SCC Deviance and Crime 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'corporate crime'?
- Crimes committed by low-level employees against their employers
- Illegal acts committed by a corporation or its executives for organizational benefit (Correct answer)
- Theft of intellectual property by rival corporations
- Street crimes that occur near corporate headquarters
Correct answer: Illegal acts committed by a corporation or its executives for organizational benefit
Corporate crime involves illegal actions undertaken by or on behalf of a corporation to benefit the organization, such as price-fixing, environmental violations, or consumer fraud.
Question 2: Victimless crimes are those in which:
- The perpetrator is never identified
- There is no identifiable direct victim other than potentially the offender themselves (Correct answer)
- The crime occurs in a location with no witnesses
- Law enforcement declines to prosecute due to insufficient evidence
Correct answer: There is no identifiable direct victim other than potentially the offender themselves
Victimless crimes — such as drug use or prostitution between consenting adults — involve no direct victim other than possibly the offender, though many sociologists dispute this label.
Question 3: The 'routine activities theory' of crime argues that crime occurs when:
- Offenders are poorly socialized from a young age
- A motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian converge (Correct answer)
- Economic inequality creates resentment among the lower classes
- Neighborhoods lose social cohesion during periods of rapid change
Correct answer: A motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian converge
Developed by Cohen and Felson, routine activities theory holds that crime requires three elements to converge in time and space: a motivated offender, a suitable target, and no capable guardian.
Question 4: Which of the following is an example of relative deviance?
- Murder, which is condemned in virtually all known societies
- Alcohol consumption, which is deviant in some cultures but normalized in others (Correct answer)
- Theft, which is universally recognized as harmful across cultures
- Child abuse, which is universally prohibited by international law
Correct answer: Alcohol consumption, which is deviant in some cultures but normalized in others
Relative deviance refers to behaviors that are considered deviant in some cultural or social contexts but not in others, illustrating that deviance is socially constructed.
Question 5: Restorative justice programs differ from traditional criminal justice by emphasizing:
- Longer prison sentences as a deterrent
- Healing for victims, offenders, and communities through dialogue and accountability (Correct answer)
- Mandatory minimum sentences to ensure consistency
- Police-led investigations without community involvement
Correct answer: Healing for victims, offenders, and communities through dialogue and accountability
Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders — victim, offender, and community — rather than punishment alone.
Question 6: According to Howard Becker's labeling theory, a 'moral entrepreneur' is someone who:
- Profits financially from criminal enterprises
- Crusades to create or enforce rules, often defining new categories of deviance (Correct answer)
- Studies the sociology of moral behavior in academic settings
- Mediates disputes between deviant individuals and law enforcement
Correct answer: Crusades to create or enforce rules, often defining new categories of deviance
Becker used the term moral entrepreneur to describe individuals or groups who campaign to have certain behaviors defined and treated as deviant, such as temperance advocates or anti-drug crusaders.
Question 7: The concept of 'medicalization of deviance' refers to:
- Using medical treatment as a form of punishment for criminals
- Redefining deviant behavior as a medical problem requiring treatment rather than punishment (Correct answer)
- The overrepresentation of sick individuals among criminal populations
- Government programs that provide healthcare to incarcerated individuals
Correct answer: Redefining deviant behavior as a medical problem requiring treatment rather than punishment
Medicalization of deviance occurs when behaviors once seen as moral failings or crimes are reclassified as medical conditions, such as alcoholism being redefined as a disease.
SCC Deviance and Crime 4
Which of the following best describes 'corporate crime'?