Chapter 17 Self-test questions

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. Which three of these terms describe the main categories into which sociological theories are often split?

Social conflict theories correct incorrect

Social interaction theories correct incorrect

Social organisation theories correct incorrect

Social structural theories correct incorrect

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. Which of the following are social interaction theories? (Select all that apply.)

Differential association correct incorrect

Labelling perspectives correct incorrect

Social control theories correct incorrect

Social strain theories correct incorrect

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. 'Social structural theories assert that the big social picture may have less of an effect on an individual's behaviour than their immediate social situation.' True or false?

True correct incorrect

False correct incorrect

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. Which category of macro-sociological theories is concerned with those in power and the powerless?

Social control theories correct incorrect

Social conflict theories correct incorrect

Social interaction theories correct incorrect

Social structural theories correct incorrect

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. If asked to describe yourself to someone you don't know, you might mention things like your age, gender, the fact that you are a student, and perhaps that you are a particular person's child or parent, or a supporter of a particular football team. How would a sociologist refer to each of these descriptions?

Status and roles correct incorrect

Rules and norms correct incorrect

Socialisation correct incorrect

Power correct incorrect

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. What is the term used to describe the standards by which people in a society are expected to live?

Status and roles correct incorrect

Social norms correct incorrect

Socialisation correct incorrect

Power correct incorrect

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. How do we learn what is expected of us and how to live in society?

Status and roles correct incorrect

Rules and norms correct incorrect

Socialisation correct incorrect

Power correct incorrect

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. What is the term used to describe the ability to influence people's behaviour or to set standards which will be followed by others?

Status and roles correct incorrect

Rules and norms correct incorrect

Socialisation correct incorrect

Power correct incorrect

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. Which theorist is responsible for the theory of differential association?

Émile Durkheim correct incorrect

Robert K. Merton correct incorrect

Clifford Shaw correct incorrect

Edwin H. Sutherland correct incorrect

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. 'Differential association is a _____ theory'. What is the missing word?

biological correct incorrect

learning correct incorrect

psychological correct incorrect

psychosocial correct incorrect

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. Sutherland's theory of differential association is used to explain what kind of distribution of criminal behaviour?

Age distribution correct incorrect

Gender distribution correct incorrect

Social distribution correct incorrect

Physical distribution correct incorrect

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. Which of the following are critiques of differential association? (Select all that apply.)

It is not possible to test the theory. correct incorrect

It assumes that people learn in many different ways. correct incorrect

It is too dated to be relevant today. correct incorrect

It allows little room for free will or different personalities. correct incorrect

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. Which theorist saw deviance as a normal and necessary part of people living together in social groups and saw a certain level of deviance as an indication of a healthy society?

Émile Durkheim correct incorrect

Robert K. Merton correct incorrect

Clifford Shaw correct incorrect

Edwin H. Sutherland correct incorrect

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. Which of the following statements best describes 'strain' in the context of Robert Merton's strain (anomie) theory?

The discrepancy between the cultural goals and institutional means experienced by some members of society correct incorrect

The acceptance of cultural goals and institutionalised means by some members of society correct incorrect

The increasing gap between the poor and the rich experienced by some members of society correct incorrect

An individual sense of the lack of the legitimacy of state laws in a capitalist society correct incorrect

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. Which of the following is not one of the five ways Merton suggests that people might respond to anomie?

Conformity correct incorrect

Delinquency correct incorrect

Innovation correct incorrect

Retreatism correct incorrect

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. 'At the centre of Shaw and McKay's (1942) work is the belief that we can only understand juvenile delinquency if we first understand the _______ context in which it arises.' Which word best completes this sentence?

physical correct incorrect

economic correct incorrect

political correct incorrect

social correct incorrect

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. What is a subculture?

The norms and values held by most members of a society correct incorrect

The norms and values held by some members of a society, and which are oppositional to middle-class values correct incorrect

The norms and values held by a criminal group correct incorrect

The norms and values held by a social group and which co-exist with the norms and values shared by most members of a society correct incorrect

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. What does the phrase 'delinquent subculture' mean, in the context of Albert Cohen's (1955) classic work 'Delinquent Boys'?

The norms and values of delinquents in society correct incorrect

The norms and values of a delinquent gang that emerges in a conflict-ridden situation correct incorrect

The norms and values of a minority ethnic group correct incorrect

The norms and values of a revolutionary political group in a capitalist society correct incorrect

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. Cloward and Ohlin (1960) said that working-class youths turn to three types of solution in response to the strain of having restricted legitimate opportunities to succeed. Which of the following is not one of the three solutions?

Criminal subcultures correct incorrect

Conflict subcultures correct incorrect

Anarchist subcultures correct incorrect

Retreatist subcultures correct incorrect

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. Which two theorists are most closely connected with 'neutralisation' and 'drift'?

Shaw and McKay correct incorrect

Sykes and Matza correct incorrect

Cloward and Ohlin correct incorrect

Durkheim and Merton correct incorrect