Deck 8: Deviance and Social Control

Question 1

The term deviance refers to behavior that is considered to be

A) ill-advised
B) in violation of social norms
C) unbalanced
D) unethical

Answer 1

in violation of social norms

Question 2

A person who violates or opposes a society's most valued norms is termed:

A) a criminal
B) a deviant
C) maladjusted
D) mentally ill

Answer 2

a deviant

Question 3

All of the following statements about deviance are true EXCEPT:

A) Deviance can often bring about desired social change.
B) Deviance results in major social problems.
C) The definition of deviance is absolute.
D) Today's deviance may be tomorrow's acceptable behavior.

Answer 3

The definition of deviance is absolute.

Question 4

Which of the following is not an example of deviant behavior in the United States?

A) dying your hair purple
B) being homeless
C) being the mother of a 10 year old
D) being a whistleblower

Question 5

In his study of witchcraft in colonial New England, Kai Erikson showed that it could be seen as a reflection of:

A) changes in religious beliefs
B) England's attempt to consolidate its power in the colonies
C) rebellion against slavery
D) social disruption and change

Question 6

According to Kai Erikson, punishment of suspected witches was:

A) a means of disrupting the group lifestyle.
B) a means of protecting the Puritan society.
C) a way of changing the norms of the culture.
D) a way of enforcing the beliefs of the culture.

Question 7

At the time of the witch hunt, the social conditions in 1692 in Salem were

A) undergoing great change
B) very stable
C) becoming more conservative
D) based on moderate social views

Question 8

The ways in which a society prevents deviance and punishes deviants are known as:

A) law enforcement agencies
B) moral entrepreneurs
C) normative systems
D) social control

Question 9

All of the various ways in which society establishes and enforces its cultural norms are termed:

A) law enforcement
B) moral policing
C) social control
D) social defense

Question 10

Less threatening forms of deviance in a society are controlled by:

A) everyday interactions
B) mild physical punishment
C) the police
D) the schools

Question 11

The punishment Nelson Mandela received for speaking out against apartheid in South Africa supports the idea that:

A) anyone is capable of committing an act of deviance
B) most forms of deviance do not involve violations of written law
C) not all deviance involves violent crime
D) populations have different definitions of what constitutes deviant behavior

Question 12

Which of the following statements about deviance is NOT true?

A) All deviance is considered socially wrong.
B) All of us violate norms to some degree.
C) Both groups and individuals may be labeled as deviant.
D) Deviance can being about social change.

Question 13

Which of the following statements concerning deviance is TRUE?

A) Definitions of deviance vary little from society to society.
B) Most acts of deviance are unpunished.
C) Most people are incapable of committing a deviant act.
D) People who commit deviant acts are usually psychologically disturbed.

Question 14

Of the following, which is considered an importance source of the definition of deviance?

A) personal ability
B) level of educational attainment
C) values
D) socioeconomic status

Question 15

The major dimensions of deviance in any society include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) culture
B) personal ability
C) power
D) voluntary vs. involuntary

Question 16

All of the following are examples of deviant subcultures EXCEPT

A) a group of prostitutes
B) internet pornographers
C) gamblers
D) an organized crime leader

Question 17

Which of the following is true about deviant subcultures?

A) they have the same norms as the larger community
B) they exist because of the demand of the larger community
C) they are accepted in the larger society
D) all deviant subcultures look different from other members

Question 18

Goffman defines stigma as

A) referring to an attribute that is deeply discrediting
B) sometimes but not always visible to everyone
C) membership in a disvalued group
D) all of these

Question 19

An attribute or quality of an individual that is deeply discrediting is referred to as:

A) an identity disclaimer
B) a self-neutralizer
C) a social marker
D) a stigma

Question 20

Which of the following statements about stigmas is NOT correct?

A) A stigma is deeply discrediting.
B) People may be stigmatized for almost any reason.
C) The basis for stigmatization varies from society to society.
D) The source of a stigma is clear to all members of society.

Question 21

Erving Goffman argues that the term "deviant" should be used for people who:

A) act irregularly and rebelliously against basic institutions
B) suffer clearly visible stigma
C) violate only the most strongly held norms
D) violate only weakly held norms

Question 22

Erving Goffman classifies prostitutes, gypsies, jazz musicians, and carnival workers as social
Deviants because they:

A) are different from most other people in society
B) have failed to use available, approved opportunities for advancement
C) have violated laws
D) don't have stable lives

Question 23

Crime is defined as

A) an act or omission of an act for which the state can apply sanctions
B) acts that only cause physical harm to all
C) violation of the permissible conduct
D) an act that denies the social order

Question 24

An act or omission of an act for which the state can apply sanctions is called:

A) a crime
B) anomie
C) deviance
D) stigma

Question 25

In comparing deviance today and 150 years ago, the changes in the sanctions imposed for deviance are a reflection of the

A) laws that are different .
B) changing court structure.
C) type of behavior
D) changing values in society.

Question 26

All of the following are examples of victimless crimes EXCEPT:

A) vagrancy
B) drunkenness
C) murder
D) prostitution

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT an example of a so-called victimless crime?

A) drug addiction
B) embezzlement
C) prostitution
D) vagrancy

Question 28

According to the Crime Rate from 1972 - 2004 which of the following rates has declined from 1996 to 2004?

A) Forcible rape
B) Larceny - theft
C) Murder
D) Aggravated assault

Question 29

The FBI Crime Index includes all of the following crimes EXCEPT:

A) forcible rape
B) motor vehicle theft
C) prostitution
D) burglary

Question 30

Victimization surveys indicate that

A) the crime rate reported by the FBI is actually very accurate
B) the crime rate is less than that reported by the FBI
C) the rate of serious crime is two to three times greater than the Crime Index reports
D) the rate of serious crime is consistent with the Crime Index reports

Question 31

Capital punishment is an example of a:

A) strong negative sanction
B) strong positive sanction
C) weak negative sanction
D) weak positive sanction

Question 32

In his analysis of the relationship between drinking and driving, Joseph Gusfield has concluded that since 1945 the highway death rate has:

A) decreased
B) dramatically increased
C) remained the same
D) slightly increased

Question 33

The members of the Maori tribe wear tattoos as an indication of

A) high status
B) deviant behavior
C) tribal position
D) ownership

Question 34

In European cities tattoos were worn by criminals and prostitutes to indicate allegiance to

A) spouses
B) trades
C) native country
D) ship they were employed on

Question 35

In the United States tattoos are common in certain subcultures as

A) a badge of courage
B) a rite of passage
C) a sign of membership
D) a sign of allegiance

Question 36

Official statistics on crime tend to be inadequate because:

A) many crimes go unreported
B) the techniques to measure crime lack the necessary sophistication
C) they serve the interests of politicians
D) very often, the wrong person is caught

Question 37

Much of the study of social deviance focuses on:

A) crime
B) eccentricity
C) membership in disvalued groups
D) mental illness

Question 38

Deviant subcultures are characterized by all of the following EXCEPT:

A) pursuing values outside those of the larger culture.
B) lifestyles opposed to the dominant culture.
C) not having friends and family outside the subculture.
D) having a language and rituals unique to the group.

Question 39

Which of the following does not apply to high school shooters?

A) they are excluded from the school's peer groups
B) they are all boys
C) they have status within the school's social groups
D) they have a history of cruelty, particularly to animals

Question 40

Organized crime is most often associated with all of the following deviant behaviors EXCEPT

A) prostitution
B) drug use
C) homosexuality
D) gambling

Question 41

Cesare Lombroso argued that criminals are:

A) individuals attempting to achieve socially legitimate goals through disapproved means
B) the products of a criminal subculture
C) the products of inadequate socialization
D) throwbacks to primitive, aggressive human types

Question 42

According to William Sheldon, which of the following was correlated with crime?

A) body type
B) IQ
C) personality
D) XY chromosome abnormality

Question 43

According to William Sheldon's classification system, people who were soft or fat belonged in which of the following groups?

A) ectomorphs
B) endomorphs
C) lactomorphs
D) mesomorphs

Question 44

According to William Sheldon, someone belonging to which of the following types is MOST likely to commit a crime?

A) lactomorphs
B) mesomorphs
C) ectomorphs
D) endomorphs

Question 45

In their research on biology and crime, Herrnstein and Wilson have concluded that:

A) biology has little influence on criminal behavior
B) early environment is the crucial determining factor in criminal behavior
C) environmental influence on criminal behavior is negligible
D) whatever determines criminality is transmitted both genetically and environmentally

Question 46

The theories of Cesare Lombroso and William Sheldon belong to which of the following Approaches to explaining criminal behavior?

A) biological
B) ecological
C) functional
D) interactionist

Question 47

Early explanations of social deviance viewed crime as a:

A) biological anomaly
B) result of class conflict
C) moral issue
D) social pathology

Question 48

In Deborah Denno's study of African American boys in Philadelphia the findings revealed that among those who had become criminals, a disproportionate number had histories of

A) abusive parents
B) hyperactivity disorder
C) single parent families
D) poor academic performance

Question 49

Robert K. Merton believed that the origins of deviant behavior lie in:

A) attempts by the upper classes to regulate the behavior of the poor
B) people's genetic structures
C) social structures that exert pressure toward nonconformity
D) the state of mind of people who commit deviant acts

Question 50

Another term for the state of normlessness is:

A) alienation
B) anomie
C) asymmetry
D) stigma

Question 51

In Robert K. Merton's study of deviance, the acceptance of both the cultural goals of society and the accepted means of achieving them is termed:

A) conformity
B) innovation
C) retreatism
D) ritualism

Question 52

Gale works as an attorney twelve hours a day, six days a week. She is good at what she does, and as a result now owns a $500,000 house in the suburbs. According to Merton's typology, Gale would be classified as:

A) a conformist
B) an innovator
C) an overachiever
D) a ritualist

Question 53

In Robert K. Merton's theory of deviance, the act of accepting society's culturally approved goals but stepping over the boundaries of acceptable goal-seeking behavior is called:

A) innovation
B) rebellion
C) retreatism
D) ritualism

Question 54

In Robert K. Merton's study of deviance, the act of rejecting cultural goals but accepting the means of achieving them is termed:

A) innovation
B) rebellion
C) retreatism
D) ritualism

Question 55

The Veterans Administration was formed to provide needed services for those who had served in the military. Many have complained in recent years that VA employees seem more interested in following bureaucratic regulations than in serving the veteran. In Merton's typology of deviance, such behavior could be considered an example of:

A) conformity
B) rebellion
C) retreatism
D) ritualism

Question 56

-Based on the chart shown below and according to Robert K. Merton's typology of deviance, the behavior of hermits and vagrants would be classified as:

A) innovation
B) rebellion
C) retreatism
D) ritualism

Question 57

According to Robert K. Merton, which of the following factors explains why some poor people resort to crime whereas others do not?

A) some have a tendency to gravitate toward criminal subcultures
B) the body types of the individuals involved
C) the degree to which criminal behavior is functional for the larger society
D) variations in the efficiency of law enforcement agencies

Question 58

Felony disenfranchisement occurs when:

A) voting rights are denied some ex-felons
B) extreme punishments are inflicted on prisoners
C) power differences between prisoners are dominant
D) rehabilitation does not work

Question 59

The prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1919 to 1933 was a major factor in the rise of:

A) juvenile delinquency
B) organized crime
C) the Women's Christian Temperance Union
D) discrimination against minority groups

Question 60

Which of the following is MOST likely to occur whenever laws impose the morality of a majority on the behavior of minorities?

A) Illegal markets are created that tend to be supplied by criminal organizations.
B) The minorities organize to protect their interests.
C) The number of race riots increases.
D) The rate of assimilation is increased.

Question 61

For Marxian students of social deviance, the cultural-conflict explanation proposed by Daniel Bell is inadequate because:

A) its conclusions tend to reflect the biases of law enforcement agencies
B) it does not take into account the effects of power and class conflict
C) it is not able to predict when deviance will occur
D) it is not based on verifiable empirical evidence

Question 62

Marxian sociologists argue that legislation such as Prohibition is enacted because:

A) alcohol consumption is dangerous to the health of people
B) alcohol consumption raises class consciousness and leads to revolution
C) all elements of antisocial behavior should be eliminated
D) the upper classes wish to control the working class so that they will produce more

Question 63

Marxists argue that definitions of what is criminal and who should be punished are generally applied:

A) fairly equally to all members of society
B) more forcefully to the poor and the working class
C) most often to people who commit political crimes against the state
D) to those who commit crimes against property rather than against people

Question 64

Marx and Engels argued that the proletariat would resort to individual crimes like robbery when driven to them by:

A) association with a criminal subculture
B) the experience of being labeled as deviant
C) unemployment and poverty
D) unrealistic expectations

Question 65

According to Marxian conflict theory, which of the following is NOT characteristic of the "lumpenproletariat"?

A) Their services can be purchased by the rich to be used against workers.
B) They are chronically poor and are unable to get jobs in the capitalist system
C) They are often viewed as the "dangerous class."
D) They represent a great potential for revolutionary change.

Question 66

Which of the following statements about the relationship of crime to societal political ideology is TRUE?

A) Deviance and crime are the result of the working of the capitalist system.
B) Societies with a Marxist ideology are free of deviance and crime.
C) Societies with a Marxist ideology define deviance and crime differently than do capitalist societies.
D) The abolition of capitalism would do away with crime.

Question 67

The interactionist perspective on deviance focuses on

A) dysfunctional social systems
B) recruitment and production
C) deviant subcultures
D) robber barons

Question 68

According to the interactionist perspective on deviance, "recruitment" refers to:

A) contradictions in society's opportunity structure which promote deviance
B) how people respond to being labeled as deviant
C) the creation of new categories of deviance in a society
D) the question of why some people become deviants while others in the same situation do not

Question 69

Criminal behavior by people in business and professional positions is known as:

A) official deviance
B) executive crime
C) victimless crime
D) white-collar crime

Question 70

Dr. Alexander Johnson has a medical practice in which most of his patients are having their care paid for by Medicare or Medicaid. Johnson very often has patients sign blank claim forms so that he can bill the government for services he did not really perform. Such behavior would be termed:

A) executive crime
B) malpractice
C) victimless crime
D) white-collar crime

Question 71

The theory that explains deviance as a learned behavior that is determined by the extent of a person's interaction with individuals who already practice such behavior is called:

A) culture-conflict theory
B) differential association
C) labeling theory
D) sociobiology

Question 72

Sociologists have observed that some Chicago neighborhoods had consistently higher rates of juvenile delinquency than others did, regardless of which immigrant groups lived there at the time. This pattern was explained by which of the following theories?

A) Class conflict was well developed in those neighborhoods.
B) The culture of deviance had become a part of the way of life of teenagers in those neighborhoods.
C) The immigrant families came from cultures that valued such behaviors.
D) There was an inherent conflict in values between the immigrant subcultures and the dominant culture.

Question 73

The youthful toughs who ran a school for pickpockets in Dickens' novel Oliver Twist are an example of which theory of deviance?

A) cultural-conflict theory
B) differential association
C) labeling theory
D) sociobiology

Question 74

Walter Miller found that all of the following concepts were valued by lower-class delinquent subcultures EXCEPT:

A) courting trouble without getting caught
B) orientation toward the future
C) risking danger
D) toughness

Question 75

In his study of embezzlement, Donald R. Cressey found that most people who engage in this form of behavior:

A) are forced to do so by organized crime
B) are often not caught
C) have serious personal problems
D) tend to come from working class backgrounds

Question 76

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of the labeling process?

A) Deviants are seen as outsiders.
B) Deviance results not from the deviant act but from society's reaction to the act.
C) Labeling is done by official agents of social control such as the police.
D) Most people who are labeled as deviant have not violated any of society's norms.

Question 77

All of the following were found to be true in D. L. Rosenhan's study of pseudopatients in a mental hospital EXCEPT:

A) Although released, none of the patients was ever considered to be cured.
B) Each of the pseudopatients was diagnosed as schizophrenic.
C) Eventually, the deviant label tended to weaken and disappear.
D) The label of schizophrenia became a justification for mistreatment.

Question 78

According to Howard Becker, the idea of "commitment" refers to:

A) adherence to and dependence on the norms of a given social institution
B) how people cope with being stigmatized
C) the amount of power that agencies of social control have in creating deviant labels
D) the rate at which people who are labeled as deviant are institutionalized

Question 79

William J. Chambliss's study of the "Saints" and the "Roughnecks" concluded that the Roughnecks were more likely to be punished for having committed delinquent acts because:

A) the Roughnecks were tied to organized crime whereas the Saints were not
B) the Saints participated in charitable activities that caused police to overlook their other activities
C) the social position of the Saints' parents allowed them to escape punishment
D) they committed more delinquent acts

Question 80

An act that results in the labeling of the offender as deviant is termed:

A) derived deviance
B) primary deviance
C) real deviance
D) secondary deviance