What Is Deviant Behavior

CHAPTER ONE What Is Deviant Behavior? Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following statements about the definition of deviance is TRUE? a) Almost all persons in a society will agree on the nature of deviant behavior. b) Definitions of deviant behavior are determined by a nation’s economy. c) There is usually a great deal of disagreement among people as to what they consider deviant. d) Few persons in a society are concerned about the definition of deviance. Answer: C; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 2. In 1965, J. L. Simmons asked a sample of the general public who they thought were deviant. Which of the following did significant numbers of people feel were deviant? a) homosexuals and prostitutes b) communists and atheists c) psychiatrists and priests d) all of the above Answer: D; Page Reference: 4; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 3. Among sociologists, there is a) much involvement in illegal deviant behavior. b) little interest in the study of deviance. c) widespread agreement about what behavior should be considered deviant. d) a lack of consensus about what behavior should be seen as deviant. Answer: D; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 4. Which group is most capable of avoiding being falsely, erroneously, or unjustly labeled deviant? a) The affluent b) The poor c) The powerful d) The powerless Answer: C; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 5. 1 All of the following are definitions of deviance proposed by different sociologists, EXCEPT that deviance is a) behavior that is labeled negative by politicians and the police. b) a departure from the normative standards of a common culture. c) always immoral behavior. d) behavior eliciting anger or disapproval from large numbers of people. Answer: C; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 6. Which statement about the definition of deviance is TRUE? a) Deviance should include only important violations of the norms. b) All sociologists agree that deviance includes mundane, routine, and normal violations of the norms. c) Deviance is not an important subject anymore. d) Sociologists cannot agree on a precise definition of deviance. Answer: D; Page Reference:5 ; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 7. Which of the following types of people are examples of positive deviants? a) the saint, the intellectual, and the genius b) those who show bad manners at the dinner table c) the badly scarred, the blind, and the deaf d) murderers, rapists, and kidnappers 8. Sociologists who are influenced by the positivist perspective of absolutism tend to view deviant behavior as a) an attribute that is dictated by those in power b) an attribute that fades over time c) an attribute that varies according to one’s culture d) an attribute that inheres in the individual Answer: A; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding Answer: D; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 9. Sociologists who study the role of power in the definition of deviance have discovered that the rich and powerful a) are rarely deviant. b) can avoid the label of deviance. c) are prejudiced toward most types of deviant behavior. d) ignore most forms of deviant behavior. Answer: B; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 10. According to sociologists who study the role of power in the definition of deviance, deviance is any act that a) violates the criminal law. b) violates deeply held moral values. c) the powerful consider to be a violation of some social rule. d) involves the behavior of the poor. Answer: C; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 11. Definitions of deviance fall into two opposing perspectives, the positivist and the a) traditional. b) moral. c) constructionist. 2 d) modernist. Answer: C; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 12. Before the twentieth century, criminals were thought to a) have certain familial characteristics that noncriminals did not. b) be feebleminded, psychotic, neurotic, psychopathic, or otherwise mentally disturbed. c) have the same mental and physical characteristics as noncriminals. d) have weaker educational backgrounds than noncriminals. Answer: B; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 13. Determinist, objectivist, and absolutist are other terms for aspects of the __________ perspective on deviance. a) constructionist b) humanist c) modern d) positivist Answer: D; Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 14. According to the labeling theory, deviance is a) an objective reality. b) a property inherent in the actor. c) a label created by the person who commits a deviant act. d) a label imposed by others upon a given behavior. Answer: D; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 15. All of the following are part of the positivist perspective on deviance, EXCEPT that deviance is a) a label. b) intrinsically real. c) an objective fact. d) determined behavior. Answer: A; Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 16. If you believe that deviant behavior has characteristics that distinguish it from conforming behavior, you believe deviance is a) a label. b) a biased concept. c) biologically determined. d) intrinsically real. Answer: D; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 17. Early criminologists believed deviance was intrinsically real because they believed criminals possessed a) a superior way of life. b) the same biological traits found in non-criminals. 3 c) a distinctive set of labels that set them apart from non-criminals. d) certain biological traits absent in non-criminals. Answer: D; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 18. Because they consider deviance real, positivist sociologists tend to focus their study on a) the positive ways in which nondeviants view those who have been labeled deviant. b) lawmakers and law enforcers. c) nondeviants who label others deviants rather than deviant behavior and persons. d) deviant behavior and persons rather than nondeviants who label others deviants. Answer: D; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 19. Early in the twentieth century, criminologists believed that a) criminals are made, not born. b) criminals are born, not made. c) criminal status varies within time and space. d) crime is determined by the social environment. Answer: B; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 20. Today’s positivist sociologists now recognize the importance of __________ for understanding deviant behavior. a) religion b) psychological traits c) heredity d) social factors Answer: D; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 21. Charlie has a visible disability that influences the way people talk to him. A positivist social scientist might examine Charlie’s case through the lens of a) the absolutist perspective. b) the subjectivist perspective. c) the relativist perspective. d) the voluntarist perspective. Answer: A; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 22. Most positivist sociologists today continue to reject the idea of free will as an explanation of deviance because free will cannot explain why one person a) commits deviant acts while others do not. b) refrains from committing deviant acts. c) commits both deviant and non-deviant acts. d) is born with a tendency toward deviance. Answer: A; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 23. Deviance as an “observable object” means that deviance a) is largely a subjective phenomenon. 4 b) can be studied in a factual way. c) is behavior that at least a few people agree is deviant. d) actually exists in the minds of the beholder. Answer: B; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 24. One problem positivist sociological researchers face that natural scientists do not is a) sociologists are able to use more objective criteria than natural scientists are. b) natural scientists have a bigger problem with personal bias than sociologists. c) sociologists have difficulties with personal biases and making moral judgments about research subjects. d) sociologists find studying human behavior is substantially easier than studying the natural environment. Answer: C; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 25. The positivist perspective assumes that deviance is a) a matter of choice. b) relativistic. c) determined behavior. d) unimportant behavior. Answer: C; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 26. To say that deviance is determined behavior implies that humans a) gain benefits from deviant behavior. b) can choose to be good or bad. c) have free will. d) cannot choose between good and bad. Answer: D; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 27. Attributing deviant behavior to choice is a form of pseudo explanation because the concept of choice a) does not explain why someone chooses either deviance or normal behavior. b) is more of a religious concept. c) is not a relevant concept for science. d) most explanations of deviance involve false claims. Answer: A; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 28. According to the concept of determinism, deviance is determined by a) forces beyond the individual’s control. b) forces within the individual’s control. c) strictly human behavior. d) the level of free will exhibited by the individual. Answer: A; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 29. The main purpose of the positivist approach to deviance is a) developing empathy with deviant persons. b) seeking out the causes of deviant behavior. 5 c) to make moral judgments about deviant behavior. d) to study biases toward persons seen as deviant. Answer: B; Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 30. All of the following are assumptions of the constructionist perspective on deviance, EXCEPT that deviance should be seen as a) a label. b) an objective fact. c) subjective experience. d) a voluntary act. Answer: B; Page Reference: 8–12; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 31. The fact that the same behavior can be seen as normal by some and as deviant by others is called the a) relativist view. b) deviance principle. c) positivist view. d) subjectivist view. Answer: A; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 32. Which of the following is NOT one of the three assumptions that the positivist perspective holds on deviant behavior? a) Deviance is absolutely real. b) Deviance is determined by the individual’s free will. c) Deviance is an observable fact. d) Deviance is determined by forces beyond the individual’s control. Answer: B; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 33. Which ONE of the following questions reflects the constructionist and labeling perspective on deviance? a) Why do people become deviant? b) Why is a given act defined by society as deviant? c) Why are so many sociologists seen as deviant? d) Why is deviance an objective fact? Answer: B; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 34. Which of the following statements does NOT belong to the constructionist perspective on deviant behavior? a) Deviance is largely the product of others labeling behavior as deviant. b) Deviance is an observable, objective set of behaviors. c) Deviance is often a voluntary act. d) Deviance involves important subjective experiences. Answer: B; Page Reference: 8–12; Bloom’s Category: Analysis 35. Which of the following aspects of deviance would be of special interest to constructionist sociologists? 6 a) surface facts about deviance b) statistical data c) how deviants seek positive meanings in deviant activity d) moral reactions to deviant behavior Answer: C; Page Reference: 10; Bloom’s Category: Application 36. To say that deviance is a subjective experience means that the deviant person is a) a determined subject. b) a morally degenerate person. c) a secret deviant. d) a conscious, feeling, thinking subject. Answer: D; Page Reference: 9–10; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 37. According to the constructionist perspective, sociologists need to a) treat deviance as immoral and unpleasant. b) objectively measure types of deviant behavior. c) develop an internal, subjective view of people. d) adopt an external, objective view of deviance. Answer: C; Page Reference: 10; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 38. Positivists treat deviance as if it were unpleasant and harmful to society, while constructionists a) have an appreciation for and empathy with deviants. b) emphasize the importance of social control of deviant behavior. c) stress the importance of being deviant themselves. d) study the biological aspects of human behavior. Answer: A; Page Reference: 10; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 39. According to the constructionist perspective, deviant behavior is a) determined behavior. b) an expression of human volition. c) robot-like behavior. d) passive reaction to social forces. Answer: B; Page Reference: 11; Bloom’s Category: Analysis 40. From the constructionist perspective, deviants are a) actively seeking meaning in the deviant activities. b) totally different from normal people. c) biologically defective. d) propelled by well-defined social forces. Answer: A; Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Analysis 41. The author argues that an integrated definition of deviant behavior must focus on a) the deviant behavior itself. b) the deviant label. c) the methods of sociologists. 7 d) both deviant behavior and the deviant label. Answer: D; Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 42. A new gang has been connected to a string of crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. These serious types of deviant behavior are more likely to catch the attention of a) subjectivists b) relativists c) constructionists d) positivists Answer: D; Page Reference: 13; Bloom’s Category: Application 43. The __________ perspective is more pertinent for studying less serious kinds of deviance. a) objective b) constructionist c) deterministic d) psychological Answer: B; Page Reference: 13; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 44. Which of the following kinds of deviance is best understood through a positivist perspective? a) higher-consensus deviance b) lower-consensus deviance c) immoral deviance d) criminal deviance Answer: A; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 45. Deviant behavior is any behavior that a) violates the law. b) violates the norms. c) is considered deviant by public consensus, which may range from maximum to minimum. d) is considered deviant by the police and officials of society, which may range from high to low. Answer: C; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 46. Which of the following conditions separates the positivist and constructionist perspectives on deviance? a) the variety and type of religious attitudes toward deviant behavior b) the amount of private consensus about what is deviant behavior c) the number of persons involved in deviant behavior d) the amount of public consensus about what type of behavior is deviant Answer: D; Page Reference: 13; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 8 47. Trae frequently engages in recreational drug use and premarital sex. These behaviors are best categorized by what type of deviance? a) Lower-consensus deviance as studied most frequently by constructionist sociologists b) Lower-consensus deviance as studied most frequently by positivist sociologists c) Higher-consensus deviance as studied most frequently by constructionist sociologists d) Higher-consensus deviance as studied most frequently by positivist sociologists Answer: A; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Application 48. Which of the following is one reason why, for U.S. citizens, deviant behavior is more or less, rather than completely, deviant? a) Most deviance in the United States is low-consensus deviance. b) The causes of deviance are largely unknown. c) U.S. society is pluralistic. d) Most people in the United States are immoral. Answer: C; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Understanding True/False Questions 1. Most U.S. residents generally agree about the definition of deviant behavior. True False 2. `Even mainstream identities such as “Democrat” or “Republican” can be considered deviant. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 4; Bloom’s Category: Understanding Answer: True; Page Reference: 4; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 3. Despite years of research, most sociologists today cannot agree upon a precise definition of deviant behavior. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 4. Most sociologists agree that extreme positive behavior such as a religious fanaticism or social reform is not really “deviant.” True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 5. 9 Labeling theorists define deviance as a label imposed upon a given behavior. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 6. For some sociologists, deviance is any act considered by the powerful at a given time and place to be a violation of some social rule. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 7. Most sociologists are in agreement that deviance is simply a violation of any social rule. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 8. Early positivist criminologists were convinced that a person’s criminal status changed through time and from culture to culture. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 9. The positivist perspective is associated with the humanities, such as art and philosophy, while the constructionist perspective is associated with the sciences, such as physics and biology. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 10. Positivist sociologists today realize that they are not free from personal bias. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 11. According to the positivist perspective, deviance is seen as both real and separate from conforming behavior. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 12. Many traditional criminologists, using the positivist perspective, believed that criminals possessed specific biological and psychological traits that made them different from non-criminals. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 13. The positivist perspective on deviance assumes that humans are active in determining their own lives, and are not passive subjects of powerful forces. 10 True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 14. The positivist perspective on deviance implies that if the deviant is treated as an object, he or she can be studied objectively. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 15. To constructionist sociologists, deviant behavior is an observable object in that a deviant person is like an object, a real something that can be studied objectively. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 16. According to constructionist sociologists using the labeling perspective, if deviant behavior is not labeled as such, the behavior is not seen as deviant. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 17. According to the positivist perspective, the definition of deviant behavior is subjective. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 18. The constructionist perspective on deviance centers on the behavior of deviants and does not examine the role of the police or courts in creating deviance. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 8–9; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 19. Sociologists using the constructionist perspective believe that deviants are passive objects whose behavior is determined by the environment. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 9–10; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 20. Constructionists tend to present deviants as basically the same as conventional people. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 10; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 11 21. The positivist perspective holds that deviant behavior is a voluntary act, an expression of human volition, will, or choice. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 11; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 22. Murder is one example of lower-consensus deviance. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Application 23. Deviant behavior is any behavior considered deviant by public consensus, which may range from the maximum to the minimum. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 24. The constructionist perspective on deviance is best suited for the study of lowconsensus deviance. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 15; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 25. A sociologist is interested in studying the deviant behavior of prostitutes and other night people. He or she could utilize a constructionist perspective. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 13; Bloom’s Category: Application 26. An attorney, pleading leniency for his guilty client, asks the judge to take into consideration his client’s unfortunate background, including child abuse and abandonment, before passing a sentence. It is logical to conclude that the attorney is asking the judge to view deviance from a positivist perspective. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Application 27. Culture plays a role in determining the definition of deviant behavior. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 28. All deviant behaviors are crimes. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 12 29. Constructionists tend to analyze how social control agencies define some people as deviant and carry out sanctions against them. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 30. Constructionist analyses often reveal the arbitrariness of official action, the bias in the administration of law, and the unjustness of controlling deviants. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 31. Crime is a violation of a formal norm. True False Answer: True; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 32. Attributing deviant behavior to one’s genetic disposition is viewing deviant behavior from a constructionist perspective. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 33. Those in positions of power do NOT have the ability to define what behavior is deviant or not. True False Answer: False; Page Reference: 4; Bloom’s Category: Understanding Fill-In Questions 1. It is the _________ “deviant”—not the act itself—that makes the individual deviant. Answer: label; Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 2. According to the __________ perspective, deviance is a property conferred upon behavior by audiences which directly or indirectly witness them. Answer: labeling; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 3. According to the __________ perspective on deviance, deviance is intrinsically real and an objective fact. 4. Today’s positivist sociologists recognize the important role of ____________ in determining a person’s status as a criminal. Answer: positivist; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering Answer: social factors; Page Reference: 6; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 13 5. One aspect of the constructionist perspective on deviance is __________, or studying how the world appears to and is interpreted by the deviant. Answer: subjectivism; Page Reference: 9; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 6. The __________ perspective is more pertinent for understanding relatively serious types of deviant behavior. Answer: positivist; Page Reference: 13; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 7. ___________ behavior is any behavior considered deviant by public consensus, which may range from the maximum to the minimum. Answer: Deviant; Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Remembering 8. A judge who takes a guilty person’s unfortunate family background into consideration before passing sentence is viewing deviance from a __________ perspective. Answer: positivist; Page Reference: 8; Bloom’s Category: Application 9. If you tell a child that he or she is a thief often enough, he or she is going to believe it. This statement best fits the __________ perspective on deviance. Answer: constructionist; Page Reference: 8–11; Bloom’s Category: Application 10. The __________ approach believes that deviant behavior is a natural disposition. Answer: positivist; Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Understanding 11. A prosecution attorney trying to prove malice aforethought is approaching deviant behavior from a __________ perspective. Answer: constructionist; Page Reference: 11–12; Bloom’s Category: Application Essay Questions 1. Discuss why the general public and sociologists have failed to agree upon a definition of deviance. Why is achieving a definition so difficult? Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 2. Assess the significance of cultures, norms, and values in the definition of deviant behavior. Page Reference: 4–5; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 3. Explain and evaluate the labeling approach to deviant behavior. How do labeling sociologists define deviance, and why have other sociologists criticized this approach? 4. In what ways have some sociologists expressed bias in their study of deviant behavior? What kinds of biases do they have, and how do they try to address them? Page Reference: 5; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding Page Reference: 7; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 14 5. Compare and contrast the positivist and constructionist perspectives on deviance. How do they differ but also work together to provide a better definition of deviance? Page Reference: 6–14; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 6. Comparing the positivist and constructionist approach, which is more effective in addressing the subject of deviant behavior? What are the inherent strengths and weaknesses in the theory of your choice? Does the integrated approach totally enhance the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of your choice? 7. Describe the relationship that constructionist perspective holds toward social control agencies. What assumptions are present? What do constructionist analyses reveal about official action, administration of the law, and controlling deviance? Page Reference: 6–14; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding Page Reference: 12; Bloom’s Category: Application, Understanding 8. Define and discuss higher- and lower-consensus deviance. What are some examples of each type of deviance, and why does the public often disagree over whether a form of deviance is higher or lower? Page Reference: 14; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 9. Assess the difference between deviant behavior and crime. Page Reference: 14–15; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 10. Deviant behavior is a natural phenomenon. What theoretical approach best explains deviant behavior this way? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach? Page Reference: 6–8; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 11. Which theoretical approach argues that deviant behavior is a personal choice? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach? Page Reference: 11–12; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 12. Does the U.S. court system lean toward the positivist or constructionist approach to deviance? Provide explanations for your choice. Page Reference: 8–9; Bloom’s Category: Analysis, Understanding 15