Module 9: Deviance, Crime, and Violence

Question 1

deviance

Answer 1

behaviors that violate social norms

Question 2

folkways

Answer 2

the least serious norms. They mainly refer to customs, traditions, and etiquette. Social sanctions for violating them are also the least severe

Question 3

Mores

Answer 3

more seriously protected norms. They reflect a deeper sense of morals and values, and sanctions for violating them are often much stronger

Question 4

laws

Answer 4

represent the most highly codified level of norm; they are usually written down, and there are serious consequences if you don’t follow them

Question 5

social control

Answer 5

the ways societies try to influence members’ behavior to maintain social order

Question 6

moral panics

Answer 6

over- heated, short-lived periods of intense social concern over an issue

Question 7

moral entrepreneurs

Answer 7

push for increased awareness of and concern over an issue

Question 8

Stigma

Answer 8

occurs when some characteristic of an individual or group is seen as inferior or undesirable and leads to social rejection

Question 9

Labeling theory

Answer 9

argues that deviance isn’t really about the act itself, but is negotiated socially through reactions to the act (smoking marijuana may not change someone much, but being labeled a pothead may shift how a person is treated and how she sees herself)

Question 10

functionalist theories of deviance

Answer 10

begin with the idea that deviance serves a social purpose, a function

affirming our social agreements about right and wrong
strengthens social cohesion

Question 11

social cohesion

Answer 11

the degree to which we identify with and maintain social rules and connections

Question 12

normative

Answer 12

accepted and expected

Question 13

anomie

Answer 13

social lack of morals and expectations for behavior that can lead to
deviance

Question 14

strain theory.

Answer 14

ive adaptations to strain, based on the possible mismatch between goals and the means a person has available

Conformity (yes goal, yes means)
innovation (yes, no)
ritualism (no, yes)
retreatism (no, no)
rebellion (either, either)

Question 15

opportunity theory

Answer 15

states that some people (those living in poverty in highly- populated cities, for example) may be more likely than others to be exposed to deviant subcultures

Question 16

illegitimate opportunity

Answer 16

created by deviant subculture’s proximity and norms of delinquency

Question 17

conflict theories of deviance

Answer 17

ask how rules and norms are shaped by power relations in a society

Question 18

worldview

Answer 18

set of shared values, beliefs, and understandings about how the world should be

Question 19

ideology

Answer 19

set of beliefs, values, and assumptions we use to view and understand the world, about what constitutes deviance and what doesn’t

Question 20

hegemony

Answer 20

particular type of domination in which the powerful get the consent (and sometimes outright support) of everyone else

Question 21

Edwin Sutherland’s theory of differential association

Answer 21

suggests that deviance is a learned behavior, just like any other

Question 22

control theory

Answer 22

focuses on how ties to mainstream social groups and societal institutions make us less likely to become deviant

Question 23

criminology

Answer 23

study of crime and criminal behavior

Question 24

crime

Answer 24

an act that violates the penal code

Question 25

penal code

Answer 25

the written laws that govern behavior in a particular jurisdiction

Question 26

violent crime

Answer 26

category that also includes crimes like robbery (a theft that takes place in person through use of force), assault, and sexual assault or rape

Question 27

Property crime

Answer 27

involves theft that isn’t carried out through force, including acts like motor vehicle theft or the burglary of a home

Question 28

street crime

Answer 28

violent and property crime

Question 29

white-collar crime

Answer 29

fraud, embezzlement, and other unethical acts or business practices

Question 30

criminal

Answer 30

a person who has violated a criminal law. Deviant behavior, as we learned, is a violation of common norms

Question 31

social network

Answer 31

group of people (or organizations, nations, etc.) that are linked to each other in a specific way

Question 32

crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)

Answer 32

Urban planners and architects have identified how the design of city streets and housing can reduce crime by limiting the number of dark, isolated, or unsupervised spaces where potential criminals might seek out victims

Question 33

broken windows theory

Answer 33

suggests that if the police respond to very small violations of public order, they will make major crimes less likel

Question 34

homicide rate

Answer 34

most common measure of violence in a society; it measures the number of murders for every 100,000 residents.

Question 35

culture of violence

Answer 35

the idea that the United States has a unique heritage in which settlers had to resort to violence to protect their property and themselves, creating a longstanding norm of violent behavior

Question 36

merton’s theory of relative deprivation

Answer 36

Robert Merton’s strain theory, which we discussed earlier in the chapter, argues that it’s not just poverty that makes people more likely to commit crime; it’s a feeling that they are losing out while others achieve vast riches, that they’re falling behind while others live the good life

Question 37

mass incarceration

Answer 37

the expansion of imprisonment to a level that isn’t matched elsewhere in the world or at any previous point in U.S. history

Question 38

The New Jim Crow

Answer 38

book written by Michelle Alexander arguing that mass incarceration represents the latest in a series of institutions and policies designed to reinforce a racialized caste system in the United States

Question 39

Defund the police

Answer 39

the slogan of a movement to shift resources from police budgets to other agencies that provide services, like jobs programs or mental health treatment, to residents of a city

Question 40

Black Lives Matter

Answer 40

Movement devoted to, among other things, reducing police violence against African Americans

Question 41

Differential Association theory

Answer 41

crime is a learned behavior

Question 42

Functionalist Theories - Durkheim

Answer 42

deviance serves a social function, tells us right from wrong and creates social cohesion, creates social cohesion/boundaries, promotes social change