Test Answers on Sociology Chapter 7 Flashcard
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What does the story about the conviction and imprisonment of Bruce Glover suggest about punishment in the United States? a. Crime truly does pay. b. Convicts can lose everything important to them while in prison and, after release, they often struggle to fit back into society. c. The U.S. criminal justice system truly rehabilitates criminals effectively. d. After you get out of prison, society welcomes you back with open arms.
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b convicts can lose everything important to them while in prison and after release they often struggle to fit back into society
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"The recognized violation of cultural norms" refers to the concept of a. deviance. b. crime. c. legal infraction. d. juvenile delinquency.
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a deviance
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"Crime" differs from "deviance" in that crime a. is always more serious. b. is usually less serious. c. refers to a violation of norms enacted into law. d. involves a larger share of the population
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c refers to a violation of norms enacted into law
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Every society tries to regulate the behavior of individuals; this general process is called ______. a. neighborhood watch b. self control c. social control d. the legal system
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c social control
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The formal system that responds to alleged violations of the law using police, courts, and prison officials is called a. the normative system. b. social control. c. civil law. d. the criminal justice system.
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d the criminal justice system
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In terms of racial categories, most of the people in the United States arrested for FBI Index crimes are a. white. b. African American. c. people of mixed race. d. of Hispanic ancestry.
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a. white
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The correct view of the role of biology in causing people to commit crimes is that a. males with certain body types commit the most serious crimes. b. Lombroso proved a century ago that biological factors are the major cause of crime. c. biological factors may have a real but small effect in causing some people to commit crimes. d. genetics research has succeeded in explaining most criminality.
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c. biological factors may have a real but small effect in causing some people to commit crimes
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Walter Reckless and Simon Dinitz claimed that "good boys" have the ability to rein in deviant impulses. They called their analysis a. differential opportunity theory. b. containment theory. c. libido theory. d. differential association theory.
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b containment theory
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The value of psychological theories of deviance is limited because a. very few people experience an "unsuccessful socialization." b. there has been very little research of this kind. c. there is no way to distinguish "normal" from "abnormal" people. d. most people who commit crimes have normal personalities.
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d. most people who commit crimes have normal personalities
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One of the social foundations of deviance is that a. deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms. b. there are many acts that are always deviant everywhere. c. people are born deviant. d. social power has little to do with what norms are and how people apply them.
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a. deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms
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Assume you were listening to a lecture on Durkheim's approach to deviance. The focus of the lecture might be that a. deviance is a normal element of social organization. b. deviance is a dysfunctional element of social organization. c. deviance is less common in modern societies. d. deviance is defined by the rich and used against the poor
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a. deviance is normal element of social organization
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According to Durkheim, functions of deviance include a. negating cultural values and norms. b. the idea that responding to deviance promotes social unity. c. the idea that responding to deviance confuses moral boundaries. d. the idea that deviance looks the same across cultures.
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b.the idea that responding to deviance confuses moral boundaries
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In his study of New England's Puritans, Kai Erikson concluded that a. people everywhere define mostly the same things as deviant. b. very religious people create very little deviance. c. even this disciplined and highly religious group created deviance to clarify the moral boundaries of their community. d. the proportion of people in the population that the Puritans defined as deviant kept rising over time.
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c. even this disciplined and highly religious group created deviance to clarify the moral boundaries of their community
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In Robert Merton's strain theory of deviance, ___________ refers to the process of seeking conventional goals but rejecting the conventional means to achieve them. a. innovation b. ritualism c. retreatism d. rebellion
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a. innovation
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The concept criminal recidivism refers to a. young people growing up in a criminal environment. b. efforts by police to enlist help from people in a local community. c. later offenses by people previously convicted of crimes. d. the idea that crime does "pay."
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c. later offense by people previously convicted crimes
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According to Robert Merton's strain theory, the term ________ correctly describes the behavior of a school "dropout" who rejects both cultural goals and the conventional means to reach them. a. innovator b. ritualist c. retreatist d. rebel
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c. retreatist
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According to Robert Merton's strain theory, the term _______ correctly describes the behavior of a radical activist who rejects just about everything in the existing society in favor of some alternative system. a. innovator b. ritualist c. retreatist d. rebel
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d. rebel
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According to Robert Merton's strain theory, how would you classify a low-paid, yet compulsively conforming bank teller who never seems to want to get ahead but never seems to do anything wrong? a. innovator b. ritualist c. retreatist d. rebel
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b. ritualist
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Cloward and Ohlin extended Merton's theory of deviance, stating that crime a. reflects both limited legitimate opportunity as well as accessible illegitimate opportunity. b. is more common among the rich who have more opportunity. c. is defined in such a way as to overly criminalize the poor. d. is typically a result of drug dependence or other substance addiction.
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a. reflects both limited legitimate opportunity as well as accesible illegitimate opportunity
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Both Albert Cohen and Walter Miller argue that deviance is most likely to arise among a. high-income males. b. middle-class men and women. c. low-income youths. d. all class levels.
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c. low income youths
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Participating in the subculture that Elijah Anderson describes as "the code of the streets" raises the risk that young people will end up a. conforming to conventional morality. b. doing better than their parents. c. having a career in law enforcement. d. in jail or worse.
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d. in jail or worse
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The basic idea behind labeling theory is that a. deviance is actually useful in a number of ways. b. deviance arises not so much from what people do as how others respond to what they do. c. power has much to do with how a society defines deviance. d. deviance is actually a myth.
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b. deviance arises not so much from what people do as how others respond to what they do
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Edwin Lemert described "primary deviance" as a. the most serious episodes of deviance. b. actions that parents define as deviant. c. a passing episode of deviance that has little effect on the person's self-concept. d. the experience of deviance early in life.
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c. a passing episode of deviance that has little effect on the persons self concept
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His friends begin to criticize Marco as a "juice-head," pushing him out of their social circle. Marco begins to drink even more, becomes bitter, and joins a new group of friends who also are heavy drinkers. According to Lemert, Marco's situation illustrates a. the onset of primary deviance. b. the onset of secondary deviance. c. the formation of a deviant subculture. d. the onset of retreatism.
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b. the onset secondary deviance
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What concept did Erving Goffman use to refer to a powerful and negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity? a. a deviant ritual b. a degradation ceremony c. a secondary identity d. stigma
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d. stigma
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Reducing prison overcrowding, the costs of dealing with offenders, and helping offenders avoid the stigma of incarceration are all advantages of a. societal protection. b. criminal recidivism. c. the death penalty. d. community-based corrections.
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d. community -based corrections
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Thomas Szasz made the controversial assertion that a. deviance is only what people label as deviant. b. most people in the United States will become insane for some period during their lives. c. mental illness is a myth so that "insanity" is only "differences" that bother other people. d. our society does not do nearly enough to treat the mentally ill.
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c. mental illness is a myth so that insanity is only differences that bother other people
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An example of the "medicalization of deviance" is a. theft being redefined as a "compulsive stealing." b. drinking too much being redefined as a personal failing. c. promiscuity being redefined as a moral failing. d. when people steal drugs to self-medicate.
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a. theft being refined as compulsive stealing
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Most criminal cases handled by the criminal justice system in the United States are resolved a. through plea bargaining. b. with a judge dismissing all charges. c. with convictions after a courtroom trial. d. with a suspect being convicted and sentenced to prison.
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a. through plea bargaining
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Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory links deviance to a. how labeling someone as deviant can increase the deviant behavior. b. the amount of contact a person has with others who encourage or discourage conventional behavior. c. how well a person can contain deviant impulses. d. how others respond to the race, ethnicity, gender, and class of the individual.
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b. the amount of contact a person has with others who encourages or discourages conventional behavior
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Travis Hirschi's control theory suggests that the category of people most likely to engage in deviance is a. students enrolled in college. b. teenagers on sports teams with after-school jobs. c. youngsters who "hang out" waiting for something to happen. d. young people with respect for their parents.
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c. youngsters who hangout waiting for something to happen
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According to the social-conflict approach, what a society labels as deviant is based primarily on a. how often the act occurs. b. the moral foundation of the culture. c. how harmful the act is to the public as a whole. d. differences in power between various categories of people.
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d. differences in power between
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Alexander Liazos speaks for the social-conflict approach when he states that a. powerless people are at the highest risk of being defined as deviant. b. deviance has both functions and dysfunctions. c. deviance exists only in the eye of the beholder. d. society should ignore victimless crime.
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a. powerless people are at the highest risk of being defined as deviant
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Using a Marxist approach, Steven Spitzer claims that prime targets for deviant labeling include a. people who try to take the property of others. b. people who work hard but are poor. c. perpetrators of white-collar crime. d. people who have social power.
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a. people who try to take the property of the others
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Crime committed by persons of high social position during the course of their occupations is called a. victimless crime. b. white-collar crime. c. organized crime. d. street crime.
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b. white-collar crime
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Edwin Sutherland stated that white-collar crime a. almost always leads to a criminal conviction. b. provokes a strong response from the community. c. is usually resolved in a civil rather than a criminal court. d. rarely involves serious harm to the public as a whole.
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c. is usually resolved in a civil rather than criminal court
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_________ _______ refers to the illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf. a. Corporate crime b. Organized crime c. Victimless crime d. Secondary deviance
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a. corporated crime
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Organized crime refers to a. illegal actions by people with white-collar jobs. b. illegal actions on the part of a corporation or large business. c. crime involving the cooperation of two or more businesses. d. any business that supplies illegal goods or services.
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d. any business that suplies illegal goods or servises
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A hate crime is defined as a. any crime against a person who is a minority. b. any crime involving anger or other powerful emotion. c. a criminal act motivated by race or other bias. d. any violation of antidiscrimination laws.
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c. a criminal act motivated by race or other bias
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Feminist theory states that gender figures into the study of deviance because a. women account for most of the arrests for serious crimes in the United States. b. every society in the world applies stronger normative controls to females than to males. c. most researchers in this area are women. d. women are more likely than men to commit a serious crime.
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b. every society in the world applies stronger normative controls to females than to males
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Women commit a. far more crimes than men. b. far fewer crimes than men. c. the same number of crimes as men. d. more property crimes than men, but men commit more violent crimes
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b. far fewer crimes than men
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In legal terms, a crime is composed of which two components? a. the act and criminal intent b. a criminal and a victim c. the act and the social harm d. the law and the violation
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a. the act and criminal intent
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A judge orders that an offender be sentenced to prison for a short time, with most of the sentence served on probation. This sentence reflects a policy called a. parole. b. shock probation. c. rehabilitation. d. extended lockup
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b. shock probation
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According to Elliot Currie, factors that explain the high crime rate in the United States by world standards include a. our cultural homogeneity. b. a lack of interest in punishing offenders. c. the high level of immigration. d. our emphasis on individual economic success, which weakens the social fabric.
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d. our emphasis on individual economic success which weakens the social fabric
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Prostitution is widely regarded as a a. crime against the person. b. crime against property. c. victimless crime. d. corporate crime.
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c. victimless crime
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Criminal statistics gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation reflect a. all crimes that take place. b. offenses cleared by arrest. c. offenses resulting in a criminal conviction. d. offenses known to the police.
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d. offenses known to the police
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Victimization surveys show that the actual amount of crime in the United States is about _____ what official reports indicate. a. half as great as b. the same as c. more than twice as high as d. ten times greater than
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c. more than twice as high as
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The likelihood a person will be arrested for a street crime rises sharply a. during the late teenage years. b. in the late twenties. c. during the middle thirties. d. over age forty.
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a. during the late teenage years
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Men, who represent about half the U.S. population, account for about _____ of all arrests for property crime. a. 33 percent b. 50 percent c. 63 percent d. 98 percent
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c. 63 percent
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In the United States, men account for about _____ of all arrests for violent crime. a. about 20 percent b. about 40 percent c. about 60 percent d. about 80 percent
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d. 80 percent
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On U.S. campuses, the majority of women express dissatisfaction with the culture of "hooking up."
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true
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49. Heterosexism refers to rejecting or stigmatizing anyone who is not heterosexual.
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true
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. The abortion debate is about nothing more than the question of when life begins.
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false
