Instructor Resource
Chapter 1
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. According to Clinard and Meier (2010), which two conceptions of deviance exist in the
study of deviant behavior?
a) Normative and non-normative
b) Objectively problematic and subjectively given
c) Relativist and normative conceptions
d) Folkways and mores
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Rules of behavior that are defined both formally and informally are .
a) norms
b) laws
c) folkways
d) mores
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge, Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Laws are:
a) everyday norms and simple activities that do not cause a major disturbance if deviated.
b) a moral norm that will upset people however will not face formal sanctions.
c) a moral norm that will upset people and receive formal sanctions.
d) backed by official or formal sanctions, and is a deviation from norms understood by
majority of a group.
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge, Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. From a social constructionist perspective, deviance is:
a) defined the same across multiple countries.
b) constructed based on interactions of those immediate to society and not inherent.
c) defined by multiple societies and subcultures as the same thing.
d) behaviors that are inherently deviant.
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge, Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
, Inderbitzin, Bates S Gainey, Deviance and Social Control 2nd Edition
Instructor Resource
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. From a critical perspective, deviance is:
a) based on social, economic, and political conditions of society, and is established by those
in power to maintain and enhance power.
b) equal across gender, class, and social statuses within society.
c) behaviors and conditions that are inherently deviant and occur in the same ways
across social, economic, and political conditions.
d) occurring only in groups with power as a way to breakdown and minimalize group
powers. Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension, Knowledge
Answer Location: Conception of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Which of the following is not part of the steps in scientific research methods?
a) Research question
b) Examine results and theorize
c) Data and data collection methods
d) Incorporating personal beliefs and own
politics Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Conception of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. According to critical conceptions, deviance is established by .
a) those in power, to maintain and enhance their power
b) society as a consensus of everyone’s goals
c) those in lower socioeconomic statuses, based on their best interests
d) folkways and mores
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension, Knowledge
Answer Location: Conception of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. The scientific method is:
a) not a generalizable, step-by-step procedure.
b) a systematic procedure that helps safe guard against researcher bias.
c) often disregarded among researchers today.
d) is not followed
internationally. Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension, Knowledge
Answer Location: Ideas in Action
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. The Fremont Arts Council or FAC is an example of deviance because:
a) riding bicycles is permitted in certain areas only.
, Inderbitzin, Bates S Gainey, Deviance and Social Control 2nd Edition
Instructor Resource
b) it displays the appropriateness of nudity in certain contexts.
c) it allows children to write in chalk on streets sectioned off.
d) patrons of the FAC celebrate medieval dress in this
context. Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Analysis,
Knowledge Answer Location:
Introduction Difficulty Level: Easy
10. conceptions of deviance are also referred to as social
constructionist and reactionist or relativist perspectives.
a) Normative and non-normative
b) Objectively given
c) Subjectively problematic
d) Folkway
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Hard
True/False
1. Objectively given and subjectively problematic are the same conception of
deviance. Ans: FALSE
2. Objectively given deviance is also referred to as normative or positivistic by the
authors. Ans: TRUE
3. Subjectively problematic means that deviance is constructed based on interactions of those
in society.
Ans: TRUE
4. According to objectively given conceptions, behaviors, or conditions are not
inherently deviant.
Ans: FALSE
5. A critical conception of deviance is not a legitimate conception of deviance
today. Ans: FALSE
6. According to the relativist conception of deviance, universal definitions of deviance exist
that apply across all time and place.
Ans: FALSE
7. Drinking too much alcohol is considered a deviant behavior in the United States
today. Ans: TRUE
, Inderbitzin, Bates S Gainey, Deviance and Social Control 2nd Edition
Instructor Resource
8. NACIREMA articulated the objectivist perspective because the author did not
advocate relativity of deviance.
Ans: FALSE
9. Positivist conceptions of deviance most align with critical perspectives of
deviance. Ans: FALSE
10. Reality TV shows often allow us to see and consume deviance of everyday
life. Ans: TRUE
Short Answer/Essay
1. Choose one TV show found in popular culture. Identify the deviance witnessed. How do
you understand it from a relativist perspective?
ANS:
Sister Wives—a look inside the world of a polygamist marriage. This reality show introduces
viewers to a man, his four wives, and his 16 children. His motto: “Love should be multiplied, not
divided.”
My Strange Addiction—a reality show that highlights potentially deviant obsessions of
individuals with addictions such as eating glass, plastic bags, household cleaners, or makeup;
having dozens of surgeries in order to look like a living doll; and living as husband and wife
with a synthetic doll.
Seinfeld—a situation comedy that is simply masterful at focusing on small behaviors or
characteristics that break norms and are perceived as deviant. Episodes on the close-talker,
the low-talker, and the high-talker, for example, all illustrate unwritten norms on
interpersonal communication.
2. Compare/contrast positivist, relativist, and critical conceptions of deviance.
ANS:
Positivist/normative—there is a general set of norms of behavior, conduct, and conditions on
which we can agree; a violation of a rule understood by the majority of the group; “What leads
an individual to engage in deviant behavior?”
Relativist/Social Constructionist—nothing is inherently deviant; our understanding of the world
is in constant negotiation between actors; deviance is behaviors that illicit a definition or label of
deviance; “What characteristics increase the likelihood that an individual or a behavior will be
defined as deviant?”