All Free Sociology MCQs with Answers

• A. Inconsistent
• B. Deviant
• C. Normless
• D. None of these

Explanation: Societal reaction theory holds that behaviour becomes deviant when people or institutions label it as deviant. The act is therefore not inherently deviant in this approach; the social reaction gives it that status.

• A. Danwie
• B. Communis
• C. Nessar
• D. None of these

Explanation: A danwei is a Chinese work unit or small organizational group through which social and economic life was traditionally regulated. Group membership creates pressure to conform, making it an instrument of social control.

• A. Formal to informal control
• B. Informal to formal
• C. General to specialized
• D. None of these

Explanation: Primary groups rely mainly on personal, informal sanctions such as approval or disapproval, whereas secondary groups depend more on written rules and formal procedures. The shift is therefore from informal to formal control.

• A. Social norms and traditions
• B. Law enforcing agencies
• C. Clan System
• D. None of these

Explanation: Most social control operates through everyday norms, traditions, and expectations rather than through police or courts. Formal agencies become especially important when informal controls fail or serious violations occur.

• A. cannot keep "hard core" criminals off the street
• B. does keep "hard core" criminals off the street
• C. is an effort to address the problem of one-time criminals
• D. maximizes effective use of prison bed space

Explanation: Selective confinement, or selective incapacitation, targets persistent and dangerous offenders for imprisonment so they cannot commit offences in the community. It is not primarily designed for one-time offenders.

• A. police
• B. military
• C. prisons
• D. courts

Explanation: The criminal justice system conventionally includes law enforcement, courts, and corrections such as prisons. The military may enforce security or emergency laws, but it is not a regular component of the criminal justice system.

• A. Why are people deviant?
• B. why are people not deviant?
• C. How does labeling contribute to deviance?
• 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. It therefore reverses the usual question of why people become deviant.

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

Explanation: Sammi accepts the culturally approved goal of academic success but uses an illegitimate method, cheating, to reach it. In Merton’s strain theory this combination is innovation, not conformity.

• A. fear of reprisal
• B. dislike of the police
• C. too trivial for the police
• 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. Fear of reprisal is important in some cases, but is not generally the most common response.

• A. Deviant behavior is an anomaly in social life
• B. Deviance is a property conferred upon particular behaviors by social definitions
• C. Deviance exists independently of a culture's norms
• 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. This is why an act may be deviant in one culture or period but normal in another.