Sociology Exam 2
If a sociologist measured group cohesion within a neighborhood and found a high level of group cohesion, which response would you LEAST expect to find on the survey?
"I feel comfortable in all sorts of neighborhoods."
Which of the following is an example of McDonaldization as George Ritzer used the term?
A worker says, "Sometimes I felt just like a robot. I push a button and I go this way. It was like I was a mechanical nut."
How does the FBI's Uniform Crime Report measure crime?
Every crime reported by over 17,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States is tabulated.
There are many members of social groups who are not influenced by peer pressure.
False
There is a social tie between my best friend's uncle and me even though I've never met him.
True
How does primary deviance differ from secondary deviance?
Individuals are not labeled "deviant" unless they commit secondary deviance.
How do sociologists distinguish a group from a crowd?
Individuals associated with a group feel a shared identity.
What is the danger of too much group cohesion?
It can lead to groupthink, in which dissenting opinions are strongly discouraged.
Most sociological studies of deviance focus on elements of an individual's background that would predispose him or her to act in deviant ways. What is the key problem with such an approach?
It cannot explain why some people with very similar backgrounds act differently.
Which of the following is one of the basic principles of social stratification?
It is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared in a society.
What term did sociologist George Ritzer use to describe the spread of rationalization and bureaucratic ways of operating into everyday life?
McDonaldization
Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is true?
People who work in bureaucracies may feel alienation as a result of being treated in terms of roles, rules, and functions rather than as individuals.
Who argued that the personality passes through four distinct psychosexual stages of development?
Sigmund Freud
The vast majority of crimes come to the attention of the police in response to citizen complaints. Citizens do not usually bother to inform the authorities if they do not think a crime is serious enough or feel that nothing can be done. This means that there might be serious bias in the
Uniform Crime Report
How do self-fulfilling prophecies work?
We respond not only to the objective features of a situation, but also to its meaning. Once meaning has been assigned to our behavior, the consequences of that behavior are determined by the meaning.
What is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)?
an official measure of crime in the United States
Which of the following is an example of social capital?
country club membership
Traditionally, most of the sociological literature on deviance focuses on
crime
The forms of deviance in which formal penalties are imposed by society are ______.
crimes
The process by which people learn the cultural norms, attitudes, and behaviors appropriate to their gender is
gender role socialization
Members of which of the following think of themselves as belonging together and interact with one another?
group
The sense of solidarity or team spirit that an individual feels toward his or her group is called
group cohesion
What do sociologists call patterns of interaction between groups and individuals?
group dynamics
Several cases of children who grew up in extreme social isolation, such as the case of Genie in 1970, suggest that
most of our mental capacities, and perhaps even the ability to think, are learned through social interaction.
Role conflict occurs when an individual has
multiple roles that are in conflict with each other.
The term "master status" is defined as a
status that seems to override all other statuses a person possesses.
Considering that impression management relies so much on strategies of performance, scholars have called Erving Goffman's ideas
Dramaturgy
Formal subjects like math and reading are part of schools' hidden curriculum.
False
The basic building block of socialization through which a child becomes shaped into a human being, learns his or her culture, and becomes a member of a society is
The process of interaction
All of the following are characteristics of ideal-type bureaucracy EXCEPT:
an emphasis on democratic decision making
An act that attempts to break down a prison inmate's sense of self in order to resocialize him or her is known as ______.
mortification
Under what circumstances does a deviant label transition from primary to secondary deviance?
when the deviant label is internalized
What do we call norm violations that are codified into law?
crimes
Robert Merton's structural strain theory sees deviance as the result of a person's position in a social structure. What do you think Jack Katz, author of Seductions of Crime, would say about structural strain theory?
A focus on social position fails to consider the emotional appeal that a deviant act has for an individual.
Conflict theory states all of the following EXCEPT that:
Conflict is inevitable in society
John, the CEO of a large bank, is charged with fraud. John pays $13 billion to settle the case and he does not go to jail. Andy is arrested for stealing money out of a parked car. Since Andy is unable to pay his bail or bond, he spends a month in jail while waiting for his trial. John and Andy exemplify the perspective of
Conflict theorists like Richard Quinnery
Which of the following describes how deviance can be explained from the functionalist perspective?
Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.
Which of the following is true regarding prison as a mechanism for punishing crime?
Prison was rarely used before the nineteenth century.
All of the following represent micro-level analysis EXCEPT:
Professional sociological association
Which of the following is an aggregate?
The audience at a Broadway show
What is one of the principal reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the United States according to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton?
The goal of success is shared by a majority of people, but not everyone has equal means for achieving that goal.
Some students at a college form an intramural softball team. They play other teams from their school and from the area every Sunday in a conveniently located park. What might a sociologist consider if he or she wanted to determine whether the team was a primary group or a secondary group?
The innate skill of the players
What might a conflict theorist conclude about deviance if an upper-middle-class, white college student is sentenced to rehab for the same drug crime that a lower-class, black man is sentenced to jail for committing?
The rules are applied unequally, and those with power or influence are punished much less harshly.
Which is true of social mobility in a caste system?
There is little or no chance of social mobility.
According to labeling theory, why were none of the pseudo-patients in David Rosenhan's "On Being Sane in Insane Places" discovered?
They all were mentally ill, at least to some extent
How have social networking websites affected social groups?
They help people make the most of both their primary and secondary groups.
Which of the following is a characteristic of primary groups?
They involve a strong sense of belonging.
Which of the following traits is NOT characteristic of in-groups?
a desire to incorporate members of an out-group
Which of the following would be considered a group in the sociological sense?
a high school chess club
Members of a table tennis club in upstate New York seem to have come together as much for connections with others as for the love of the game. This club can be viewed as a counterpoint to the message of Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone because it is an example of
a type of civic engagement that brings people together.
How do sociologists define positive deviance?
actions initially considered deviant, but later deemed appropriate
A student at a university explains that he doesn't want to join a fraternity because he believes they create negative in-group and out-group dynamics. What perspective best describes his views?
conflict theory
Samantha believes corporations are not punished enough for polluting the planet, manufacturing unsafe products, and manipulating prices. At the same time, she sees homeless people imprisoned for stealing food; she believes we should all have access to regardless of wealth. Samantha has taken a _________ perspective to explain the way deviance is viewed in society.
conflict theory
What theory argues that punishments for rule violators are unequally distributed, with those near the top of society subject to more lenient rules and sanctions than those at the bottom?
conflict theory
Which theory suggests crimes committed by the upper classes are typically treated more leniently than crimes committed by the lower classes because laws represent the interests of those in power?
conflict theory
Which of the following is an ascribed status?
daughter
What must behavior, trait, or belief do in order to be considered deviant?
depart from a norm and generate a negative reaction
What is the justification for harsh sentencing guidelines like California's controversial "three strikes" law?
deterrence of future crimes
After a woman's teenage son engages in deviant behavior, she says the reason for her son's behavior is that "he fell in with a bad crowd." Which symbolic interactionist theory of deviance does this explanation MOST closely resemble?
differential association
Consider the statement, "People learn to conform or deviate from the individuals they spend time with." With which theory does this statement best fit?
differential association
The idea that individuals learn to be deviant by interacting with others who are already deviant is called
differential association theory
Resocialization is particularly necessary when people are cut off from society and their former identities are stripped away. Which of the following is an example of a life change that would lead to this more dramatic form of resocialization?
entry into a total institution
The Solomon Asch experiment, in which groups of participants were asked to compare the lengths of lines, demonstrated that
groups have great power to induce conformity.
What are group members engaging in when they withhold their reservations and criticisms for the sake of consensus?
groupthink
In Los Angeles you may see cars sporting a bumper sticker that reads, "My favorite teams are UCLA and whoever's playing USC." What is this an example of?
hostility toward an out-group
A man tries to find unconventional and even illegal ways of making money. Into what category does this fit according to Robert Merton's typology?
innovation
Robert Merton's typology of deviance outlines the strain that people experience as they attempt to access cultural goals through legitimate, institutionalized means. In which of the following categories would gangsters and con artists be found?
innovation
The statement, "Members of society create deviance by defining certain behaviors as deviant," most closely reflects _______.
labeling theory
An individual who works at a bookstore routinely takes home ballpoint pens and Post-it notes, uses the copy machine to make personal copies, and makes long- distance phone calls on the store's line. However, he would never consider stealing money from the cash register, even if he knew he could get away with it. What is this behavior called?
pilfering
What type of group provides most of our emotional satisfaction?
primary
Which type of group is characterized by long-term, intimate, and face-to-face relationships?
primary
People who associate with each other on a regular basis because they enjoy spending time together are usually members of a
primary group
Which of the following is an example of a total institution?
prison
What are some examples of things students learn from a school's hidden curriculum?
punctuality, neatness, and discipline
A high school decides that its band needs to wear uniforms. To be more efficient, the school only buys uniforms in three sizes and forces each student to pick the size that comes closest to fitting. What does this exemplify?
rationalization
When people attend high school class reunions, they often compare their own personal and professional successes and failures with those of their former classmates. This means that classmates are a(n) _______ group.
reference
A twenty-eight-year-old woman is on the verge of a big promotion at work. She didn't finish college until she was twenty-five and the entry-level job she currently has is not impressive. She decides to attend her ten-year high school reunion only if she is promoted. What do sociologists say her high school classmates represent if they can have this much influence on her decision to attend the reunion?
reference group
What do sociologists call a group that provides standards by which an individual can judge his or her own accomplishments?
reference group
What do we call groups that are used as standards to evaluate ourselves-either positively, in terms of the qualities we aspire to achieve, or negatively, in terms of the qualities we wish to avoid?
reference groups
Recidivism is:
returning to prison after already serving a prior term
A person who leaves his or her job of twenty years to retire is undergoing what process?
role exit
A(n) _______ is a general social condition that characterizes an aspect of a school.
school climate
To what type of group does an individual belong if the members are mostly anonymous to one another?
secondary group
What did Robert Merton call a prediction that came true only because the prediction was made?
self-fulfilling prophecy
Since 1969, the middle class in the United States has
shrunk
What system of stratification is commonly used in modern capitalist societies?
social class
The statement, "Deviance serves vital social functions," most closely reflects ______.
structural-functional theory
Which of the following is an example of bureaucratic organization at colleges and universities?
students being issued ID numbers
Which part of the mind would Freud have described as being like a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt?
superego
Secondary groups cannot be geographically dispersed.
True
Which of the following would sociologists consider the best definition of deviance?
violations of social norms
Deviance can be considered relative because whether a behavior is considered deviant depends upon the historical, cultural, and situational context in which it occurs.
True
Formal agents of socialization usually have official or legal responsibility for instructing individuals.
True
Sociologists argue that family background is the single most important influence on children's school achievement.
True
Sociologists argue that no behavior, not even one designed to kill a great number of people, is inherently deviant.
True
All left-handed people in the United States would be classified as a(n)
category
In the United States, the ________ is made up of legislatures, the police, courts, and prisons.
criminal justice system
What do sociologists call the webs of direct and indirect ties that connect individuals to others who may influence them?
social networks
The mother of a university student is worried about her son joining a fraternity. She worries that peer pressure and groupthink may lead her son to do activities he wouldn't normally do, such as binge drinking. What perspective best describes her views?
symbolic interactionism
Why would sociologists who study social networks and employment pay attention to the frequency with which a person has been in contact with each member of his or her social network?
to see if a particular tie is strong or weak