Explain the system-blame approach and discuss the dangers of relying completely on it for explaining deviance
What will be an ideal response?
Feedback: The system-blame approach asserts that societal problems such as crime and poverty exist because of problems within the social system rather than being the fault of the individual. The system-blame approach provides a balance to the person-blame approach common in society, and is used in the chapter because society is the subject of sociology, not the individual. Problems include: (1) It only tells part of the truth. Social problems and deviance are highly complex phenomena that have both individual and systemic origins. (2) A dogmatic system-blame orientation presents a rigidly deterministic explanation for social problems. Taken too far, this position views individuals as robots controlled totally by their social environment. A balanced view of people is needed, because human beings have autonomy most of the time to choose between alternative courses of action.
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Which of the following is true of pimps?
a. They engage in sexual behavior with their customers in clients' automobiles or in cheap hotel rooms. b. They utilize the Internet to advertise themselves and arrange meetings with customers to engage in sexual activities. c. They are the prostitutes commanding the highest status within the trade. d. They offer protection and bail money in exchange for the allegiance of the prostitutes in their "stable."
Researchers have found that environmental tobacco smoke: a. affects male smokers more than female smokers
b. affects female smokers more than male smokers. c. is especially hazardous for nonsmokers who carpool or work with heavy smokers. d. is not as dangerous as once assumed.
The topic of psychosomatic disorders is of greatest interest to sociologists guided by which theoretical approach?
a. the structural-functional approach b. the symbolic-interaction approach c. the social-conflict approach d. the sociobiological approach
Which of the following statements defines the term "dominant ideology?"
A. It is a set of cultural beliefs and practices that help maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. B. It is a view of society in which many competing groups within the community have access to government officials, so that no single group is dominant. C. It is an approach to global stratification that contends that industrialized nations exploit developing countries for their own gain. D. It is a view of social interaction popularized by Erving Goffman that examines people as if they were theatrical performers.