Sociology test #3

Which factor makes sociologists question the relationship between youth and crime?

Young people may commit crimes that are more visible and, therefore, are arrested more often.

how do sociologists distinguish a group from a crowd?

individuals associated with a group feel a shared identity

what do sociologists call it when members of groups are influenced by other members?

peer pressure

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."

sociologists are interested in how social groups have changed over time. Of particular note is the degree to which individuals base their identities on group memberships. How has this changed in recent American history?

Americans are less likely to identify themselves as group members today than in the past

According to sociologists, why is deviance related to the societal response to a behavior rather than to the behavior itself?

Because a social response or group behavior is needed for it to be defined deviant

Some people utilize social media as an enhanced form of condescending attacks known as

Cyberbullying

Why is sociologist George Ritzer critical of what he calls the McDonaldization of society?

George Ritzer's term describing the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the accompanying increases in efficiency and dehumanization

What is groupthink and how does it work? Provide an example from the textbook.

Groupthink is when people think with the group on a certain topic instead of thinking for themselves on things. It's like when people conform to what the majority of the group think to not stand out.

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.

what term did sociologists George Ritzer use to describe the spread of rationalization and bureaucratic ways of operating into everyday life?

McDonaldization

A gay man joins a dating website. He tells his friends that he is frustrated when other men on the website describe themselves as "straight-acting, straight-appearing." He believes that these men are treating gay identity as a stigmatized identity by

Passing

There are many competing and often incompatible ideas about how to best deal with criminal behavior. Deterrence, revenge, incapacitation, and rehabilitation are all believed by some to have merit. Discuss the ways in which these different methods for dealing with deviance reflect the different ways society views criminals.

Society may view someone that was executed as one of the worst criminals on this planet, and view someone who was rehabilitated as someone whos trying to turn their life around

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 makes a crime a hate crime? Why are hate crime statistics so unreliable?

When criminals specifically target someone because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status. Because they are usually added to other criminal charges.

Explain how reference groups influence individual behavior. Give an example of a reference group in your own life.

When there are standards by which we evaluate ourselves, we may take a look and think of something we should change. A reference group in my life is my peers, I may see the grades their getting and begin to study more if I am not scoring as high.

emile durkheim worried that individuals would feel less and less connected to groups in an increasingly fragmented modern world, which would lead to

anonmie or normlessness

a college professor has a large collection of controversial counterculture T shirts but makes sure to never wear these shirts to class. What kind of conformity called?

compliance

a student at a university explains that eh 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

traditionally, most of the sociological literature on deviance focuses on ____

crime

which of the following strategies could be used as a way to minimized social loading?

finding ways to recognize individual effort

the sense of solidarity or team spirit that an individual feels toward his or her group is called

group cohestion

what do sociologists call patterns of interaction between groups and individuals?

group dynamics

the soloman 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 withold their reservations and criticisms for the sake of consensus?

groupthink

Provide an example that illustrates a behavior that would have been considered deviant for women 200 years ago but is part of normal culture today.

interacial marriage would have been shamed 200 years ago, but is very normal today.

what is the danger of too much group cohesion?

it can be lead to groupthink, in which dissenting opinions are strongly discouraged.

according to labeling theory, why were non of the pseudo patients in david rosenhans "on being sane in insane places" discovered?

it is difficult for anyone to see past the label one a person has been labeled mentally ill

which of the following statements about bureaucracies us true?

people who work in buraucracies may feel alienation as a result of being treated in terms of roles, rules, and functions rather than as individuals

which type of group characterized by long term, intimate, and face to face relationships?

primary

some americans are angry about the number of immigrants who enter the country every year. An adherent of structural functionalism would argue that this anger ____

promotes social cohesion among nonimmigrants as they come together and label immigrants as outsiders

when people attend high school 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

which of the following is a factor that can lead to increased group cohesion

shared values

individual members of a large group often neglect their responsibilities when a task needs to be completed because it is impossible for anyone person to receive credit or blame. This phenomenon is called

social loafing

what do sociologists call the webs of direct and indirect ties that connect individuals to others who may influence them?

social networks

Asian American students are more likely to be placed in Advanced Placement classes, score higher grades, and be treated well by teachers. This is called

stereotype promise

members of fraternity believe that they help create social cohesion by bringing together students with shared values. What perspective best describes their views?

structural functionalism

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 views?

symbolic interactionism

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 light-skinned African Americans have attempted to pass as white due to stigmatization. What is the process of passing and what was the historical motivation for African Americans to pass as white?

the process of passing is concealing stigmatizing information, the historical motivation is for light skinned African Americans to be able to have white privelage

which of the following is a quality of charismatic leaders?

they possess extraordinary personal qualities

which of the following statements about secondary groups is true?

they tend to be based on specific roles or activities

according to Max Weber's typology of power, what type of authority does a king wield?

traditional authority

What are the three different types of authority identified by Max W

traditional, rational-legal, and charasmatic

which of the following would sociologists consider the best definition of deviance.

violations of social norms

some subcultures have adopted branding as a form of body art, though it is no longer used as a form of punishment in the United States. This demonstrates that ____

what is considered deviant changes over time

Under what circumstances does a deviant label transition from primary to secondary deviance?

when the deviant label is internalized

although individuals always feel loyalty toward their in group, under what circumstances would this loyalty be particularly strong?

when the differences between the in group and the out group are sharply defined

members of which of the following think of themselves as belonging together and interact with one another?

a group

to what type of group does an individual belong if the members are mostly anonymous to one another?

a secondary group

All left handed people in the United States would be classified as a(n)

category

samantha believes that 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 deviance is viewed in society.

conflict theory

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

in terms of job leads and social networks, how are mens networks different from womens?

women are less likely to hear about quality job openings if their social networks are composed of more women than men