Chapter 6: Practice Quiz Questions

Question 1

A minister who is opposed to war conducts a nonviolent protest at a local military installation, thus committing a trespassing violation. Applying Merton’s typology from strain theory, this behavior is an example of _______.

Answer 1

rebellion

Question 2

In the postmodern theory of Michel Foucault, the panopticon refers to __________.

Answer 2

a structure that permits continuous observation of all prisoners

Question 3

Which of these would not be considered corporate crime?

a. loan sharking
b. tax evasion
c. copyright infringement
d. price fixing

Answer 3

loan sharking

Question 4

The __________ is compiled by the FBI and is the major source of information on crimes reported in the United States.

Answer 4

Uniform Crime Report

Question 5

According to functionalists, acts of civil disobedience (including lunch counter sit-ins and bus boycotts) exemplify which function of deviance?

Answer 5

Deviance promotes social change

Question 6

__________ is the term for any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group in which it occurs.

Answer 6

Deviance

Question 7

The text uses the term __________ for the trafficking across nations’ borders in drugs, weapons, and nuclear weapons.

Answer 7

transnational

Question 8

Becker coined the term __________ to refer to those who use their own perspectives on “right” and “wrong” to create the rules about what constitutes deviant or conventional behavior.

Answer 8

moral entrepreneurs

Question 9

__________ refers to the use of personal judgment by police officers, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice system officials regarding whether and how to proceed in a given situation.

Answer 9

Discretion

Question 10

During the mid-1970s, advocates of __________ theory predicted that women’s crime rates would increase significantly as a result of the women’s liberation movement.

Answer 10

emancipation

Question 11

People in which of these racial/ethnic groups have been the most overrepresented in official crime statistics?

a. white European Americans
b. Asian/Pacific Islanders
c. Native Americans
d. African Americans

Answer 11

African Americans

Question 12

From a sociological perspective, definitions of deviance originate_______________.

Answer 12

with the people who witness or judge the behavior

Question 13

A person may shoplift an item of clothing from a department store and be apprehended and labeled as a “thief,” subsequently accept that label, and then go on to shoplift more in the future. This future behavior is an example of __________.

Answer 13

secondary deviance

Question 14

Organized crime thrives primarily because________________________.

Answer 14

there is a great demand for illegal goods and services

Question 15

A socioeconomically disadvantaged teenager decides that she must resort to crime in order to buy some clothes she wants. This teenager’s behavior is an example of __________.

Answer 15

innovation

Question 16

Criminologists use the term __________ to refer to the greater number of programs, services, facilities, and organizations responsible for the management of people accused or convicted of criminal offenses.

Answer 16

corrections

Question 17

Applying Merton’s strain theory, skid-row alcoholics and drug addicts illustrate the concept of __________.

Answer 17

retreatism

Question 18

__________ argues that deviant behavior is learned in personal interaction with friends and family.

Answer 18

Differential association

Question 19

According to Lemert, some people engage in __________ deviance, which occurs when a person who has been labeled a deviant seeks to normalize the behavior by relabeling it as nondeviant.

Answer 19

tertiary

Question 20

A group of protestors appeals their arrest on the grounds that police officers overstepped their authority. The case goes to court. This scenario best illustrates which of these functions of deviance?

Answer 20

Deviance clarifies rules

Question 21

__________ crimes include robbery, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In most of these crimes, the primary motive is to obtain money or some other desired valuable.

Answer 21

Property

Question 22

Cloward and Ohlin identified three basic gang types based on the type of illegitimate opportunity structure available in a specific area. The __________ is devoted to theft, extortion, and other illegal means of securing an income.

Answer 22

criminal gang

Question 23

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in Furman v. Georgia) that the death penalty __________.

Answer 23

is legal if imposed fairly and equally

Question 24

Sometimes people give up on societal goals but still adhere to the socially approved means for achieving them; Merton termed this __________.

Answer 24

ritualism

Question 25

The sociological term for a spoiled or devalued social identity is __________.

Answer 25

stigma

Question 26

The __________ argues that women’s crime originates in patriarchy (male domination over females). This approach focuses on social forces that shape women’s lives and experiences and shows how exploitation may trigger deviant behavior and criminal activities.

Answer 26

radical feminist approach

Question 27

__________ seeks to reduce criminal activity by instilling a fear of punishment in the general public.

Answer 27

General deterrence

Question 28

__________ seeks to return offenders to the community as law-abiding citizens by providing therapy or vocational or educational training. Offenders are treated, not punished, so that they will not continue their criminal activity.

Answer 28

Rehabilitation

Question 29

The sociological term for the systematic practices that social groups develop in order to encourage conformity to norms, rules, and laws and to discourage deviance is __________.

Answer 29

social control

Question 30

According to Merton’s strain theory, __________ occurs when people accept society’s goals but adopt disapproved means for achieving them.

Answer 30

innovation

Question 31

Walter Reckless suggested that many people do not resort to deviance because of __________, which may include supportive family and friends, reasonable social expectations, and supervision by others.

Answer 31

outer containments

Question 32

According to sociologist Edwin Lemert, several stages may occur in the labeling process. __________ deviance refers to the initial act of rule breaking.

Answer 32

Primary

Question 33

Criminologist Ronald Akers created the __________ theory, which combines differential association theory with elements of psychological learning theory, suggesting that both deviant behavior and conventional behavior are learned through the same social processes.

Answer 33

differential reinforcement

Question 34

Which of the following is a key element in the postmodernist perspective of Michel Foucault?

a. The powerful use the law and the criminal justice system to protect their class interests.
b. Acts are deviant or criminal because they have been labeled as such by powerful groups.
c. Social bonds tend to keep people from becoming criminals.
d. Social control and discipline are based on the use of knowledge, power, and technology.

Answer 34

Social control and discipline are based on the use of knowledge, power, and technology

Question 35

__________ refers to a violation of law or the commission of a status offense (such as cutting school or running away from home) by young people.

Answer 35

Juvenile delinquency

Question 36

__________ argue that the lifestyles considered deviant by political and economic elites are most likely to be defined as illegal.

Answer 36

Conflict theorists

Question 37

Sociologist __________ believed that deviance is rooted in societal factors such as rapid social change and lack of social integration among people. As social integration (bonding and community involvement) decreased, deviance and crime increased.

Answer 37

Emile Durkheim

Question 38

Gangs provide members with a means of attaining higher status and material rewards that may otherwise seem unavailable to them. Cloward and Ohlin have coined the concept of __________ to refer to this.

Answer 38

illegitimate opportunity structures

Question 39

The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population and accounts for __________ of the world’s prison population.

Answer 39

25 percent

Question 40

Drug use and addiction is prevalent within __________ gangs that are unable to gain success through legitimate means and are unwilling to do so through illegal ones.

Answer 40

retreatist

Question 41

According to Cloward and Ohlin, __________ gangs emerge in communities that do not provide either legitimate or illegitimate opportunities.

Answer 41

conflict

Question 42

__________ is based on the assumption that offenders who are detained in prison or are executed will be unable to commit additional crimes.

Answer 42

Incapacitation

Question 43

The __________ feminist approach examines how the intersecting systems of race, class, and gender act as structuring forces that affect how people act, what opportunities are available, and how their behavior is socially defined.

Answer 43

multiracial

Question 44

__________ crime refers primarily to actions such as murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and involves force or the threat of force against others.

Answer 44

Violent

Question 45

__________ are most likely to emphasize that the study of deviance reveals how the powerful exert authority over the powerless by taking away their free will to think and act as they might choose.

Answer 45

Postmodern theorists

Question 46

The use of ethnic or racial background as a means of identifying criminal suspects is called __________.

Answer 46

racial profiling

Question 47

The symbolic interactionist approach to deviance includes all of the following except the ___________ theory.

a. illegitimate opportunity
b. rational choice
c. labeling
d. control

Answer 47

illegitimate opportunity

Question 48

During the mid-1970s, advocates of __________ theory predicted that women’s crime rates would increase significantly as a result of the women’s liberation movement.

Answer 48

emancipation

Question 49

Which of the following people would most likely be considered deviant because of an unusual belief system?

a. Adam began laughing uproariously at his father’s funeral.
b. Terri is convinced that the government is using vaccines to intentionally make people ill.
c. Walter is 300 pounds overweight and has trouble getting out of bed.
d. Lily has over a dozen body piercings and a number of visible tattoos.

Answer 49

Terri is convinced that the government is using vaccines to intentionally make people ill.

Question 50

Differential association explains________________________________.

Answer 50

how one may be socialized into deviance

Question 51

____, such as better education and jobs and affordable housing, are more effective than military-style boot camps in addressing the challenges involved in dealing with juvenile offenders. In the past, measures such as these have made it possible for youths who initially committed street crimes to leave the streets, get jobs, and lead productive lives.

Answer 51

structural solutions

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT a function of deviance described by the contemporary functionalist?

a. Deviance clarifies rules.
b. Deviance unites a group.
c. Deviance promotes social change.
d. Deviance prevents anomie

Answer 52

d. Deviance prevents anomie.

Question 53

Which of the following is a similarity between social bond theory and social control theory?

a. Both are based on a conflict assumption that a certain amount of deviance contributes to the smooth functioning of society.
b. Both are centered on the assumption that the criminal justice system protects the power and privilege of the capitalist class.
c. Both are rooted in a functionalist assumption about the division of labor in families between men and women.
d. Both are centered on the assumption that the primary participants in deviant behavior are people in the lower classes.

Answer 53

c. Both are rooted in a functionalist assumption about the division of labor in families between men and women.

Question 54

In the context of conflict perspectives on deviance, which of the following statements is true about the critical approach?

a. It primarily focuses on explaining the relationship between the economic structure of a society and why people might engage in various forms of deviant behavior.
b. It is based on the assumption that society maintains order by punishing deviant behavior and reaffirming its commitment to social rules.
c. It is based on the assumption that the criminal justice system protects the power and privilege of the capitalist class.
d. It posits that a certain amount of deviance ensures balance in society and contributes to the smooth functioning of society.

Answer 54

c. It is based on the assumption that the criminal justice system protects the power and privilege of the capitalist class.

Question 55

William Chambliss studied two groups of adolescent boys in a high school: the “Saints” and the “Roughnecks.” According to Chambliss, although both groups committed offenses, the Roughnecks were more likely to be termed deviants and penalized because they came from lower-income families, did poorly in school, and were generally viewed negatively. This illustrates the significance of __________ in explaining deviance.

Answer 55

labeling theory

Question 56

Restorative justice programs deal with criminal behavior by promoting a peaceful and just society and have been found to reduce recidivism rates. The term __________ is used to refer to not only prisons and jails but also such programs and organizations that are responsible for the management of people accused or convicted of criminal offenses.

Answer 56

corrections

Question 57

The __________ is based on the assumption that women are exploited by both capitalism and patriarchy. From this approach, women’s criminal behavior is linked to gender conflict created by the economic and social struggle that often takes place in postindustrial societies.

Answer 57

Marxist (socialist) feminist approach

Question 58

Reading about criminal trials in newspapers or watching them on television is likely to instill a fear of punishment in people and prevent them from engaging in similar acts of crime. In the context of the goals of punishment, this is an example of __________.

Answer 58

general deterrence?