1 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
SOC100 Exam 3 Notes Questions and Answers
(100% Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
Deviance
Ans: • Violation of norms, ranging from minor to major
• Can have serious repercussions to social order, or can be merely curious or
humorous
• Howard Becker (1966)
o It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that make something deviant.
• "Deviance" depends on group norms: different groups have different norms,
even within the same society.
Sociological view of deviance
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Ans: • A neutral term for sociologists; nonjudgmental
• All members of society are deviants of one sort of another—we all violate norms
Exampromax - Stuvia US
from time to time
o The same act may be considered deviant or non-deviant, depending on context.
• The act may not be inherently bad; but people respond negatively.
Stigma
Ans: • Goffman (1963)
• Characteristics that discredit people
o E.g.
• Violation of norms of appearance
• Violation of norms of ability
• Involuntary membership in groups (a parent of a murderer, a victim of leprosy)
• Stigma can become a person's master status: therefore the whole person (the
self) becomes defined at deviant, and it is difficult to exit the stigma.
Laws in post-modern, democratic society
Ans: • Postmodern societies: "stories"
o Who's norms should prevail?
o Debate amongst competing values
• Who wins? (Functionalist view, conflict view)
• To be most effective, laws should be backed up by norms.
o Drinking age, abortion, immigration, prayer in public, schools, smoking,
marijuana, same-sex marriage...
• (many or these attempt to govern private behavior)
• Unpopular laws may become unenforceable.
Functionalist view of deviance
, 2 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
Ans: • Durkheim again:
o Deviance and crime have positive impact on society.
o Clarifies shared values (normative culture)
o Reminds us of "who we are" (ties that bind, social solidarity)
o "If you want to be one of us, this is how you need to act."
• Public hangings, executions, public shaming all remind others who witness it
how we are supposed to act.
Why are people deviant?
Ans: • Theories of deviance in textbook
o Sociological theories: interpersonal and contextual
• (not "the criminal mind" or psychopathy)
• Durkheim: anomie
• Merton: strain theory
• Cultural transmission (differential association)
• Cultural disorganization
© 2025 Assignment Expert
• Labeling theory
• Cultural Approved Goals / Means to obtain them: Conformist, Ritualist,
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Innovator, "Rebel"
Sociological perspectives on terrorism
Ans: • Threatening, illegal violence that is intended to change or maintain some
belief law, institution, or other aspect of social structure by creating fear in
persons other than the immediate targets (Gibbs, 1989).
• Deliberate targeting of more or less randomly selected victims whose deaths and
injuries are expected to weaken the opponent's will to persist in a political conflict
(Turk, 2002).
• Efforts to understand terrorism have been secondary to efforts to control it.
Terrorism: sociological views
Ans: • Terrorism is not so much about "the criminal mind" as much as about
political contexts—to destabilize the existing social order.
• Those who are powerless (or less powerful) attempt to seize power and attention
in a dramatic, destructive way.
• This method terrorizes those who are even tangentially affected.
o Again, much of the terror is about social disorder ad uncertainty
Families as a Social Institution
Ans: • What is a family?
• How do families vary across culture?
• How do families vary across time in U.S. culture?
• How do families vary within cultures based on their social location?
• How has work (the economic institution) affected families?
SOC100 Exam 3 Notes Questions and Answers
(100% Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
Deviance
Ans: • Violation of norms, ranging from minor to major
• Can have serious repercussions to social order, or can be merely curious or
humorous
• Howard Becker (1966)
o It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that make something deviant.
• "Deviance" depends on group norms: different groups have different norms,
even within the same society.
Sociological view of deviance
© 2025 Assignment Expert
Ans: • A neutral term for sociologists; nonjudgmental
• All members of society are deviants of one sort of another—we all violate norms
Exampromax - Stuvia US
from time to time
o The same act may be considered deviant or non-deviant, depending on context.
• The act may not be inherently bad; but people respond negatively.
Stigma
Ans: • Goffman (1963)
• Characteristics that discredit people
o E.g.
• Violation of norms of appearance
• Violation of norms of ability
• Involuntary membership in groups (a parent of a murderer, a victim of leprosy)
• Stigma can become a person's master status: therefore the whole person (the
self) becomes defined at deviant, and it is difficult to exit the stigma.
Laws in post-modern, democratic society
Ans: • Postmodern societies: "stories"
o Who's norms should prevail?
o Debate amongst competing values
• Who wins? (Functionalist view, conflict view)
• To be most effective, laws should be backed up by norms.
o Drinking age, abortion, immigration, prayer in public, schools, smoking,
marijuana, same-sex marriage...
• (many or these attempt to govern private behavior)
• Unpopular laws may become unenforceable.
Functionalist view of deviance
, 2 Exampromax - Stuvia US 2025/2026
Ans: • Durkheim again:
o Deviance and crime have positive impact on society.
o Clarifies shared values (normative culture)
o Reminds us of "who we are" (ties that bind, social solidarity)
o "If you want to be one of us, this is how you need to act."
• Public hangings, executions, public shaming all remind others who witness it
how we are supposed to act.
Why are people deviant?
Ans: • Theories of deviance in textbook
o Sociological theories: interpersonal and contextual
• (not "the criminal mind" or psychopathy)
• Durkheim: anomie
• Merton: strain theory
• Cultural transmission (differential association)
• Cultural disorganization
© 2025 Assignment Expert
• Labeling theory
• Cultural Approved Goals / Means to obtain them: Conformist, Ritualist,
Exampromax - Stuvia US
Innovator, "Rebel"
Sociological perspectives on terrorism
Ans: • Threatening, illegal violence that is intended to change or maintain some
belief law, institution, or other aspect of social structure by creating fear in
persons other than the immediate targets (Gibbs, 1989).
• Deliberate targeting of more or less randomly selected victims whose deaths and
injuries are expected to weaken the opponent's will to persist in a political conflict
(Turk, 2002).
• Efforts to understand terrorism have been secondary to efforts to control it.
Terrorism: sociological views
Ans: • Terrorism is not so much about "the criminal mind" as much as about
political contexts—to destabilize the existing social order.
• Those who are powerless (or less powerful) attempt to seize power and attention
in a dramatic, destructive way.
• This method terrorizes those who are even tangentially affected.
o Again, much of the terror is about social disorder ad uncertainty
Families as a Social Institution
Ans: • What is a family?
• How do families vary across culture?
• How do families vary across time in U.S. culture?
• How do families vary within cultures based on their social location?
• How has work (the economic institution) affected families?
