SCC Deviance and Crime 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sociologist introduced the concept of 'anomie' to explain deviance as a result of normlessness in society?
- Max Weber
- Émile Durkheim (Correct answer)
- Karl Marx
- Robert Merton
Correct answer: Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim introduced anomie to describe a condition where social norms break down, leaving individuals without clear guidance on behavior.
Question 2: According to Robert Merton's strain theory, an 'innovator' is someone who:
- Rejects both cultural goals and institutional means
- Accepts cultural goals but uses illegitimate means to achieve them (Correct answer)
- Abandons goals and means, withdrawing from society
- Creates entirely new goals and means for society
Correct answer: Accepts cultural goals but uses illegitimate means to achieve them
Merton's innovator accepts the culturally approved goal (e.g., financial success) but resorts to illegitimate means such as theft or fraud.
Question 3: The 'primary deviance' and 'secondary deviance' distinction was developed by:
- Howard Becker
- Edwin Lemert (Correct answer)
- Travis Hirschi
- William Chambliss
Correct answer: Edwin Lemert
Edwin Lemert distinguished primary deviance (initial acts) from secondary deviance, which occurs when a person internalizes a deviant identity after being labeled.
Question 4: Which theory argues that crime is committed when the perceived benefits outweigh the costs, and people rationally choose to offend?
- Social disorganization theory
- Labeling theory
- Rational choice theory (Correct answer)
- Conflict theory
Correct answer: Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory holds that offenders weigh potential rewards against risks of detection and punishment before committing a crime.
Question 5: The 'dark figure of crime' refers to:
- Crimes committed by shadowy criminal organizations
- Offenses that are never reported or recorded in official statistics (Correct answer)
- Crimes solved by undercover law enforcement agents
- Criminal behavior that only occurs at night
Correct answer: Offenses that are never reported or recorded in official statistics
The dark figure of crime describes the gap between crimes that actually occur and those officially recorded, since many incidents go unreported.
Question 6: Feminist criminology primarily criticizes traditional criminology for:
- Overemphasizing the role of poverty in crime causation
- Focusing too heavily on white-collar crime
- Largely ignoring women's experiences as offenders and victims (Correct answer)
- Relying too much on biological explanations of crime
Correct answer: Largely ignoring women's experiences as offenders and victims
Feminist criminologists argue that mainstream theories were built on male samples and fail to account for gendered experiences in crime and victimization.
Question 7: In the context of deviance, 'stigma' as theorized by Erving Goffman refers to:
- Physical punishment applied by society to rule-breakers
- A deeply discrediting attribute that reduces a person to a tainted identity (Correct answer)
- The process by which laws are created to control populations
- Informal sanctions applied within small communities
Correct answer: A deeply discrediting attribute that reduces a person to a tainted identity
Goffman defined stigma as a spoiled identity — an attribute that marks an individual as flawed or lesser in the eyes of others.
SCC Deviance and Crime 2
Which sociologist introduced the concept of 'anomie' to explain deviance as a result of normlessness in society?