What does it mean to say crime is socially defined? Describe two factors that can influence what people define as a crime and give two examples to support your answer.
What will be an ideal response?
The dynamic perspective does not view crime as wrong behavior in an absolute sense. Rather, in this view, wrong behavior and enforcement of the law are social problems that are subject to change. What we define as criminal thus changes over time as individuals or groups in positions of power change. For decades in parts of the United States, for example, Black citizens were prohibited from using "White" drinking fountains or sitting at "White" lunch counters. Definitions also change when new situations emerge. For example, terrorists' threats led to the criminalization of previously permissible behaviors, such as carrying ski poles onto airplanes. In the most basic sense, crimes are nothing more than deviant behaviors that violate society's norms. Our state legislatures are responsible for writing criminal laws that formally define what is deemed "criminal" and its possible punishment.
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Which of the following is a form of institutional discrimination that adversely affects the poor?
A) Most good jobs require a college degree, and the poor receive financial aid. B) Most college scholarships go to the best-performing schools, and poor children most often do not perform well in school. C) Government grants for college, which provide sufficient money to allow anyone to go to college if they want, are often rejected by the poor because of their distrust of the government. D) Low-end jobs, for which the wealthy are most qualified because they lack education, pay low wages so that the poor have no way to improve their conditions.
The Massachusetts Turnpike corridor west of Boston and the Perimeter area north of Atlanta are examples of urban fringes, or edge cities
a. True b. False Indicate whether the statement is true or false
The class system in the United States is assumed to be a closed class system.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)
Primogeniture is best defined as a situation in which:
a. prime property is passed down from generation to generation b. the eldest daughter inherits the land c. only the eldest son inherits the land d. primary groups encourage movement to urban areas