Take this Quiz: A-Level Sociology: crime and deviance | Zestly

Question 1

Durkheim argued that a society without crime is impossible and, in a sense, desirable. What is the primary function of punishment in this view for the law-abiding majority?

Accepted Answer

It reinforces collective conscience by publicly reaffirming shared moral boundaries.

Answer

It acts as a deterrent to prevent the working class from revolting.

Answer

It provides a psychological outlet for the repressed anger of the state.

Answer

It ensures that the legal system remains fully funded through fines and assets.

Question 2

In a school where they are bottom of every set and every league table, a group of boys forms in which fighting, truanting and answering back to teachers all earn respect from each other. What is that group supplying to its members?

Accepted Answer

An alternative ladder of status, on which the things that lose marks at school earn standing in the group — available precisely to those for whom the approved ladder is closed.

Answer

A route back into school success, since the group presses its members to seek their teachers' approval.

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A career structure in crime that reliably leads to well-paid illegal work in adulthood.

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Nothing in particular: the group is a collection of individuals who happen to share a timetable.

Question 3

According to labelling theory, what is the most significant consequence of the official application of a deviant label to an individual?

Accepted Answer

The label becomes a master status, potentially leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Answer

The individual is automatically ostracised by all members of society without exception.

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The official record serves as a complete and objective account of the person's character.

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The individual is immediately rehabilitated by the justice system.

Question 4

Two sixteen-year-olds shoplift on the same afternoon. One is not caught, is quietly ashamed, and never does it again. The other is caught, charged, excluded from school, and within two years spends her time with friends who all have convictions. What does the second case illustrate?

Answer

That shoplifting is a gateway offence which reliably leads on to more serious crime.

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That shoplifting is badly undercounted in official statistics, which is the main lesson of the pair.

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That the second girl was always the more criminal of the two, and being caught merely revealed it.

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That the official reaction can matter more than the original act: the exclusion and the record closed off ordinary routes, and the identity that followed was built by the response rather than by the theft.

Question 5

Marxist perspectives on crime often emphasise that the definition of 'serious crime' is a social construct. Which of the following reflects this perspective?

Answer

Laws are created by a consensus of all citizens to protect the vulnerable.

Answer

The legal system prioritises the protection of private property over the harm caused by corporate negligence.

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Crime is a result of individual moral failure rather than systemic inequality.

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Police statistics are perfectly accurate representations of all criminal activity in society.

Question 6

Two councillors discuss a rise in burglary on an estate. A says: 'People here have far less than they see everyone else has, and nobody in authority listens to them; we need work, somewhere for young people to go, and policing this estate actually trusts.' B says: 'A burglar weighs the chance of getting caught against what is in the house; we need more patrols, tougher sentences, and no tolerance of graffiti and broken windows.' Which description is correct?

Answer

A is left realism — relative deprivation and marginalisation, answered through community solutions; B is right realism — offending as rational choice, answered through deterrence.

Answer

A is right realism and B is left realism.

Answer

Both are left realist, since both want the state to act.

Answer

Neither is realist: both positions are versions of Marxism.