Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In this revision of the test bank, I have updated all of the questions to reflect the changes in
Society: The Basics, 12th edition. There is also a new system for identifying the difficulty of the
questions. In earlier editions, the questions were tagged in one of three ways: factual (rote
memorization), conceptual (dealing with key concepts), and applied (application of sociological
knowledge to a situation). In this revision, the questions are now tagged according to the six
levels of learning that help organize the text. Think of these six levels as moving from lower-
level to higher-level cognitive reasoning. The six levels are:
The 109 questions in this chapter’s test bank are divided into four types of questions.
True/False questions are the least demanding. As the table below shows, all of these questions
fall within the two lowest levels of cognitive reasoning (“Remember” and “Understand”).
Multiple-choice questions also fall within the three lowest levels of cognitive reasoning (adding
some “Apply” questions). Short answer questions span a broader range of skills (from
“Understand” to “Evaluate”). Finally, essay questions are the most demanding, falling within
the four highest levels of cognitive reasoning (“Apply,” “Analyze,” “Evaluate,” and “Create”).
Types of Questions
Easy to Difficult Level of Difficulty
True/False Mult Choice Short Answer Essay Total Qs
Remember 21 (81%) 40 (64%) 0 0 61
Understand 5 (19%) 9 (14%) 4 (40%) 0 18
Apply 0 14 (22%) 2 (20%) 1 (10%) 17
Analyze 0 0 1 (10%) 3 (30%) 4
Evaluate 0 0 3 (30%) 5 (50%) 8
Create 0 0 0 1 (10%) 1
26 63 10 10 109
CHAPTER 7: DEVIANCE
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
2. Cesare Lombroso, an Italian physician and criminologist, claimed that most criminals
were people who had been mistreated by society.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: F; page 157)
4. Walter Reckless and Simon Dinitz developed containment theory, which claims that a
strong superego helps boys stay out of trouble.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; pages 157-158)
5. What is considered deviant is almost exactly the same behavior all around the world.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 158)
7. Robert Merton claimed that the “strains of masculinity” are an important cause of crime.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; pages 159-160)
8. A poor person who has little chance to go to college and who sells illegal drugs to make
money is one example of deviance that Merton calls “innovation.”
(UNDERSTAND; answer: T; page 160)
9. Albert Cohen suggested that lower-class youths form a delinquent subculture to gain the
self-respect that society denies them.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 160)
10. Labeling theory stresses that some actions are always wrong and others are always right.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 162)
12. The stigma of deviance can encourage an individual to engage in further deviance.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 162)
13. Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz states that the label of “insanity” is widely applied to behavior
that is actually only “different.”
(UNDERSTAND; answer: T; pages 162-163)
14. The “medicalization of deviance” idea points to the fact that most crimes are committed
by people who are under the influence of an illegal drug.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 163)
15. Travis Hirschi’s control theory makes the point that people who commit crimes typically
have little concern about the potential consequences.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 164)
16. According to the social-conflict approach, deviance is a basic part of social organization.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 164)
17. Corporate crime refers to stealing or other crimes that are committed against a
corporation or other large business.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 166)
18. Organized crime refers to supplying legal goods and services at below market prices.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 166)
19. Today in the United States, women are arrested for property crimes at the same rate as
men are.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 170)
20. In general, people of higher social class position are less likely to be arrested for street
crimes than people of lower class position.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 171)
21. “Due process” means handling alleged offenders within the bounds of the law.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; pages 173-174)
22. Every person charged with a crime in the United States is sentenced after receiving a trial
by jury.
(REMEMBER; answer: F; page 174)
23. The old saying, “An eye for an eye,” expresses the essence of rehabilitation.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: F; page 175)
24. In the United States, even though the crime rate has gone down in recent years, the
number of people in prison has gone up.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 176)
25. The United States is the only Western, high-income nation that routinely imposes the
death penalty on convicted offenders.
(REMEMBER; answer: T; page 177)
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
27. What does the story about the conviction and imprisonment of Bruce Glover suggest
about punishment in the United States?
a. Crime truly does pay; the criminal justice system should hand down stiffer
punishments to criminals.
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 criminals get out of prison, society welcomes them back with open arms.
(REMEMBER; answer: b; page 156)
28. Which of the following concepts refers to “the recognized violation of cultural norms”?
a. deviance
b. crime
c. legal infraction
d. juvenile delinquency
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 156)
30. Every society tries to regulate the behavior of individuals; this general process is called
a. a neighborhood watch.
b. self control.
c. social control.
d. the legal system.
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 156)
31. What concept refers to the formal system that responds to alleged violations of the law
using police, courts, and prison officials?
a. the normative system
b. social control
c. civil law
d. the criminal justice system
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 156)
32. Based on your reading, it would be correct to say that biological approaches offer
a. a very limited understanding of crime.
b. a good explanation of most crimes.
c. a good explanation of violent crime.
d. a good explanation of property crime.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: a; page 157)
33. Read the four statements below. Which comes closest to the correct view of the role of
biology in causing people to commit crimes?
a. Males with certain body structure commit the most serious crimes.
b. Lombroso proved a century ago that biological factors are the major cause of
crime.
c. Biological factors may affect behavior, but research puts greater emphasis on
social influences.
d. Genetics research has succeeded in explaining most criminality.
(APPLY; answer: c; page 157)
34. Walter Reckless and Simon Dinitz claimed that “good boys” have the ability to control
deviant impulses. They called their analysis
a. differential opportunity theory.
b. containment theory.
c. libido theory.
d. differential association theory.
(REMEMBER; answer: b; pages 157-158)
36. Read the following four statements about the social foundations of deviance. Select the
one statement that is FALSE.
a. Deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms.
b. There are many acts that are always deviant everywhere.
c. People become deviant as others define them that way.
d. Both norms and how people define rule breaking involve social power.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: b; page 158)
37. Assume you were listening to a lecture on Durkheim’s approach to deviance. Which of
the following statements might well be the focus of the lecture?
a. Deviance is considered 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.
(APPLY; answer: a; page 159)
38. Which of the following are functions of deviance noted by Emile Durkheim?
a. Deviance affirms cultural values and norms.
b. Responding to deviance promotes social unity.
c. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries.
d. All of these responses are correct.
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 159)
39. In his study of New England’s Puritans, Kai Erikson concluded that
a. people everywhere, for the most part, define 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 159)
40. In Robert Merton’s strain theory of deviance, which of the following concepts refers to
the process of seeking conventional goals but rejecting the conventional means to achieve
them?
a. innovation
b. ritualism
c. retreatism
d. rebellion
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 160)
41. Using the terms of Robert Merton’s strain theory, which of the following terms would
correctly describe a gangster like Al Capone who made a lot of money breaking the law?
a. innovator
b. ritualist
c. retreatist
d. rebel
(APPLY; answer: a; page 160)
42. Using the terms of Robert Merton’s strain theory, which of the following concepts
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
(APPLY; answer: c; page 160)
43. Using the terms in Robert Merton’s strain theory, which of the following concepts
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
(APPLY; answer: d; page 160)
44. Using 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
(APPLY; answer: b; page 160)
45. 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 160)
46. 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.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: d; page 160)
49. 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.
(APPLY; answer: b; page 162)
50. 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
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 162)
54. Whether people respond to deviance as a moral issue or a medical matter affects which of
the following?
a. who responds—police or medical personnel
b. whether the person is subject to punishment or treatment
c. how personally competent the person is assumed to be
d. All of these responses are correct.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: d; page 163)
55. Cloward and Ohlin extended Merton’s theory of deviance, stating that crime
a. results from limited (legal) opportunity as well as accessible (illegal) opportunity.
b. is more common among the rich who have more opportunity and are less likely to
be apprehended.
c. is defined in such a way as to overly criminalize the poor.
d. typically results from drug dependence or other substance addiction.
(REMEMBER; answer: a; pages 163-164)
57. Travis Hirschi’s control theory suggests which of the following categories of people
would be MOST likely to engage in deviance?
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
(APPLY; answer: c; page 164)
58. 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: d; pages 164-165)
59. 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 165)
60. 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 do not want to work for a living.
c. radicals who call for basic change in society itself.
d. All of these responses are correct.
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 165)
61. Which of the following concepts refers to crime committed by persons of high social
position during the course of their occupations?
a. victimless crime
b. white-collar crime
c. organized crime
d. street crime
(REMEMBER; answer: b; page 166)
63. Which of the following 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
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 166)
69. “Crimes against the person” includes all of the following EXCEPT
a. murder.
b. aggravated assault.
c. burglary.
d. forcible rape.
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 169)
70. Mike reports the theft of his dirt bike from the front yard of his house. The police would
record this as which of the following types of crime?
a. burglary
b. larceny-theft
c. robbery
d. auto-theft
(APPLY; answer: b; page 169)
73. 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
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 170)
74. 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. 62 percent
d. 98 percent
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 170)
75. 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
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 170)
76. Of all the property crimes discussed in the chapter, one occurs far more than all the
others. Which one is it?
a. motor-vehicle theft
b. larceny-theft
c. robbery
d. forcible rape
(REMEMBER; answer: b; page 170)
77. 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 171)
78. Research suggests that, with regard to social class, arrest for FBI index crimes
a. is about the same for people of all social positions.
b. is higher for people of higher social position.
c. is higher for people of lower social position.
d. almost always involves middle-class people.
(REMEMBER; answer: c; page 171)
79. In terms of racial categories, MOST of the people arrested for FBI Index crimes in the
United States are
a. white.
b. African American.
c. people of mixed race.
d. of Hispanic ancestry.
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 171)
80. 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 and unemployment.
d. our emphasis on individual economic success, at the expense of strong families.
(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 172)
82. Because there are several hundred people in the United States for every police officer,
police
a. ignore most crimes they learn about.
b. work, on average, many more hours than other workers.
c. cannot take time to ensure due process for most suspects.
d. use discretion in deciding which situations warrant their attention.
(UNDERSTAND; answer: d; page 174)
83. 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.
(REMEMBER; answer: a; page 174)
84. Looking back in history, the oldest justification for punishing an offender is
a. deterrence.
b. retribution.
c. social protection.
d. rehabilitation.
(REMEMBER; answer: b; page 175)
85. If a parent threatens a child with punishment in order to discourage wrongdoing, the
parent is using punishment to accomplish which of the following?
a. deterrence
b. retribution
c. social protection
d. rehabilitation
(APPLY; answer: a; page 175)
86. A judge sentences a young man who has committed several crimes to counseling and
places him in a supportive foster home. Which of the following concepts describes these
efforts to prevent further wrongdoing?
a. retribution
b. deterrence
c. social protection
d. rehabilitation
(APPLY; answer: d; page 175)
89. 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.
(APPLY; answer: b; page 179)
90. Why did Emile Durkheim claim that deviance was “normal”? List four ways in which
deviance is functional for society, according to Durkheim.
(UNDERSTAND; page 159)
91. Explain the difference between primary and secondary deviance. Give an example of
each type of deviance.
(APPLY; page 162)
93. Define each of the following: white-collar crime, corporate crime, organized crime, and
hate crime.
(UNDERSTAND; pages 166-168)
94. What are several criticisms made by the feminist theory of the way our society
understands deviance?
(EVALUATE; pages 167-169)
95. List the crimes against the person and crimes against property tracked by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Which type of crime is more common?
(UNDERSTAND; pages 169-170)
96. Explain how age, gender, and social class are correlated with official arrest data.
(ANALYZE; pages 170-171)
98. Identify four justifications for punishment. Do you think punishment accomplishes each
of these goals? Why or why not?
(EVALUATE; pages 175-176)
99. What is criminal recidivism? Why do you think our society has such a high rate of
recidivism?
(EVALUATE; page 176)
100. Explain the value and the limitations of biological and psychological explanations of
crime. Expand the essay by explaining the strengths of a sociological approach to
understanding crime.
(EVALUATE)
101. Emile Durkheim made the surprising statement that deviance is a necessary part of social
organization. Write an essay in which you explain Durkheim’s approach and point to a
number of specific ways in which crime (or, more broadly, deviance) is functional for
society as a whole.
(ANALYZE)
102. Describe the labeling theory of deviance. What basic insight about deviance is offered by
this approach? How does labeling figure into the difference between primary deviance
and secondary deviance? What is the importance of stigma in labeling analysis?
(ANALYZE)
103. Many researchers agree that in the United States most arrests for street crime involve
people of lower social position. According to Robert Merton, Albert Cohen, Walter
Miller, and Elijah Anderson, why would this be the case? How would a broader
definition of crime (to include more white-collar and corporate offenses) change the
profile of the typical criminal?
(ANALYZE)
104. The U.S. government provides a great deal of data about crime in the United States.
Drawing on FBI data, what can we say about the “typical street criminal” in terms of age,
gender, social class, race, and ethnicity? In each case, what can you say to explain the
pattern? Do these patterns contain bias? Explain several reasons why we must treat
criminal statistics with caution.
(EVALUATE)
105. Every society punishes offenders. Write an essay in which you explain four justifications
for punishment. Point out how each justification has come to the forefront at different
times in history and explain this pattern as best you can. What evidence is there that
punishment actually accomplishes what we say it does?
(EVALUATE)
106. What is meant by “community-based corrections?” What are the advantages of this
approach? What are some of the limitations of this approach? Do you favor or oppose
expanding community-based corrections? Why?
(EVALUATE)
107. Apply each of sociology’s three theoretical approaches to the topic of deviance. What are
the basic insights we gain from each theoretical approach?
(APPLY)
108. Can you imagine a society without crime? What changes in our society would you
imagine having to make in order to reduce the crime rate dramatically? Explain your
position.
(CREATE)
109. What insights does the feminist theory provide into our society’s understanding of
deviance? What criticisms does the feminist theory make of sociological material found
in this chapter?
(EVALUATE)
Name ________________________________
Multiple Choice:
1. Both Albert Cohen and Walter Miller argue that deviance is MOST likely to arise among
a. high-income males. c. low-income youths.
b. middle-class men and women. d. all class levels.
4. The likelihood a person will be arrested for a street crime rises sharply
a. during the late teenage years. c. during the middle thirties.
b. in the late twenties. d. over age forty.
5. In terms of racial categories, most people arrested for a violent crime in the United States are
a. white. c. people of mixed race.
b. African American. d. of Hispanic ancestry.
7. According to Elliot Currie, factors that explain the high crime rate in the United States by world
standards include
a. our cultural homogeneity. c. the high level of immigration and
unemployment.
b. a lack of interest in punishing offenders. d. our emphasis on individual economic
success, at the expense of strong families.
True/False
__________ 9. The United States is the only Western, high-income nation that routinely imposes the
death penalty on convicted offenders.
Short Answer
10. State four ways in which, according to Emile Durkheim, deviance is functional for society as a whole.
Name ________________________________
Multiple Choice:
1. Both Albert Cohen and Walter Miller argue that deviance is most likely to arise among
a. high-income males. c. low-income youths.
b. middle-class men and women. d. all class levels.
4. The likelihood a person will be arrested for a street crime rises sharply
a. during the late teenage years. c. during the middle thirties.
b. in the late twenties. d. over age forty.
5. In terms of racial categories, most people arrested for a violent crime in the United States are
a. white. c. people of mixed race.
b. African American. d. of Hispanic ancestry.
7. According to Elliot Currie, factors that explain the high crime rate in the United States by
world standards include
a. our cultural homogeneity. c. the high level of immigration and
unemployment.
b. a lack of interest in punishing offenders. d. our emphasis on individual
economic success, at the expense of
strong families.
True/False
___True____9. The United States is the only Western, high-income nation that routinely imposes
the death penalty on convicted offenders.
Short Answer
10. State four ways in which, according to Emile Durkheim, deviance is functional for society as
a whole.