sociology

A legislator wants to change laws so that individuals arrested for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs will be sent to drug courts that will ensure that they participate in substance abuse treatment. Which of the following is the legislator advocating?

Medicalization of deviance

Poverty can be defined in either relative or absolute terms. How is poverty defined according to relative deprivation?

by comparing the poor with more affluent members of society

Stigmatizing some people

serves to reinforce "normalness" to others

Sociologists often point out that systems of stratification in the United States systematically favor white men. People sometimes contest this by referencing wealthy and powerful black women like Oprah Winfrey or Toni Morrison. A valid counterpoint to this argument is that

stratification is a characteristic of a society rather than a reflection of individual differences.

Which of the following is accurate about the upper class in the United States today?

It is a largely self-sustaining group and rarely adds new members.

What is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

It is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared in a society.

The historic persecution of witches is presented in the assigned reading materials as an example of

how dominant groups can exert control over other groups by marking some populations as deviant.

What is it an example of when the children of working-class parents manage to attend college and get a job in a professional field?

intergenerational mobility

A high school student acts bored in class, and the teacher decides she is a bad student. This teacher discusses the student with other teachers who then treat that student as if she were a bad student. This describes the process of

labeling

Alcoholism has been punished by the legal system via laws against public inebriation and seen as a moral failing. However, it is now often responded to as a disease for which outpatient or even inpatient treatment is provided. This suggests that alcoholism has been

medicalized.

Social control theory is based on the assumptions that

most people feel some impulse toward deviance but that their attachment to a common value system keeps them from acting on those impulses.

According to the text, the example of attitudes toward smoking in the U.S. demonstrates the notion that

perceptions of deviance are influenced by social change.

The criteria used by a social class system to stratify its members include

property, power, and prestige.

The practice of refusing mortgages for the purchase of houses in poor and minority neighborhoods is called

redlining

Apartheid is a specific example of what system of social stratification?

caste

The sociological definition of deviance

stresses social context, not individual behavior.

Which social class category is comprised of people who live in poverty conditions and typically earn $15,000 or less per year?

underclass

Functionalist theories of deviance

view deviance as necessary in order to create social cohesion.

In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau identified the poverty threshold for a family of four as

$25,570.

________ are the types of jobs usually available to members of the lower-middle class.

Blue collar or manual labor jobs

Sociologists would consider _____ to be a form of ______ deviance.

Crime; Formal

According to labeling theory, labels are easy to change, and an individual, once labeled as deviant, will be able to easily shed that label by changing his or her behavior.

False

In the United States, hard work and dedication lift the majority of people out of poverty.

False

________ is a system of stratification commonly used in modern capitalist societies.

Social class

Which is true of social mobility in a caste system?

There is virtually no chance of social mobility.

According to the social control theory, what is the primary reason that people internalize social norms?

They care what others think of them.

Some sociologists suggest that, like extreme poverty, extreme wealth should be thought of as a social problem

True

A key element of the sociological definition of deviant behavior is that

a behavior may be judged as deviant in one situation but not in another.

In the United States, the federal poverty line is calculated using food costs based on the cheapest possible diet that can still provide basic nutrition. What sort of measure of poverty is this?

a measure of absolute deprivation

Conflict and functionalist theories of deviance share

an emphasis on the social structure in creating deviance.

From the conflict perspective on deviance, all of the following are true except

deviance reaffirms social solidarity.

A problem with differential association theory is that it

does not explain how people who are not members of deviant cultures become deviants.

According to Karl Marx, the social relations that matter MOST in a capitalist system are

economic relations

A significant difference between the functionalist and conflict theories of deviance is that

functionalist theory assumes the system works for the good of the whole, and conflict theory assumes it works for the good of those in power.

Lisa does not especially care what others think of her or her behavior and typically does whatever it suits her to do at the time. Social control theory would predict that she would be more likely to engage in deviant behavior because

her attachment to social bonds is weakened.

According to _____, people behave as they do because of the meanings they give to different situations. For example, whether binge drinking is seen as normal behavior or deviant may depend on whether a student attends a "party school" or a college that emphasizes more scholarly activities.

symbolic interaction theory

The school of social thought that insists all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions is called

symbolic interactionism

Social labeling theory emphasizes the importance of groups that are able to apply labels and impose sanctions. This aspect of social labeling theory makes it most associated with

symbolic interactionism.

The primary weakness of the labeling theory is

that it does not explain the reasons for the behavior that comes to be labeled as deviant

Conflict theorists argue that

the power to define deviance is an important form of social control.