Free Deviance and Social Control MCQs with Answers

• A. Why are people deviant?
• B. How does labeling contribute to deviance?
• C. why are people not deviant?
• D. How does structural strain contribute to deviance

Explanation: Control theory starts from the puzzle of conformity: it asks why most people do not violate norms even when deviance is possible.

• A. conformist
• B. retreatist
• C. ritualist
• D. innovator

Explanation: Sammi accepts the culturally approved goal of academic success but uses an illegitimate method, cheating, to reach it.

• A. too trivial for the police
• B. dislike of the police
• C. fear of reprisal
• D. best dealt with privately

Explanation: Victims most often give the crime's triviality or belief that the police cannot do much as the reason for not reporting it.

• A. Deviant behavior is an anomaly in social life
• B. Deviance exists independently of a culture's norms
• C. Deviance is a property conferred upon particular behaviors by social definitions
• D. none of the above

Explanation: Deviance is not an inherent quality of an act; it becomes deviant when social groups define it as violating accepted norms.

• A. criminality
• B. degeneracy
• C. recidivism
• D. deviance

Explanation: Deviance means non-conformity to norms accepted by a significant section of a community or society.

• A. people are socialized into a life of crime by associating with others who define it in positive terms
• B. the majority of crime is committed by middle class people in professional occupations
• C. those who were arrested and charged with theft did not define themselves as thieves
• D. the most dangerous criminals on the street were those who were highly skilled thieves

Explanation: Sutherland’s study supported differential association: criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others who provide favourable…

• A. hate crimes violence against ethnic minorities simply because of their race
• B. institutional racism systematic forms of disadvantage built into the routines and practices of social institutions
• C. overt racism in the police force that must be tackled by institutional reforms
• D. growing numbers of asylum seekers in need of long-term accommodation

Explanation: The Macpherson Report, following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, identified institutional racism as disadvantage embedded in the routines…

• A. white-collar crimes
• B. violent crimes against people
• C. organized crime
• D. "victimless" crimes

Explanation: These acts are commonly labelled victimless crimes because the law treats them as offences without a clearly identifiable direct victim…

• A. Edwin Sutherland
• B. Emile Durkhieim
• C. Howard S Becker
• D. Robert Merton

Explanation: Edwin Sutherland published The Professional Thief, an annotated account based on the experiences of a professional criminal.

• A. William Chambliss
• B. Emile Durkheim
• C. Richard Quinney
• D. Stanley Milgram

Explanation: Durkheim argued that punishment expresses society’s moral boundaries by showing which conduct is unacceptable, thereby reinforcing…

• A. techniques of neutralization
• B. deviance
• C. sanctions
• D. cultural transmission

Explanation: Sanctions are the rewards or punishments attached to conformity and nonconformity, and they may be informal, such as ridicule, or formal…

• A. Anomic Society
• B. Incoherent society
• C. Inconsistent society
• D. None of these

Explanation: An anomic society lacks clear and consistent norms that guide behaviour and learning.

• A. Obedient
• B. Deviant
• C. Abnormal
• D. None of these

Explanation: A person who violates the accepted rules or norms of society is called deviant.

• A. Source of power
• B. Source of help
• C. control device
• D. None of these

Explanation: A group can be manipulated to direct members' behaviour, making it a control device in the exercise of leadership and authority.

• A. None of these
• B. Secondary groups
• C. In social settings
• D. Primary groups

Explanation: Informal control operates most strongly in primary groups, where close personal relationships encourage approval, criticism, praise, and…

• A. Self-discipline
• B. Need for group acceptance
• C. Egoist behavior
• D. None of these

Explanation: LaPiere linked social control mainly to the individual's need for acceptance by the group.

• A. a university
• B. a mental hospital
• C. a factory
• D. each of the above

Explanation: A mental hospital fits Goffman’s concept of a total institution because residents live apart from wider society and their daily activities…

• A. functionalist perspective
• B. conflict perspective
• C. labeling theoryTake Sociology Courses
• D. interactionist perspective

Explanation: Labeling theory explains how social reactions can define a condition or behaviour as illness, deviance, or normality.