Deviance, Crime and Social Stratification
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Deviance
answer
Any behavior that violates the norm; deviance cannot exist independently of norms; norms vary from culture to culture; deviance is relative
question
Dysfunctions of Deviance
answer
1) Persistent and widespread deviance can impair and undermine organized social life 2) Undermines our willingness to play our roles and contribute to the larger social enterprise 3) Develop resentment and bitterness towards those who don't play by the rules 4) Morales, self-discipline, and loyalty suffer 5) Undermines trust within society
question
Functions of Deviance
answer
1) Reacting publicly to deviance can create conformity; creates a community of \"good\" 2) Contours of the norm are sharpened when a deviant behavior is recognized 3) By directing attention to the deviant, a group may strengthen themselves; solidarity 4) Deviance is a catalyst for change 5) Deviance is often a vehicle for placing on a society's agenda the need for social repair and change.
question
Social Control
answer
Methods and strategies that regulate behavior within society; societies seek to ensure that their members conform to basic norms by means of this. -Formal: Sanctions administered by a governmental/organizational agency of bureaucracy -Informal: Sanctions administered by a peer or other group
question
Functionalist Perspective on Social Control
answer
An indispensable requirement for survival; without it societies could suffer massive breakdowns and chaos.
question
Conflict Theorists' Perspective on Social Control
answer
Operates to favor powerful groups but disadvantages others.
question
3 Main Types of Social Control
answer
1) Those that lead us to internalize our society's normative expectations 2) Those that structure our world of social experience 3) Those that employ various formal and informal social sanctions
question
Internalization
answer
Process by which individuals incorporate within their personalities the standards of behavior prevalent within the larger society; norms become apart of someone's personality Critical steps to social control: 1) Learning the norms 2) Believing the norms are legitimate
question
Culture-bound
answer
Being without experiences that take us out of patterned routines dictated by the institutions that make up our society
question
Formal Sanctions
answer
The reactions of official agents of social control I.e., Courts, principals, cops
question
Informal Sanctions
answer
The reactions to deviance that occur in small communities, in groups of friends, and in the family; often more effective than formal sanctions - especially in primary groups
question
Anomie
answer
Durkheim; A social condition in which people find it difficult to guide their behavior by norms that they experience as weak, unclear, or conflicting.
question
Merton's Theory of Structural Strain
answer
Americans who internalize the goal of material success but who do not have access to the institutionalized means are pushed by strong social structural strings toward the use of unconventional means
question
Merton's 5 Responses to the Ends-Means Dilemma
answer
1) Conformity 2) Innovation 3) Ritualism 4) Retreatism 5) Rebellion
question
Cohen's Status Frustration Theory
answer
Developed to explain lower class delinquency; lower class students can experience a form of culture conflict known as status frustration
question
Cultural Transmission Theory
answer
Deviant behaviors that imitated from the culture that surrounds them and is passed from one generation to the next
question
Sutherland's Theory of Differential Association
answer
Emphasizes the role that social interaction has on people's attitudes and behaviors; deviant behaviors are learned from intimate [deviant] groups that one spends most of their time
question
Conflict Theory
answer
Ask the question, \"Which group all be able to translate its values into the rules of a society and make these rules stick?\"
question
Richard Quinney's Theory of Class, State, and Crime
answer
Quinney said that the U.S. legal system reflects the interests and ideologies of the ruling capitalist class. Law makes illegal certain behavior that is offensive to the morality of the powerful and that threats their privileges and property.
question
Crimes of Domination
answer
Capitalism strives to maintain itself against the internal contradictions eating away at its foundations; laws must be violated in order to secure the system
question
Crimes of the Government
answer
Committed by officials of the capitalist state
question
Predatory Crimes
answer
Burglary, robbery, drug dealing, and hustling; pursued out of the need to survive in a capitalist society
question
Personal Crimes
answer
Murder, assault, rape; pursued by those who are already brutalized by the conditions of capitalism
question
Labeling Theory
answer
Interested in the process by which some individuals become tagged as \"deviants,\" begin to think of themselves as deviants, and enter into deviant careers; say that the societal response to an act, not the behavior itself, determines deviance.
question
Primary Deviance
answer
Behavior violates social norms but usually goes unnoticed by the agents of social control
question
Secondary Deviance
answer
Deviance individuals adopt in response to the reactions of other individuals
question
Control Theory
answer
Turns the question around and asks why people do not deviate; societies that have properly functioning institutions will have low deviance due to conformity.
question
Hirshi's Control Theory
answer
Based on the assumption that deviance is normal/natural it is natural to follow our impulses(ID) The causes of conformity are the social bonds between the individual and the group
question
If we could prevent crime among those below the age ___, Most conventional crime would be eliminated
answer
Below the age of 25
question
Beccaria's deterrent would be most effective with
answer
In preventing rational, planned or intentional criminal behavior
question
Components of the criminal justice system
answer
The police The courts The prisons
question
Who has the highest incarceration rate?
answer
U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world
question
Attachment
answer
The process of being involved in social relationships with others
question
Involvement
answer
Involvement in conventional activities
question
Commitment
answer
Peters to the strength of the investment people have made in conventional social ties and relationships
question
Crime
answer
An act of deviance that is prohibited by law
question
Criminal Justice System
answer
The active agencies of the state that include the police, the courts, and prisons
question
Types of Crime
answer
1) Violent 2) Juvenile 3) Organized 4) White-collar 5) Corporate 6) Crime committed by government 7) Victimless
question
Index Crimes
answer
The 8 types of crime the FBI reports on in its uniform Crime Reports -Against people (rape, robbery, assault, murder) -Against property (burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson)
question
Organized Crime
answer
Refers to the large-scale bureaucratic organizations that provide illegal goods and services in public demand. I.e., druges, pornography, prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking
question
Hate Crime
answer
(Bias Crimes); Crimes of hatred and prejudice
question
White-Collar Crime
answer
Crime most commonly committed by relatively affluent persons, often in the course of business activities
question
Victimless Crime
answer
An offense in which no one involved is considered a victim
question
High-Tech Crimes
answer
Attempted to commit crime through the use of advanced electronic media.
question
Defendant
answer
Person accused the crime
question
Prosecutor
answer
Representative of the state
question
Recidivism
answer
Relapse into criminal behavior
question
Capital Punishment
answer
The imposition of the death sentence for a capital offense
question
Social Stratification
answer
The term sociologists apply to the ranking or grading of individuals and groups into hierarchical layers; some individuals, by virtue of their roles or group memberships, are advantaged, while others are disadvantaged
question
Social Differentiation
answer
The process by which a society becomes increasingly specialized over time; although positions may be differentiated, they need not be ranked with respect to one another
question
Relationship between social stratification and social differentiation
answer
Social differentiation comes after stratification! Stratification cannot exist unless you have differentiation.
question
Open System
answer
A system where people can change their status with relative ease -U.S. society is a relatively open system
question
Closed System
answer
A system where people have great difficulty in changing their status -Hindu Caste System
question
3 Components of Stratification
answer
1) Class - Economic standing 2) Status - Prestige 3) Party - Power
question
Wealth
answer
Has to do with what people own at a particular point in time
question
Income
answer
Refers to the amount of new money people receive within a given time interval
question
Prestige
answer
Involves the social respect, admiration, and recognition associated with a particular social status
question
Deference
answer
Behavior dramatizing and confirming a person's superior ranking
question
Presentation Rituals
answer
We engage in symbolic acts, such as revealing regard and awe by bowing, scraping, and displaying a humble demeanor
question
Avoidance Rituals
answer
We achieve the same end by maintaining a \"proper distance\" from prestigious figures
question
Power
answer
Refers to the ability of individuals and groups to realize their will in human affairs even if it involves the resistance of others; affects the ability of people to make the world work on their behalf.
question
The Objective Method
answer
Views social class as a statistical category. The categories are formed by sociologists and/or statisticians
question
The Self-Placement Method
answer
(Subjective Method): Has people identify the social class to which they think they belong; Can be applied to a large population; However, is often times inspired by aspirations rather than current situation
question
The Reputational Method
answer
People are asked how they classify other individuals; Valuable tool for investigating social distinctions in small groups and communities
question
Life Chances
answer
The likelihood that individuals and groups will enjoy desired goods and services, fulfilling experiences, ad opportunities for living healthy and long lives
question
Style of Life
answer
The magnitude and manner of their consumption of goods and services; people at different class levels tend to dress differently, eat different foods, buy different furniture, and watch different TV shows.
question
Underclass
answer
A population of people, concentrated in an inner city, who are persistently poor, unemployed, and dependent on welfare
question
Culture of Poverty Thesis
answer
The poor in class-stratified societies lack effective participation and integration within the larger society
question
Poverty as Largely Situational
answer
The majority of the population will use welfare at some point
question
Poverty as a Structural Feature of Capitalist Societies
answer
The cyclical movements between economic expansion and contraction - boom and bust - contribute to sharp fluctuations in employment
question
Social Mobility
answer
In many societies, individuals or groups can move from one level (stratum) to another in the stratification system
question
Vertical Mobility
answer
Involves movement from one social status to another of higher or lower rank
question
Horizontal Mobility
answer
Entails movement from one social status to another of approximately equivalent rank
question
Intergenerational Mobility
answer
Involves a comparison of social status of parents and their children at some point in their respective careers (e.g., assessed by the rankings of their occupations at roughly the same time); Entails a comparison of the social status of a person over an extended time
question
According to the text, factors that are affected by a person's social class background.
answer
- Education - Health and life expectancy - Other life chances: one will enjoy desired goods and services fulfilling experience
question
Household income distribution data collected in 1950 trough 2010 revealed?
answer
-Income for the bottom 3/5 shrinking -Income for the top 1/5 increasing
question
Major provisions of welfare reform act (TANF) of 1996
answer
- Encouraging work - Eliminating long-term use of welfare - Handing welfare over to the states
question
Three methods listed in the text that are used to identify social class:
answer
- Objective method: views social class as a statistical category (income, occupation etc) - Self report: people identify the social class to which they think they belong - Reputational: people are asked to rank other individuals. Not feasible in large population
question
Socioeconomic Life Style
answer
A sequence of stages that beings with birth into a family with a specific social status and proceeds though childhood, socialization, schooling, job seeking, occupational achievement, marriage, and the formation and functioning of a new family unit
question
Dual Labor Market
answer
An economy characterized by 2 sectors. The primary, or core, sector offers \"good jobs,\" and the secondary, or periphery, sector offers \"bad jobs.\"
question
The Functionalist Theory of Stratification
answer
Stratification exists because it is beneficial for society
question
The Conflict Theory of Stratification
answer
Stratification exists because it benefits individuals and groups who have the power to dominate and exploit others
question
Marx's views on stratification and how social class is determined:
answer
Class was the only dimension to social class. You either own or don't own the means of dimension.
question
Surplus Value
answer
The difference between the value that workers create and the value that they receive
question
False Consciousness
answer
An incorrect assessment of how the system works and of their subjugation and exploitation by capitalists
question
Class Consciousness
answer
One must recognize that they are oppressed and exploited, and they must have the conscious goal of gaining the power to change the situation
question
According to the text, deviant behavior is ________.
answer
Socially constructed, found in all societies, a behavior which violates a norm
question
Individuals learn deviance primarily in intimate groups of deviant others, such as small groups of friends. This view typifies ______ theory.
answer
Sutherland's Differential Association
question
Which of the following theories of deviance focused its attention on the question, \"Why don't people deviate?\"
answer
Hirschi's Control Theory
question
__________ is probably the most powerful single contributor to premature morbidity and mortality worldwide.
answer
Lower Socioeconomic Status
question
The text considers gambling, drug use, and prostitution to be ____.
answer
Victimless Crimes
question
According to Merton (Theory of Structural Strain), anomie represents a misalignment of __________ for individuals in the lower classes of society.
answer
Cultural goals & Institutionalized means
question
A \"closed\" stratification system is most likely to contain \"statuses\" that are \"achieved\".
answer
False
question
According to your text, social stratification is necessary before social differentiation can occur.
answer
False
question
Sociologists define _________ as the ranking or grading of individuals and groups into hierarchical layers.
answer
Social Stratification
question
The Census Bureau defines the threshold for poverty as \"the minimum amount of money families need to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet, assuming they use one-third of their income for food.\" In 2010, the Census Bureau's poverty threshold's dollar amount for a family of four was ________.
answer
$22,050
