Sociology Chapter 7

In his experiments about obedience, Stanley Milgram found that his subjects could be convinced to inflict harm on others if they could assign responsibility to ______.

an authority figure

Émile Durkheim used the term ______ to describe the loss of direction felt by individuals in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.

anomie

Which statement best describes conflict theorists' views on lawmaking?

Lawmaking is an attempt by people in power to force their norms and values on others.

Which school of thought emphasizes that one learns criminal behavior by interacting with others?

cultural transmission

The sociologist Edwin Sutherland used the term ______ for when people violate laws after being exposed to attitudes that are favorable to violation of the law.

differential association

Obedience can best be defined as

following the commands of a perceived authority.

The social psychologist Stanley Milgram used the term conformity to mean

going along with peers who have no authority to control our behavior.

The term law may be defined as

governmental social control

Informal social control is used by people to casually enforce social

norms

According to a study by Stanley Milgram, individuals will

obey the commands of people viewed as legitimate authority figures, even if the behavior may harm another individual.

Once people have had a stigma attached to their identities, they

often have trouble presenting a positive image to others and may experience low-self esteem

Functionalists note that deviance creates both ______ and ______ consequences for social stability.

positive and negative

According to conflict theorists, criminal laws ______.

reflect competing values and interests

Which of the following are examples of informal social control?

ridicule smiles laughter

If we violate social norms, we may face punishment through informal or formal

sanctions

Penalties and rewards related to social norms are referred to as

sanctions

Erving Goffman coined the term [ ] to describe the labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups.

stigma

Historically, legal measures aimed at blocking discrimination based on race, religion, gender, age, and sexual orientation were difficult to implement because many people tacitly encouraged the ______ of such measures.

violation

Labeling theory proposes that a person's ability to resist a label from another individual depends on

the amount of power the labeling individual has relative to the labeled person.

What was sociologist Daniel Bell describing with the term ethnic succession?

the sequential passage of organized crime leadership from one immigrant culture to another

The term social control refers to the

the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society

The term differential justice can best be defined as

the type of treatment that different races, ethnic groups, or social classes get from the criminal justice system.

Which statements are true about the subjects who participated in Stanley Milgram's experimental study on obedience?

-People who administered shocks to others tended to shift responsibility for their behavior to an authority figure. -People were more willing to administer shocks if they felt the "victim" deserved punishment.

Which statements are true about laws?

-When there is no consensus support of the norms behind a law, it becomes difficult to enforce. -Laws are made in response to a perceived need for social control.

Which of the following would most sociologists consider deviant?

=Anything that violates accepted social norms -Violating group norms, whether the behavior is legal or illegal

Which of the following statements about crime in the United States is true?

Both violent crime and property crime have dropped dramatically since the 1990s.

Which of the following are common criticisms of social disorganization theory?

It fails to account for troubled neighborhoods that have strong, viable organizations. It seems to blame the victims.

What did Émile Durkheim claim as an important function of punishing deviants?

It helps define acceptable behavior and thus contributes to social stability.

In general, the failure to behave according to society's norms can lead to which consequences?

Jail sentences fines fear and ridicule

According to sociologist Travis Hirschi's control theory, what is the main reason people conform to social norms?

Our bonds to family, friends, and peers influence us to go along with social mores.

When sociologist William Chambliss observed the Saints and the Roughnecks, what did he conclude?

Social class played an important role in the varying fortunes of the two groups.

Which of these statements is true about deviance?

Something that is deviant in one era may not be considered deviant in another.

Which statement is true about stigma?

Stigma debases or discredits one's identity.

What impact do stigmas have on society?

They devalue members of certain social groups.

what is the societal-reaction approach

also called the labeling theory, reminding us that it is the response to an act, not the behavior itself, that determines deviance

According to most functionalists, what is deviance?

a common part of human existence that helps define limits of proper behavior

Feminist criminologists contend that

certain laws protect the rights of men above the rights of women.

Sociologists see laws as

changing standards of right and wrong which define violation and prescribe sanctions.

Formal social control is used to discourage violations of social norms and to encourage which behaviors?

conformity and obedience

Which are the five basic modes of adaptation to social norms according to Robert Merton's anomie theory of deviance?

conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion

According to ________ theorists, socialization develops our self-control so well that we do not need further pressure to obey social norms.

control

What is the term for behavior that violates the norms or expectations of a group or a society?

deviance

Social control can best be described as the techniques and strategies for preventing ______ behavior in any group or society.

deviant

Sociologists view law as a process of ______ standards of morality and of how, and to what degree, violators should be punished.

evolving

The theory that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants and criminals, while others who engage in similar behavior are not is known as [ ]theory.

labeling

Which theory attempts to explain why some people are considered deviant for behaviors that other people may engage in with lesser consequences?

labeling theory

According to Edwin Sutherland's theory about cultural transmission and how it affects behavior, a person

learns criminal behavior by interacting with others.

The sociologist Howard Becker made the statement that "deviant behavior is behavior that people so label." He is associated with which approach to deviance?

societal-reaction approach

Émile Durkheim suggested that punishments within a culture help define acceptable behavior and thus contribute to social

stability

The social psychologist ______ made a useful distinction between conformity and obedience.

stanley milgrim