Ray, a sociologist, tends to hold the functionalist perspective on social problems. He believes that the main reason for the existence of social problems is that __________.
a. societies are fundamentally corrupt
b. societies sometimes fail to adapt successfully to change and new conditions
c. organizations become too rigid and inflexible over time
d. deviance is a natural outcome of increasingly complex social conditions
As a sociological concept, the term institution refers to __________.
a. some social unit that is old, respected, and revered
b. a place where the mentally ill are treated
c. a group or organization that has become deeply embedded in social life
d. a social structure of statuses and roles devoted to meeting the basic needs of people in a society
In a school, the student, the teacher, the principal, and the custodian are all members of a social group concerned with education.
Each of these individuals has a _________ that requires the performance of a certain set of behaviors, known as a(n) _________. a. label; social disorganization
b. status; interactionist norm
c. label; institution
d. status; role
Sociologists use the term __________ to refer to the positions one holds in groups or organizations.
a. statuses
b. norms
c. roles
d. institutions
Your text illustrates the three basic perspectives on social problems by showing how they explain the problem of __________.
a. unemployment
b. mental illness
c. criminal deviance
d. poverty
Your text illustrates the definition of a social problem with two examples: opium use in China and women's lack of the right to vote in the United States until 1920 . These examples demonstrate that __________.
a. an existing social condition becomes a social problem when it is redefined as a problem that must be solved
b. minorities, such as drug users and women, often cause social problems
c. drug use and lacking the right to vote are social problems, no matter where they occur
d. social problems occur everywhere
It took many years of dedicated commitment to the organization, persuasion, and demonstration by the leaders of the civil rights movement to convince significant numbers of Americans that separate schools for black and white children resulted in
inequality. This fact illustrates __________. a. that social structure has lost its relevance over the past several decades
b. the importance of power in the definition of social problems
c. that the lack of voting rights was a personal trouble experienced by a few people
d. a lack of consensus on a solution to a social problem
Many people are poor because they were raised in poverty, or choose to drop out of school, or have a baby before they are financially prepared to do so. These facts reveal __________.
a. Durkheim's study of suicide did not go far enough
b. social problems tend to affect women more than men
c. social problems are often closely related
d. the fallacy of the sociological imagination
Ashley is writing an essay about social problems. Which of the following statements about social problems is TRUE, and therefore she would likely include it in her essay?
a. Immigration is considered the top social problem in the United States.
b. Social problems tend to be distinct and unrelated, with only a few exceptions to this.
c. The idea that a society should intervene to remedy conditions that affect the lives of its citizens is very long-held idea.
d. There must be enough consensus among people in a society that a problem exists for action to take place, but this consensus on the problem does not indicate consensus on the solution.
When enough people in a society agree that a condition exists that threatens the quality of their lives and their most cherished values, and they agree that something should be done to remedy that condition, sociologists say that the society has
defined that condition as __________. a. a social problem
b. a public concern
c. a private concern
d. an act of war
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