions of sex research should not be conducted at all? The:

A) clinical tradition of Sigmund Freud.
B) sociological bookkeeping tradition of Albert Kinsey.
C) experimental tradition of Masters and Johnson
D) ethnographic, descriptive, symbolic interactionist tradition of Kenneth Plummer
E) none of the above; all may and should be conducted

Question 46

A major flaw in the surveys conducted by Alfred Kinsey and his associates is that:

A) respondents were reluctant to give honest answers to questions about sex.
B) the survey's samples were too small to yield meaningful results.
C) the survey's samples were too large to yield meaningful results.
D) the theoretical approach Kinsey used was too mechanistic; what he missed was the meaning that the behavior had for the participants.
E) none of the above was a flaw in Kinsey's surveys.

Question 47

Kinsey's survey oversampled:

A) African Americans
B) heterosexuals
C) the undereducated
D) working class whites
E) none of the above

Question 48

The "Sex in America" survey found that most of the respondents:

A) had sex with more than one partner during the past year.
B) had sex with four or more partners in their lifetimes.
C) had has sex with at least one same-gender partner in their lifetimes.
D) who were married were sexually unfaithful to their spouses in the past year.
E) none of the above

Question 49

The "Sex in America" survey indicated that, over time:

A) marital infidelity has become more acceptable.
B) the acceptability of same-gender sexual behavior has decreased.
C) premarital sex has become more acceptable.
D) less well-educated respondents are more likely to approve of same-gender sex.
E) none of the above

Question 50

World-wide, is gay sex "departing from deviance"?

A) No; in no part of the world is hostility toward gay sex declining.
B) Yes; in all parts of the world, hostility toward gay sex is declining.
C) Yes and no; in some parts of the world, hostility toward gay sex is declining, but in other parts of the world, hostility toward gay sex is as harsh as it ever was.
D) Whether and to what extent hostility toward gay sex is declining is unknown and cannot be known.
E) none of the above

Question 51

According to studies that have been conducted, which of the following statements is true? In general:

A) Men are more likely to engage in extra-marital sex than women.
B) Women are more likely to engage in extra-marital sex than men.
C) Men and women are equally likely to engage in extra-marital sex.
D) As to whether men or women are more likely to engage in extra-marital sex cannot be known; the answer to this question is unknowable.
E) none of the above

Question 52

A team of psychologists conducted an experiment which involved whether men or women are more likely to accept sexual offers of strangers. The evidence suggested that:

A) men are more likely to accept sexual offers from strangers than women are to do so from male strangers.
B) Women are more likely to accept sexual offers from strangers than men are to do so from female strangers.
C) Men and women are equally as likely to accept sexual offers from strangers of the opposite gender.
D) as to whether men or women are more likely to accept a sexual offer from a stranger is not known and cannot be known.
E) none of the above

Question 53

Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Charles Krauthammer both wrote about changes in defining deviance over time. Which of the following generalizations defines the position of each? For the most part:

A) Moynihan argued that deviance was being defined up; Krauthammer argued that deviance was being defined down.
B) Moynihan argued that deviance was being defined down; Krauthammer argued that deviance was being defined up.
C) Both Moynihan and Krauthammer argued that deviance was being defined up.
D) Both Moynihan and Krauthammer argued that deviance was being defined down.
E) none of the above

Question 54

The author of this text placed an ad in a publication requesting that faculty members contribute an account describing their sexual relations with undergraduates. He received:

A) no replies
B) one reply
C) dozens of replies
D) hundreds of replies
E) none of the above

Question 55

Today, sexual relations between a faculty member and his female students is widely regarded as:

A) more wrongful than it was in the past.
B) less wrongful than it was in the past.
C) wrongful, and equally as wrongful as it was in the past.
D) not at all wrongful
E) unknown and unknowable as to wrongfulness

Question 56

In a nationally representative international poll about sexual fidelity, the majority of marriage respondents said that:

A) they were sexually faithful to their spouse.
B) they were sexually unfaithful to their spouse.
C) they couldn't recall whether they had been faithful or unfaithful
D) The answer to this matter is unknown and unknowable.
E) None of the above

Question 57

The result of public opinion polls indicates that hostility toward unconventional sex is strongest in:

A) the US
B) Western Europe
C) South America
D) Asia
E) Africa

Question 58

In the US, among which segments of the society is disapproval of gay marriage stronger:

A) females (versus males)
B) African Americans (versus whites)
C) Catholic (versus evangelical Protestants)
D) Democrats (versus Republicans)
E) political independents (versus conservatives)

Question 59

Over time, in the US, hostility toward gay sex is declining. Which of the following categories in the population are "holdouts," that is, those that continue to regard gay sex as strongly deviant?

A) Catholics
B) the religiously unaffiliated
C) fundamentalist evangelical Protestants
D) the highly educated
E) none of the above

Question 60

In what specific ways is homosexuality "departing from deviance" over time. Describe and discuss the ways we see this taking place. Do you believe these ways indicate a diminution in homosexuality's deviant status? What sorts of changes do you predict for the next decade or so?

Question 61

How would an essentialist view human sexuality and sexual deviance? How would a constructionist approach these same phenomena? How do these two approaches differ?

Question 62

How is human sexuality "gendered"? Supply and discuss three examples.

Question 63

Considering how common and typical it is, should teenage sex be regarded as a form of deviance? Why or why not? What factors should be considered in answering this question? Does it depend on certain crucial factors or circumstances? Is the refusal of a teenager to have sex a form of deviance?

Question 64

How would a constructionist's analysis of sex work differ from that of a radical feminist? What about the differences between a constructionist's and a radical feminist's analysis of sex work?