,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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) There is usually a great deal of disagreement among people as to what they consider
deviant.
2. Millions of people at one time or another have smoked marijuana. If sociologists asked a
sample of U.S. citizens about this behavior, they would most likely discover that
a) almost everyone agreed that smoking marijuana is deviant.
b) many people disagreed about the deviant status of marijuana.
c) almost everyone did not really care about whether smoking marijuana is deviant or not.
d) almost everyone in the sample had smoked marijuana.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: b) many people disagreed about the deviant status of marijuana.
3. 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
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3
Answer: d) all of the above
4. 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.
,Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: d) a lack of consensus about what behavior should be seen as deviant.
5. 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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) always immoral behavior.
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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: d) Sociologists cannot agree on a precise definition of deviance.
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
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: a) the saint, the intellectual, and the genius
8. 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.
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: b) can avoid the label of deviance.
9. 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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) the powerful consider to be a violation of some social rule.
10. Definitions of deviance fall into two opposing perspectives, the positivist and the
a) traditional.
b) moral.
c) constructionist.
d) modernist.
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 4
Answer: c) constructionist
11. Determinist, objectivist, and absolutist are other terms for aspects of the __________
perspective on deviance.
a) constructionist
b) humanist
c) modern
d) positivist
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 4
Answer : d) positivist
12. 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.
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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) There is usually a great deal of disagreement among people as to what they consider
deviant.
2. Millions of people at one time or another have smoked marijuana. If sociologists asked a
sample of U.S. citizens about this behavior, they would most likely discover that
a) almost everyone agreed that smoking marijuana is deviant.
b) many people disagreed about the deviant status of marijuana.
c) almost everyone did not really care about whether smoking marijuana is deviant or not.
d) almost everyone in the sample had smoked marijuana.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: b) many people disagreed about the deviant status of marijuana.
3. 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
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3
Answer: d) all of the above
4. 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.
,Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: d) a lack of consensus about what behavior should be seen as deviant.
5. 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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) always immoral behavior.
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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: d) Sociologists cannot agree on a precise definition of deviance.
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
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: a) the saint, the intellectual, and the genius
8. 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.
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: b) can avoid the label of deviance.
9. 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.
Difficulty: 2
Page Reference: 3-4
Answer: c) the powerful consider to be a violation of some social rule.
10. Definitions of deviance fall into two opposing perspectives, the positivist and the
a) traditional.
b) moral.
c) constructionist.
d) modernist.
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 4
Answer: c) constructionist
11. Determinist, objectivist, and absolutist are other terms for aspects of the __________
perspective on deviance.
a) constructionist
b) humanist
c) modern
d) positivist
Difficulty: 1
Page Reference: 4
Answer : d) positivist
12. 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.
