Chapter 6: Deviance, Crime, and Punishment

Crime reflects limited opportunities to succeed through legitimate means.

Robert Merton

developed strain theory as a functionalist account of social deviance

Robert Merton

embraces socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve those goals

conformist

Community policing is where police, in partnership with community members and businesses, focus on _________ rather than ______. This might include programs for education and counseling rather than_________.

crime prevention law enforcement incarceration

A young woman suspected of prostitution is arrested and given a longer prison sentence than a young male prostitute arrested under similar circumstances.

femininity norms

deviance prompted by a label

secondary deviance

a label that alters self-concept and social identity

stigma

running a laundromat that serves as cover for a prostitution ring

organized crime

What is the goal of a sanction?

to promote conformity to social norms and protect against nonconformity

concealing results that show dangerous defects in automobile parts

corporate crime

State government spent about ________ percent of total state expenditures on corrections in 2017. This represents ______ over the past three decades.

3 an increase

Place each ethnic group on the corresponding circle in the figure. Black

35.4%

The U.S. rate of incarceration is five to eight times higher than those of Canada and the countries of Western Europe. The United States is home to only _______ percent of the world's population but more than ______ percent of its prisoners.

4.3 20

A landlord is fined by the city for trash strewn outside her building.

negative and formal

A teacher ignoring a student who speaks out of turn.

negative and informal

creating a pyramid scheme that defrauds investors

white-collar crime

Crime and deviance are social facts, necessary and inevitable.

Émile Durkheim

offered a functionalist theory of the usefulness of deviance in society

Émile Durkheim

A student wins an award for perfect school attendance in the third grade.

positive and formal

Saying "thank you" when someone holds the door open.

positive and informal

the first act of rule breaking

primary deviance

conforms to socially acceptable means but has lost site of the goals

ritualist

The United States has the most punitive justice system in the world. The so-called prison boom began in the _________, when the number of inmates nearly __________ by 2004. At the end of 2016, more than ____________ people were under the supervision of the U.S. correctional system

1970s quintupled 6.6 million

Place each ethnic group on the corresponding circle in the figure. Hispanic

21.6%

Place each ethnic group on the corresponding circle in the figure. white

33.8%

Which statement most accurately compares a crime to a deviant act?

A crime is a violation of a norm that is backed by law.

Identify the scenario about age and crime that fits with the "age-crime curve."

A young adult commits crimes in their late teens, with declining criminal activity throughout their twenties.

Identify each statement as fitting best with either the broken windows theory or with community policing.

Broken Windows Theory Some policing strategies aggressively focus on minor crimes. Any sign of social disorder in a community is an invitation for crime. Community Policing Some police officers work with local associations and groups to prevent crime. Law enforcement and business should work together to promote local economies.

Why might community policing be an effective approach to reducing crime?

Community policing can help improve social order, lowering incentives for crime.

linked crime to differential association

Edwin H. Sutherland

Identify the elements of the broken windows theory of social deviance.

Element(s) Deviance is a self-reinforcing spiral. Deviance is a response to social context and local cues. Not Element(s) Informal sanctions are not effective in controlling deviance. Deviance is driven by neighborhood culture and not easily prevented.

Using labeling theory, place in order from first to last the stages by which a student, named Evan, might come to assume the role of social deviant.

Evan is late for school twice in one week. The school principal publicly calls Evan a truant. Evan's teachers and friends start to treat him as a troublemaker. Evan comes to think of himself as a rule breaker. Evan's behavior reflects his view of himself as a rule breaker.

Functionalist Theory

John's crime seems to reverse trust and community stability. In what ways does deviance actually strengthen social solidarity?

applied labeling theory to the question of how deviance begins

Howard S. Becker

Criminals weigh the potential costs and benefits of their actions.

Travis Hirschi

Identify each statement as true of either the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), or victimization studies.

Uniform Crime Reports based on data compiled by the FBI from law enforcement agencies focuses narrowly on crimes reported to the police Victimization Studies based on Census Bureau interviews includes a higher rate of crime because it includes more than only reported crimes

Control Theory

Why was it more beneficial for John to commit this crime than for him to abide by the law?

In Brooklyn Park, an urban neighborhood in the northeastern United States, the federal government builds a new high-security prison. Community members support the prison, and they also support the death penalty. On one block, the police attend community festivals and get to know residents. In another area, an urban enterprise zone attracts new businesses to build the local economy, which is likely to reduce crime.

attend community festivals and get to know residents. urban enterprise zone attracts new businesses.

Which theory suggests that individuals become deviant when exposed to a higher level of deviant persons and influences, compared with conventional influences?

differential association theory

Underage drinking is an example of deviant behavior.

false

Émile Durkheim's concept of anomie refers to the loss of traditional norms and standards in modern society. According to Durkheim, what is the main consequence of anomie?

increased disposition toward suicide

embraces socially acceptable goals but uses illegitimate means to fulfill them

innovator

Operation Varsity Blues involved affluent individuals paying to enhance their children's access to elite college educations. One consultant would even falsify athletic accomplishments in order to secure a college admission. Wealthy parents can also pay for tutors and pre-college summer camps and courses. Many people in society judge the ultra-wealthy for being out of touch, using their privilege to create more privilege only for their loved ones.

paying to enhance their children's access to elite college educations. falsify athletic accomplishments

According to Garland, the reason the United States is unique among liberal democratic countries in ________ the death penalty is not because of _________, but because our system of government leaves decisions about capital punishment to _________.

permitting. culture. state court.

rejects both socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve the goals, but works to substitute them with other goals and means

rebel

rejects both socially acceptable goals and the means to achieve the goals, abandoning the competitive outlook

retreatist

A group of female friends spends their time together in one another's homes, while a group of male friends goes to bars and are sometimes goaded into fighting.

socialization

Identify the applications of the broken windows theory of social deviance.

Application(s) graffiti-proofing walls with a wash-off coating. a crackdown on petty crime, such as drinking in public. Not Application(s) long mandatory prison terms for violent felonies. additional community centers with activities for at-risk youth.

Identify the examples of deviant subcultures.

Deviant Subculture(s) groups that embrace unusual sexual fetishes Heaven's Gate mafia families Not Deviant Subculture(s) Bible study group

According to researchers, identify the factors that explain dropping crime rates.

Factor(s) lower levels of illegal drug use. better economic conditions. Not Factor(s) lower police presence in many communities. legalization of some drugs.

An educator disgusted with standardized testing and teaching methods decides to start a charter school that doesn't give students grades and encourages creative thinking over rote learning. According to Robert Merton's strain theory of deviance, which personality type best fits this educator?

Rebel

Conflict Theory

What people and systems benefit, however indirectly, from John's crime?

Interactionist Theory

When was John first labeled a troublemaker, and how did that shape his deviant behaviors?

A young couple that frequently engages in drug-related crimes discovers the woman is pregnant. The young woman stops partying and using drugs to care for herself and her future child, while her male partner continues his previous activities.

control theory

According to Robert Merton, __________increased in modern society despite increasing_______ because of _________, or the recognition that one has less than one's peers.

crime rates affluence relative deprivation

A law is a kind of norm defined by the government as a rule or form of behavior that citizens must follow.

true

In the United States, the rate of violent crime is now lower than at any point since reliable data have been kept.

true

In 2016, the National Survey of Drug Use and Health found that __________ of respondents between the ages of 12 and 17 were current users of illicit drugs, compared to 23 percent of those ages eighteen to twenty-five. The most common drug used by youth between the ages of 12 and 17 is ________, which many states have legalized or decriminalized in recent years. According to the survey, _________ of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 and ___________ of young adults ages eighteen to twenty-five had used this drug in the past month.

8 percent marijuana 7 percent 21 percent

More than 10.3 million people are currently being held in penal institutions across the globe. Place the following countries in order from least to most prisoners per 100,000 residents.

India China Russian federation united states

Identify each statement about incarceration in the United States as either true or false.

True Statement(s) The United States has the highest incarceration per capita rate in the world. The United States prison system has become partially privatized. False Statement(s) Support for capital punishment is high in the United States, and rising. The rate of incarceration is much higher among White men compared to other groups.

In a fight between two acquaintances in a bar, one male and one female, the police arrest the man and give the woman a warning.

chivalry thesis

According to an experimental study conducted in Milwaukee by sociologist Devah Pager, Black men with no criminal history were more likely to be called back for a job than either White or Black men with a criminal record.

false

Out of Robert Merton's list of five personality types—conformist, ritualist, innovator, retreatist, and rebel—all but one is a deviant by Merton's definition.

true

Public punishments are an effective deterrent to crime.

true

States that use the death penalty consistently have higher murder rates than states that do not.

true