Chapter 6: Introduction to Sociology Test Bank

Deviance - Answer A behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction. Structural strain theory - Answer Robert Merton's argument that in an unequal society the tension or strain between socially approved goals and individual's ability to achieve those goals through socially approved means will lead to deviance as individuals reject either the goals of the means of both. Innovators - Answer Individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them. Ritualists - Answer Individuals who have give up hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means. Retreatists - Answer Individuals who reject both society's approved goals and the means by which to achieve them Rebels - Answer Individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means. Social control - Answer The formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion. Differential association theory - Answer Edwin Sutherland's hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers Labeling theory - Answer Howard Becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgements, or labels, that modify the individual's self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person Primary deviance - Answer In labeling theory, the initial act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant Secondary deviance - Answer In labeling theory, the subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant.