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CHAPTER SIX
DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. When driving, we stop at a red light, whether or not a policeman is present. This is a form of:
a. internalized social control.
b. formal social control.
c. externalization.
d. anticipatory socialization.

ANS: a REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.1

2. According to your text, effective social control is dependent primarily on:


a. both self-control and informal social controls.
b. both self-control and formal social controls.
c. formal social controls only.
d. self-control only.

ANS: a REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.1

3. Internalization occurs when:


a. a person exercises self-restraint because of fear of what others will think.
b. sanctions such as fines, expulsion, and imprisonment are used to enforce conformity.
c. illegal acts are avoided because of fear of getting caught.
d. we don’t even think of violating the norms and values of our group because conformity is a part
of our self-concept.

ANS: d REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.1

4. Alan, a 14-year-old boy, finds himself in a situation where he can steal a digital watch from K-Mart.
He decides against the theft because he fears what others would think of him if they found out. In this
situation, Alan conforms to society’s values because of:
a. formal social controls.
b. informal social controls.
c. aversive social controls.
d. internalization.

ANS: b REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.1

5. Formal sanctions are LEAST likely to produce conformity when:


a. the police spend a substantial part of their time trying to eliminate illegal behavior.
b. formal sanctions for illegal behavior are severe.
c. economic conditions make illegal behavior attractive for quick rewards.
d. individuals and groups do not believe that the behavior should be illegal.

ANS: d REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.1

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

6. If caught cheating on this exam, you are likely to be punished by the professor and the university.
This is a type of:
a. informal control.
b. formal control.
c. self-control.
d. street-level justice.

ANS: b REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.1

7. Adrianne does not smoke or drink alcohol in front of her family because she is afraid they would
disapprove. This is an example of:
a. formal social control.
b. informal social control.
c. aversive social control.
d. internalization.

ANS: b REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.1

8. Unpopular norms can continue to exist because of:


a. internalization.
b. negative sanctions.
c. false enforcement.
d. formal social controls.

ANS: c REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.1

9. Which of the following is an example of false enforcement?


a. A teen who is not homophobic participates in taunting a gay peer for fear that he will be rejected
if he doesn’t.
b. A judge gives a violator a longer punishment than deserved because of minimum sentencing
guidelines.
c. A parent grounds a teen for marijuana use even though the parent uses marijuana
d. A teacher gives a “problem” student a detention for being late to class, but lets a “good” kid go
unpunished.

ANS: a REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.1

10. Norm violations that exceed the tolerance level of the community and result in negative sanctions are:
a. deviance.
b. eccentric.
c. rule violations.
d. fun.

ANS: a REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.2

11. When sociologists stress that deviance is relative, they mean that:
a. relative to criminal acts, deviance is a minor form of nonconformity.
b. it runs in the family, among relatives.

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

c. whether an act is regarded as deviant or not often depends on the time, place, or individual.
d. deviance is related to more serious criminal offenses.

ANS: c REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.2

12. In the definition of deviance, it is not the act itself that matters, but the:
a. audience.
b. reason for the behavior.
c. intention of the actor.
d. legal definition.

ANS: a REF: Conformity and Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.2

13. Biological and psychological explanations for deviance look for the causes:
a. within society.
b. in the groups a person interacts with.
c. in the processes internal to the individual.
d. in the audience for the behavior.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

14. Sociological theories of deviance tend to emphasize that the reasons for deviance:
a. stem from personality disorders.
b. are based largely on genetic factors.
c. stem from personal disorganization.
d. are found in the social structure of society.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

15. The structural-functional perspective was first applied to the explanation of deviance by:
a. Durkheim.
b. Merton.
c. Sutherland
d. Hirschi.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

16. The term used to describe a situation in which the norms of society are unclear or no longer
applicable to current conditions is:
a. ambiguity.
b. moral decay.
c. anomie.
d. institutional change.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

17. Durkheim first applied the explanation of anomie in his study of:
a. deviance.
b. social control.

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

c. suicide.
d. crime.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

18. Extreme tattooing and body modification are used by some people:
a. to demonstrate their membership in a subculture.
b. to recover a sense of control over their body after a traumatic experience.
c. to indicate their rejection of dominant cultural values.
d. All of these are reasons cited for extreme forms of body modification.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.2

19. According to the text, the stigma against extreme forms of body modification is strongest when it is
practiced by:
a. young people.
b. middle-aged people.
c. women.
d. the middle class.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.2

20. Citizens sometimes complain that employees in government agencies are more concerned about
following the rules, even when this doesn’t make sense, than they are about helping citizens. Robert
Merton would refer to these employees as:
a. ritualists.
b. conformists.
c. innovators.
d. retreatists.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

21. According to Merton’s strain theory, the social class most likely to engage in deviance is the:
a. lower class.
b. working class.
c. middle class.
d. upper class.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

22. Youths growing up in poor neighborhoods are more likely to deal drugs to make money than middle-
class youth. This example represents the pattern of deviance called:
a. rebellion.
b. retreatism.
c. ritualism.
d. innovation.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

23. Which of the following examples is NOT an innovative adaptation to situations of strain?
a. athletic achievement through the use of steroids
b. joining the mafia to get rich
c. cheating on exams to get a better grade
d. getting a free handout by dropping out and drifting from one city mission to the next

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

24. Retreatists __________ the culturally approved goals of society and __________ the institutional
means for achieving them.
a. accept; accept
b. reject; accept
c. accept; reject
d. reject; reject

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

25. According to Merton’s strain theory, rebels differ from retreatists in that:
a. rebels are committed to creating an alternative society; retreatists just drop out.
b. retreatists withdraw to communes whereas rebels start revolutions.
c. retreatists reject society’s values but accept the means; rebels reject both means and values.
d. rebels reject society’s values but accept the means; retreatists reject both means and values.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

26. Examples of retreatists include:


a. revolutionaries and people who start communes.
b. steroid-using athletes and mafia types.
c. drifters and street people.
d. embezzlers and pranksters.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

27. According to strain theory, the solution to deviance is to:


a. reform the individual who deviates.
b. make it easier to reach societal goals through acceptable means.
c. put more money into correctional facilities.
d. implement tougher sentencing guidelines for the more dangerous crimes.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

28. ________ refers to the extent to which individuals in a neighborhood share expectations that
neighbors will intervene and work together to maintain social order.
a. Collective efficacy
b. Anomie
c. Retreatism
d. Ritualism

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

29. According to ________, crime is more likely to occur in neighborhoods that suffer extreme structural
disadvantage and as a result experience low collective efficacy.
a. differential association theory
b. collective efficacy theory
c. strain theory
d. symbolic interaction theory

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

30. If __________ theory is correct, we would expect crime among the lower classes to rise during
economic recessions when it becomes difficult to meet basic needs.
a. anomie
b. differential association
c. self-esteem
d. conflict

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

31. Which of the following statements is NOT part of the conflict theory of deviance?
a. Class conflict affects deviance.
b. Those in power decide what is deviant and how it will be punished.
c. The lower class does not share the goals of the upper and middle classes.
d. Economic inequality leads to crime.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

32. Which of the following situations is NOT consistent with the conflict theory view of deviance?
a. A young man who steals a pack of gum from Walgreens is sent to jail; a young man who steals a
box of pens from work is reprimanded.
b. A city allocates more money to preventing consumer fraud than to stopping mugging.
c. Ted Turner’s house is robbed and the police launch a full-scale investigation; Maria’s house is
robbed and the police take her statement and tell her to lock her doors.
d. A lawyer kills his wife but is found not guilty at the trial; a garbage man kills his wife and gets
life in prison.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

33. Conflict theorists point out that the class differentials in crime rates develop partly because:
a. the upper classes commit less important types of crimes.
b. law enforcement discriminates more heavily against the poor.
c. the lower classes are less integrated in their families and neighborhoods.
d. the lower classes have accepted subcultural values that are more supportive of crime.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

34. Which of the following statements about conflict theories of deviance is TRUE?

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

a. All conflict theorists believe that the upper classes commit more crime.
b. Conflict theorists are in agreement that the lower class commits more crime.
c. All conflict theorists agree that crime is an unnatural condition, resulting from unattainable goals.
d. All conflict theorists believe that class interests determine which acts are criminalized and how
heavily they are punished.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

35. Symbolic interaction theories of deviance do NOT suggest that deviance:


a. is learned.
b. involves the development of a deviant self-concept.
c. is an inevitable product of an unequal society.
d. arises out of face-to-face interactions.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

36. Both conflict and structural-functional theory view deviance:


a. as the product of face-to-face interactions.
b. as the result of social inequality.
c. as resulting from the overall social structure.
d. All of these are true about conflict and structural-functional views of deviance.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

37. __________ theory sees deviance as a product of specific face-to-face interactions.


a. Conflict
b. Symbolic interaction
c. Structural-functional
d. Self-esteem

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

38. Differential association theory was developed by:


a. Travis Hirschi.
b. Robert Merton.
c. Howard Becker.
d. Edwin Sutherland.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

39. Differential association theory argues that:


a. people learn to be deviant when their associates favor deviance over conformity.
b. people choose deviance over conformity when normal avenues for success are blocked.
c. deviance results from social inequality.
d. differences in crime rates are associated with age, sex and, race.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

40. Diane’s aunts, uncles, parents, and friends all take towels from the hotels where they stay. Diane also

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

takes the towels. “Everybody does it,” she reasons. Diane’s deviance is best explained by:
a. deterrence theory.
b. strain theory.
c. differential association theory.
d. labeling theory.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

41. A similarity between differential association and deterrence theories is that they both:
a. see deviance as the result of social inequality.
b. view deviance results, at least in part, because there are greater rewards for deviance than for
conformity.
c. locate the source of deviance in the social structure.
d. see deviance as the result of strain between goals and means of attaining them.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

42. Deterrence theories place the primary blame for deviance on:
a. parents.
b. an inadequate system of rewards and punishments.
c. individuals.
d. peer pressure.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

43. Which theory assumes that individuals consciously assess the costs and benefits of whether to
conform or be deviant?
a. labeling theory
b. deterrence theory
c. differential association theory
d. reward theory

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

44. When social structures do not provide adequate rewards for conformity, more people will choose
deviance. This is part of which theory?
a. reward theory
b. differential association theory
c. labeling theory
d. deterrence theory

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

45. In deterrence theory, conventional social rewards are important because they:
a. make crime a rational choice.
b. allow people to rationally decide that “crime doesn’t pay.”
c. encourage individuals to turn in deviants.
d. eliminate criminal behaviors.

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

46. Empirical studies show that three kinds of rewards are especially important in deterring deviance.
Which of the following is NOT one of them?
a. family ties
b. large friendship networks
c. doing well in school
d. having a good job

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

47. Labeling theory is concerned with the process by which:


a. a person who associates with deviants learns to be deviant.
b. the label of deviant comes to be attached to specific people and specific behavior.
c. deviant labels are used to stigmatize criminal behavior.
d. public labeling of criminals is used to deter crime.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

48. Labeling theory incorporates elements of which two theories?


a. symbolic interactionism and conflict theory
b. structural-functionalism and symbolic interactionism
c. deterrence and strain theories
d. developmental and conflict theory

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

49. On a whim, three-year-old Bobby flicks a spoonful of mashed potatoes at his father. Bobby’s father
puts him in the time-out chair and tells him he is a bad boy. Bobby’s behavior is an example of:
a. primary deviance.
b. secondary deviance.
c. non-conformity.
d. bad manners.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

50. Continued and deliberate deviance that results from labeling is:
a. primary deviance.
b. innovation.
c. secondary deviance.
d. white-collar crime.

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

51. Which of these is NOT a criticism of labeling theory?


a. It cannot explain the repeated deviance of persons who have not been labeled deviant.
b. It does not address how a person goes from primary to secondary acts of deviance.
c. It does not explain why primary deviance occurs.
d. It does not explain why secondary deviance occurs.

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

52. ____ combines the symbolic interaction and conflict perspectives into one theory.
a. Differential association theory
b. Merton’s strain theory
c. Labeling theory
d. Deterrence theory

ANS: c REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

53. The concept of “moral entrepreneur” refers to:


a. persons who are labeled as deviants.
b. those who promote their own moral ideas about who should be labeled deviant.
c. social scientists who look for causes of deviance.
d. persons who commit victimless crimes.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

54. Why is lower-class behavior more likely than upper-class behavior to be labeled as deviant?
a. The more power a group has, the more likely they are to be successful at defining deviance.
b. Lower-class people engage in more blatant forms of deviance.
c. The more numbers a group has, the more likely they are to be successful at defining deviance.
d. Very few upper-class people engage in deviant behavior.

ANS: a REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.4

55. In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward:


a. treating more types of deviance as legal infractions.
b. treating more types of deviance as diseases.
c. allowing fewer types of deviants to successfully claim the sick role.
d. demedicalization.

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.3

56. Which of the following categories is most likely to be able to successfully claim the label of “ill”?
a. women
b. African Americans
c. the lower class
d. people in positions of power

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.4

57. Which of these statements about the labeling of a behavior as an illness is FALSE?
a. People who are labeled ill are generally absolved from blame for their behavior.
b. Despite being labeled as an illness, deviant behavior is still stigmatized and punished.
c. People in positions of power are more likely to be labeled ill than deviant.
d. Child abuse, gambling, murder, and rape may now be regarded as forms of mental illness better
treated by physicians than sheriffs.

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

ANS: b REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.3

58. All of the following are examples of the medicalization of deviance except:
a. cosmetic surgery to cure self-esteem.
b. taking a drug to cure shyness.
c. prescribing drugs to help someone get over the loss of a loved one.
d. prescribing drugs to cure bipolar disorder.

ANS: d REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.3

59. Deviant acts that are subject to legal or civil penalties are defined as:
a. eccentric.
b. crimes.
c. deviance.
d. social deviance.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.4

60. The Uniform Crime Report summarizes the:


a. incidence of all crimes that occur.
b. number of victimless crimes that occur annually.
c. number of incidents of crimes that are known to police and are of five major types.
d. incidence of crimes of violence.

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.4

61. Compared to Britain, homicide rates in the U.S. are:


a. the same.
b. two times lower.
c. two times higher.
d. five times higher.

ANS: d REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

62. The Uniform Crime Report monitors all of the following major offenses EXCEPT:
a. forcible rape.
b. prostitution.
c. arson.
d. motor vehicle theft.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

63. Property crime has declined steadily since 1980. Most observers agree that a major reason for this is:
a. a steady decline in the amount of personal property most people own.
b. a reduction in the number of young people throughout the country.
c. the decriminalization of marijuana in some areas.
d. better policing.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

64. Which of the following is generally considered to be a victimless crime?


a. burglary
b. illegal entry and trespass
c. gambling
d. larceny-theft

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

65. Victimless crimes are:


a. crimes that do not hurt anyone.
b. property crimes which do not involve victims.
c. voluntary exchanges between persons who desire goods or services from one another.
d. all crimes that are impersonal.

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

66. Victimless crimes are difficult for the police to control because they:
a. do not harm anyone.
b. lack a complaining victim.
c. have wide acceptance in the larger community.
d. involve property and not persons.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

67. Laws regarding victimless crimes are enforced:


a. regularly.
b. only at the request of a complainant.
c. rarely.
d. through periodic crackdowns and routine harassment.

ANS: d REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

68. According to a 2010 study, which of the following groups is least likely to support the legalization of
marijuana?
a. Democrats
b. Republicans
c. people ages 65 and older
d. people ages 50-64

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

69. Crimes committed by respectable people of high social status in the course of their occupations are
known as:
a. victimless crimes.
b. graft and corruption.
c. white-collar crimes.
d. hidden crimes.

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

70. Which of the following is an example of white-collar crime?


a. the armed robbery of a small business by an unemployed lower-class white
b. an industrial plant ignoring the law which prohibits dumping toxic waste into the environment
c. legalized prostitution
d. the slaying of a government official by a subversive and radical political group

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

71. All of the following are examples of corporate crime EXCEPT:


a. polluting the environment.
b. selling defective products.
c. a CEO sexually harassing his assistant.
d. evading corporate taxes.

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

72. White-collar criminals are far less likely than street criminals to have all of the following happen
EXCEPT:
a. be sentenced to prison.
b. receive a lengthy sentence.
c. hire a competent lawyer.
d. be tried for a crime.

ANS: c REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

73. In regards to who commits crime in the U.S., the text suggests that:
a. people in lower classes commit the most crime.
b. the crimes committed by those in the lower class are the most costly to society.
c. people of different statuses have different opportunities to commit crime.
d. the crimes of people in the upper class are higher yield, but also higher risk.

ANS: c REF; Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

74. Less than half of violent crimes, and less than one-fourth of property crimes, ever result in an arrest.
This means that:
a. people arrested for criminal acts represent only a sample of people who commit crimes.
b. the police aren’t doing their job.
c. these crimes are the ones that most often go unreported.
d. those who are arrested are a good representation of those committing crimes more generally.

ANS: a REF: Crime DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 6.12

75. Persons arrested for criminal acts are disproportionately:


a. young adult males from minority groups.
b. young adult white males.
c. young females from minority groups.
d. older, lower-class white males.

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

ANS: a REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

76. Your text suggests that we need to be cautious when generalizing about crime and the larger
population of criminals based on UCR statistics because:
a. levels of crime reporting are much higher than actual crime levels.
b. the people arrested for criminal acts are not a random sample of the people who commit crimes.
c. the UCR overemphasizes the crimes of white-collar professionals.
d. UCR statistics do not include those crimes that have been cleared by an arrest.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

77. Young people are more likely to be deviant than older people because they:
a. have more energy.
b. do not have as much to lose, such as a career or a credit rating, by being deviant.
c. don’t know any better.
d. are growing up in a more complex society than the older generation did.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

78. Research on juvenile delinquency shows that it basically occurs when:


a. there is nothing better to do.
b. an individual experiences a hormonal imbalance.
c. parents are too strict with their children.
d. adolescents are labeled as troublemakers.

ANS: a REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

79. According to your text, the strongest social explanation for sex differentials in crime rates is that:
a. girls are supervised more closely than boys.
b. boys are bigger in physical size.
c. boys have a biological predisposition toward aggression.
d. boys are given less freedom so are more apt to rebel.

ANS: a REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

80. A significant proportion of crime among females is explained by their:


a. greater need for material goods.
b. victimization by males.
c. lack of supervision.
d. responsibility as single mothers.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

81. According to your text, all of the following are possible explanations for the higher rate of crime by
lower-income people EXCEPT:
a. blocked avenues to achievement.
b. receiving fewer rewards from school and the labor market.
c. the bias in law enforcement making their crime rate appear higher.
d. a biological propensity toward deviance.

ANS: d REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

82. Race differences in arrest rates are due mainly to:


a. race differences in the quality of employment.
b. discrimination by police.
c. poverty and segregated neighborhoods and housing.
d. All of these explain racial differences in arrest rates.

ANS: d REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

83. Differences in crime rates between members of minority groups and nonminorities are more apparent
than actual. This means that:
a. the apparent differences are real.
b. when members of the different groups engage in the same crimes, members of minority groups
are more likely to be cited, arrested, prosecuted, and convicted.
c. while there are differences in the rate of arrest, the differences disappear by the time the crimes
are prosecuted.
d. members of minority groups commit more crimes than do nonminorities.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

84. Which of the following statements describing the relationship between race and crime is FALSE?
a. When engaging in the same criminal behavior, minorities are more likely to be cited, arrested,
prosecuted, and convicted than whites.
b. On average, whites commit more crimes than minorities.
c. Much of the difference in crime between whites and minorities is explained by social class
differences.
d. The UCR overestimates the percentage of crime committed by minorities.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

85. When it comes to perceptions of crime, research indicates that the majority of people:
a. underestimate the amount of crime occurring.
b. overestimate the amount of crime occurring.
c. have a fairly accurate perception of how much crime is occurring.
d. have little interest in the amount of crime occurring.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

86. Which of these is NOT a way in which the media contributes to overestimates of crime?
a. There is no reporting of the decline in crime rates.
b. When the news fails to report crimes, it makes the public fear what they do not know.

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

c. Highlighting crimes leads to higher ratings


d. There is a tendency for the media to misidentify isolated incidents as trends.

ANS: b REF: Crime DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.5

87. When society punishes offenders to avenge the victim and society as a whole, this is called:
a. reformation.
b. retribution.
c. retaliation.
d. specific deterrence.

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

88. Sending a juvenile delinquent to a boot camp rather than prison would be an example of:
a. deterrence.
b. retribution.
c. reform.
d. prevention.

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

89. Elliott receives a very harsh sentence for committing a minor crime. The hope is that he will think
twice before committing another crime. This tactic is called:
a. retaliation.
b. deterrence.
c. retribution.
d. reform.

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.6

90. Studies of crime prevention indicate that:


a. the length of sentences given for various crimes is a good deterrent for future crime.
b. the length of the sentence is a good predictor of how prevalent the crime is.
c. the certainty of getting caught is a better deterrent than lengthy sentences.
d. prisons are more important than law enforcement within the criminal justice system.

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

91. In the U.S. in 2010, there were _____ full-time police officers for every 1,000 people in the country.
a. 1.2
b. 2.6
c. 3.5
d. 4.1

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

92. The decisions made by police officers:


a. are less important than those made by the courts.
b. are less visible than those made in court and therefore harder to evaluate.

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DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

c. have little impact on the rate of imprisonment.


d. are the most objective measure of crime

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Applied OBJ: 6.6

93. The most important phase in determining a person’s guilt or innocence is the:
a. arrest.
b. processing.
c. pretrial phase of prosecution.
d. criminal trial.

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

94. The country with the highest rate of imprisonment is:


a. Russia.
b. the United States.
c. China.
d. Japan.

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

95. About what percentage of prison inmates are African American males?
a. 10%
b. 20%
c. 35%
d. 40%

ANS: d REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

96. Your text suggests that __________ is the probably the least effective of the ways listed to deal with
crime and prison crowding.
a. developing more effective community-based corrections
b. putting more money into law enforcement
c. addressing the social problems and institutions that give rise to and encourage crime
d. building more prisons

ANS: d REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

97. Evaluation of newer intensive supervision probation programs indicates that they:
a. are not as effective as prison in terms of rehabilitation and deterrence.
b. reduce costs and increase the likelihood of rehabilitation when combined with drug treatment and
other service.
c. only work for the most serious offenders.
d. are effective at rehabilitation, but the services required make them more costly than prisons.

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

98. The 1972 Furman decision determined that capital punishment was:
a. racist but necessary to deter future crime.

334
CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

b. racist and unconstitutional due to the uncontrolled discretion of judges and juries in sentencing.
c. not racist since more blacks than whites committed violent crimes.
d. a just way to deal with all rapists, regardless of race.

ANS: b REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

99. New research shows that the __________ is at least as important as race of the defendant in
determining who receives the death penalty.
a. violence of the crime
b. social class of the defendant
c. race of the victim
d. gender of the defendant

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

100. The text reports that a leading sociologist recommends addressing crime in the United States by:
a. building more prisons.
b. instituting more “three strikes and you’re out” rules.
c. reducing social inequality.
d. using more boot camps.

ANS: c REF: The Criminal Justice System DIF: Factual OBJ: 6.6

TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS

1. When people obey the law even when there is no reason to believe that they will be punished for
breaking it, they are said to have internalized social control.

ANS: True REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

2. Effective social control depends almost entirely upon formal social control.

ANS: False REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

3. When rules are not supported by group values, it is difficult for even formal agencies to enforce
compliance.

ANS: True REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

4. Whether or not an act is considered deviant depends on the time, place, actor, and audience.

ANS: True REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.2

5. Most sociologists agree that deviance is always dysfunctional for society.

ANS: False REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

6. Both conflict theory and structural-functionalism locate the causes of deviance in the social structure.

335
DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

ANS: True REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

7. Conflict theorists and structural-functionalists agree that members of the lower social classes are the
most likely to engage in criminal behavior.

ANS: False REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

8. Symbolic interactionists who study deviance argue that deviance is learned.

ANS: True REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

9. According to deterrence theories, inadequate sanctioning systems are the primary reason that
deviance occurs.

ANS: True REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

10. When deviant behavior is medicalized, the individual involved is more likely to receive treatment and
sympathy than punishment and stigma.

ANS: True REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

11. The Uniform Crime Report summarizes all crimes that are known by the police to have occurred.

ANS: False REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

12. Victimless crimes are crimes that do not hurt anyone.

ANS: False REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

13. Even though crime is decreasing, most Americans believe it is increasing.

ANS: True REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

14. The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world.

ANS: True REF: The Criminal Justice System OBJ: 6.6

15. The U.S. prison system is designed for the rehabilitation of inmates.

ANS: False REF: The Criminal Justice System OBJ: 6.6

SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between informal and formal social control?

ANS: Informal social control is self-restraint because of fear of what others will think, while formal
social control includes administrative sanctions such as fines, expulsion, or imprisonment.

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CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

2. What is meant by the statement that deviance is relative?

ANS: Whether or not an act is regarded as deviant often depends upon the time, the place, the
individual, and the audience.

REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

3. What is anomie?

ANS: Anomie is a situation in which the norms of society are unclear or no longer applicable to
current conditions.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

4. What is the basic idea behind strain theory?

ANS: Strain theory suggests that deviance occurs when culturally approved goals cannot be reached
by culturally approved means.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

5. What is the collective efficacy theory?

ANS: The extent to which individuals in a neighborhood share the expectation that neighbors will
intervene and work together to maintain social order.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

6. What is the basic idea behind differential association theory?

ANS: Differential association theory argues that people learn to be deviant when more of their
associates favor deviance than favor conformity.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

7. What is the basic concern of labeling theory as it relates to crime and deviance?

ANS: Labeling theory is primarily concerned with the process by which labels such as deviant come
to be attached to specific people and behaviors.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

8. Explain the concept of medicalization.

ANS: When deviance is defined as resulting from illness, either mental or physical, instead of a lack
of morals or other deficit, the person engaged in the behavior is more likely to receive treatment and

337
DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

sympathy than to be punished.

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.2

9. What is white-collar crime?

ANS: White-collar crime is crime committed by respectable people of high status in the course of
their occupations and by companies.

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

10. Why are rates of imprisonment higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world?

ANS: Imprisonment rates are higher in the United States because of harsher sentencing policies,
especially for drug-related offenses, such as mandatory minimums and “three strikes and you’re out”
laws.

REF: The Criminal Justice System OBJ: 6.6

ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. Define false enforcement and give an example of how it reinforces unpopular norms.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

2. Describe the three different types of social control and rank them in terms of their general importance
in reducing deviance. Identify the circumstances in which this order might be reversed.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Conformity and Deviance OBJ: 6.1

3. Briefly outline the four types of strain deviance identified by Merton and give an example of each.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

4. Explain the process by which a person is labeled a deviant. Include the concepts of primary and
secondary deviance and their role in the process.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance OBJ: 6.3

5. Are lower-class individuals really more deviant than those from the upper classes? Discuss from the

338
CHAPTER SIX – TEST BANK

standpoint of one of the following theories: strain, deterrence, labeling, or conflict. Provide evidence
to support your answer.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.4

6. Give an example of a “victimless” crime. Is it really victimless? Explain using a major theoretical
perspective to support your answer.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

339
DEVIANCE, CRIME, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

7. Define white-collar crime. What are its costs and why does it receive so little attention relative to
street crime?

ANS: Not provided

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

8. Discuss the differences in crime rates for each of the following characteristics: age, sex, race, and
social class. Summarize the major reason(s) for each pattern.

ANS: Not provided

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.4

9. Explain the role of the media in the creation and maintenance of a “culture of fear” in the U.S. How
do the media contribute to the public’s overestimation of the dangers of crime?

ANS: Not provided

REF: Crime OBJ: 6.5

10. Explain the punishment rationale behind capital punishment. Is justice served by death penalty
sentencing? Why or why not? (Be sure to discuss issues of race differential in your answer.)

ANS: Not provided

REF: The Criminal Justice System OBJ: 6.6

340
Another random document with
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The English are our masters. They make their laws as stringent as
they please; they hold their grip as tight as they wish. They say to us:
“People of India, you are weak. Weakness is recognized in our
system as a crime. Therefore you are doomed.” So they show the
power in their hands and use it as they will. But when they say to us:
“People of India, cease to quarrel and live in peace,” they are not
only cruel but unjust and hypocritical, for the quarrels are their own
creation, and our divisions they recognize as their main support.
Says the Premier of England, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald:

“As the red patches advanced over the map of India, sections
pulled themselves together to resist, but no power then existing
could develop that Indian cohesion which was necessary if the
new trading invader was to be hurled back. We were not
accepted, but we could not be resisted. India challenged, but
could not make her challenge good.... Moreover, we were not a
military conquering power imposing tribute and hastening hither
and thither in our minds. The invasion was not of hordes of men
seeking new settlements, nor of military captains seeking spoil,
but of capital seeking investment, of merchants seeking profit. It
was necessarily slow; it divided to rule, and enlisted Indians to
subdue India.”[39]

Perhaps the reader will now be ready to concede that England


acquired control over India and has succeeded in holding her
mastery over the country through the policy of “Divide and rule.” He
may grant also that the existing fabric industries of India have been
destroyed by the unfair use of political power in the interest of the
growing British manufactures. Then followed the invasion of the
power loom in Europe which completed the ruin of India’s cotton
industry. In the first place India had been impoverished to such an
extent that she could not find the necessary capital to utilize the
latest inventions; and when at last she did succeed in setting up
steam mills their progress was nipped in the bud through the
imposition of an excise duty on all home manufactures. Here was an
evident inversion of the natural order of things. When machinery
began to be introduced into the country, a protective tariff was
required to assist the infant industries. Instead, the foreign rulers of
India imposed an excise duty on cotton fabrics, while foreign fabrics
continued to be admitted free of duty.
A similar mischievous policy was adopted in regard to the
agricultural industries of India. A government which has the welfare
of the nation in mind tries in every way to improve the condition of
the governed by increasing their sources of income. It grants its
farmers subsidies, helps them to improve the quality of their crops,
and extends their markets. What it exacts from them in the form of
taxes is expended in the improvement of their general condition. “It
identifies itself with the nation, and grows richer with it.”
In India from the time when the East India Company became the
rulers of the country, this natural process has been reversed. These
foreign rulers of India regarded their possessions as a “human
plantation,” and their policy was to extract from the people all that
was possible in order to swell the profits of the Company’s
stockholders in England. Taxes on agricultural land were placed at
the highest possible point in the beginning, and were then increased
at every successive revenue settlement. The over-assessment and
collection of taxes with the most callous disregard for the material
condition of the farmers, plunged the country into misery. Soon they
began to flee from their houses into the jungles, leaving the country
desolate. India was visited by the most horrible famines, and while
natives died in the streets from hunger, the Company’s agents had
the gratification of reporting an increased collection from land taxes.
It is estimated that the famine of 1770 carried away with it one-third
of the entire population of Bengal, and yet in the following year the
land revenue of Bengal was raised and actually collected in cash.
The two letters which were written from the Company’s Government
in India to its directors in England in the years 1771 and 1772 are of
peculiar interest in this matter.
Dated 12th February, 1771: “Notwithstanding the great severity of
the late famine and the great reduction of people thereby, some
increase has been made in the settlements both of the Bengal and
the Behar Provinces for the present year.”[40]
Dated 10th January, 1772: “The collections in each department of
revenue are as successfully carried on for the present year as we
could have wished.”[40]
It is needless to say that in making a collection of an increased
revenue, following a devastating famine, a great deal more ingenuity
was needed. Every sort of advantage was taken of the distress of
the people. Their crops were monopolized, and in most cases the
seed for their next year’s crops was sold to realize the Company’s
revenue. The hereditary owners of the lands were driven away from
their holding, and their properties were transferred to the highest
bidders for the land revenue collection.
A comparison between the land taxes claimed by the previous rulers
of India and by the East India Company may be made from the
following figures:
The total land revenue collected by the last Mohammedan ruler of
Bengal in 1764, the last year of his administration, was £817,533;
within thirty years the British rulers collected an annual land revenue
of £2,680,000 in the same province. During this interval the country
had been visited by two of the most terrible famines of its history.
Colonel Briggs wrote in 1830: “A land tax like that which now exists
in India, professing to absorb the whole of the landlord’s rent, was
never known under any Government in Europe or Asia.”[41]
Aside from the heavy assessment of the Government there were,
more disastrous still, the extortions and premiums of the Company’s
servants. Besides serving in the pay of the Company, each young
clerk or old veteran officer was ambitious to make a sudden fortune
to be carried with him to England. Nearly everyone of the Company’s
servants carried on his private trade. This evil was stopped,
however, by Clive in later years. English traders used all the tools at
hand to take improper advantage of their customers and of rival
native traders.
A typical case of this injustice occurred during the controversy over
excise duty in the Province of Bengal between its Nawab, Mir
Kasam, and the Company’s servants. The English victory at Plassey
(1757) had greatly enhanced the prestige of the Company. In
exchange for its protection, the Nawab of Bengal granted to the East
India Company the right to carry on its export and import trade, free
of duty, within his territory. This right the Nawab granted to the trade
of the Company and not to the private trade of the officials of the
Company. In spite of the repeated complaints from the Nawab,
however, the Company’s servants continued to carry on their private
business without the payment of any duties into the treasury of the
Nawab. This arrangement, of course, helped the private traders to
rear colossal fortunes in a very short period, but the Nawab’s
treasury soon felt severely the loss of its revenue. Moreover, the
suffering of the native merchants who had to pay heavy duties on
their goods and thus found it difficult to compete with these law-
breaking traders, reached a critical state. Overwhelmed from all
sides, and finding his complaints to the Company’s agents
unheeded, the generous Nawab in a moment of noble and royal
indignation abolished all inland duties. By this act he personally lost
a large income from his revenues, but he placed his subjects on
equal terms with the employees of the East India Company. What
followed will be scarcely believed by our readers. The Executive
Council of the Company at Calcutta protested against this action of
the Nawab as a breach of faith towards the English nation. “The
conduct of the Company’s servants upon this occasion,” says James
Mill in his history of India, “furnishes one of the most remarkable
instances upon record of the power of interest to extinguish all sense
of justice, and even of shame.” “There can be no difference of
opinion,” writes another English historian, H. H. Wilson, “on the
proceedings. The narrow-minded selfishness of commercial cupidity
had rendered all members of the council, with the two honorable
exceptions of Vansitart and Hastings, obstinately inaccessible to the
plainest dictates of reason, justice and policy.”[42] More comment
upon this is unnecessary.
Here was a class of officials in India who regarded the country, which
they had been called upon to govern in the name of God Almighty,
as no other than a fishing pool. They declared that the purpose of
their government was to restore order in place of chaos, and justice
instead of corruption. But when one of the native princes, inspired by
nobility of heart, ordered a cancellation of his own revenues in order
to benefit his subjects, the government of the Company flared up in a
rage and called his act of unselfish benevolence a breach of faith
against the English nation. Edmund Burke was after all right when he
spoke about the East India Company’s officials thus:

“ ... The Tartar invasion was mischievous, but it is our protection


that destroys India. It was their enmity, but it is our friendship.
Our conquest there, after twenty years, is as crude as it was the
first day. The natives scarcely know what it is to see the grey
head of an Englishman; young men, boys almost, govern there
without society, and without sympathy with the natives. They
have no more social habits with the people than if they still
resided in England; nor, indeed, any species of intercourse but
that which is necessary to making a sudden fortune, with a view
to a remote settlement. Animated with all the avarice of age, and
all the impetuosity of youth, they roll in one after another, wave
after wave, and there is nothing before the eyes of the natives
but an endless, hopeless prospect of new flights of birds of prey
and passage, with appetites continually renewing for a food that
is continually wasting. Every rupee of profit made by an
Englishman is lost forever to India” (Edmund Burke in a speech
made in the House of Commons in 1783).”

After Plassey (1757) the English control over India began to expand
rapidly, and the East India Company acquired the real nature of a
government instead of a mere trading company. Gradually as the
political power of the Company grew in India and abuses crept in,
the English Parliament undertook to control all Indian affairs through
appointed representatives. This policy was carried out in so far that
on the eve of the Sepoy Mutiny (1857), which led to the transfer of
the Government of India to the British Sovereign, the English
Parliament already supervised the India affair through a cabinet
minister and a council board in England, and a governor-general
appointed by the British cabinet in India.
The resentment of the people of India against the British rule and its
consequent political and economic humiliations found its tragic
expression in the rebellion of 1857, commonly known as the Sepoy
Mutiny. The masses of the country led by the native army burst forth
in mad fury against the yoke of their foreign rulers. The rebellion
started in the United Provinces and at once spread like wildfire
throughout the British territories. Once again the British played the
natives against each other. The rebellion, which at one time
threatened the complete overthrow of the British power in the
country, was crushed with the assistance of Sikh regiments from
Punjab. The suppression of the rebellion involved a terrible loss of
life, and some of the deeds of horror which were committed by the
infuriated English soldiery remain as fresh in the minds of the Indian
people to this day as they were in 1857. The last of the Moghul
emperors was deposed and all of his heirs were fired from the
mouths of cannon. Thousands of rebels were hung, and their dead
bodies were left hanging from the branches of trees in order to excite
terror in the minds of the populace. Kaye and Malleson’s History of
the Mutiny gives the most horrible account of the butchery which the
English officers carried on during the bloody days after the Mutiny in
the most indiscriminate and barbarous fashion. The authors of this
memorable account of the Mutiny state: “Already our military officers
were hunting down the criminals of all kinds, and hanging them up
with as little compunction as though they had been pariah-dogs, or
jackals, or vermin of a baser kind.” So ferocious was the temper of
the white soldiers, and so strongly had the fierce hatred against all
“who wore the dusky livery of the East” possessed them, that on one
occasion in the absence of tangible enemies they turned on their
own camp-followers and murdered a large number of their loyal and
unoffending servants. Sir Charles Ball writes: “Every day we had
expeditions to burn and destroy disaffected villages and we had
taken our revenge. We have the power of life in our hands and I
assure you, we spare not.” Innocent old men and helpless women
with sucking infants at their breasts felt the weight of the white man’s
vengeance just as much as the vilest malefactors. It is recorded that
in several places cow’s flesh was forced by spears and bayonets into
the mouths of Hindu prisoners because the English knew that the
Hindu so abhors cow’s flesh that he will rather die than eat it. Kaye
and Malleson write:

“Afterwards the thirst for blood grew stronger still. It is on the


records of our British Parliament, in papers sent home by the
Governor-General of India in Council, that the aged, women and
children, are sacrificed, as well as those guilty of rebellion. They
were not deliberately hanged, but burnt to death in their villages
—perhaps now and then accidentally shot. Englishmen did not
hesitate to boast, or to record their boastings in writings, that
they had ‘spared no one’, and that ‘peppering away the niggers’
was very pleasant pastime, ‘enjoyed amazingly’. It has been
stated in a book patronized by high class authorities, that ‘for
three months eight dead-carts daily went their rounds from
sunrise to sunset to take down the corpses which hung at
crossroads and market-places’, and that ‘six thousand beings’
had been thus summarily disposed of and launched into
eternity.”[43]

Following the Sepoy Mutiny an act was passed in the British


Parliament by virtue of which the government of India was
transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown. The
English King thus became the ruler of India, but the people of India
paid the price of purchase. The shareholders of the Company were
recompensed for this change, and the amount paid to them was
added to the national debt of India. The government of the country
changed hands, but virtually no change was made in the policy.
Even in the times of peace that followed the public debt of India
continued to increase. The new rulers were determined to promote
English industries at the expense of Indian manufacturers just as
had been done under the rule of the Company. India remained
henceforth a colony of the Empire for the production of raw materials
at very low prices in the English factories. The manufactured goods
were afterwards re-shipped to India for the native consumption. The
posts of dignity and high emolument in the government service
continued to be regarded by the Englishman as his sole monopoly.
No confidence was placed in the natives; they were given no
positions of authority, and were excluded from offices of
responsibility as much as possible. In other words, the interests of
Indians were completely subordinated to those of the Englishmen.
“The roads to wealth and honor were closed to the natives. The
highest among them were considered unworthy of those places of
trust in the state employments which were held by young English
boys fresh from school. The springs of Indian industry were stopped,
and the sources of the country’s wealth were dried up.”
As a result of the direct British rule over India the public debt of the
country rose from £51,000,000 in 1857 to £200,000,000 in 1901. The
agricultural class of India, moreover, the backbone of national
prosperity in a country whose main occupation is agriculture, had
become so poor that in one district in 1900 85% of the land revenue
was directly paid to the Government officials by money-lenders, the
landowners being wholly unable to meet their obligations. It was
estimated by the leading medical journal of the world (The Lancet,
June, 1901) that during the last decimum of the nineteenth century
nineteen millions of British Indian subjects had died of starvation,
and one million from plague. And yet at the beginning of the
twentieth century according to the financial arrangements of the
country half of its total revenue was sent out of India to England
each year. This included the upkeep of the India office in London,
pensions to retired officials residing in England, and interest on
public debts.[44]
With these facts in mind the reader will not wonder that India is poor.
Place any other country in the world under the same conditions. Let
her government be carried on by a foreign power with the complete
exclusion of the sons of the soil from positions of responsibility; let
her fiscal policy be determined by the parliament of a rival
commercial nation without a single representative of the governed
nation sitting in its councils; let its industry be crippled or destroyed
by a malicious use of political power by its foreign rulers; let its
agriculture be subjected to a heavy and uncertain land tax; let half its
total revenue be carried away annually to a foreign land; and you will
not be surprised if the most prosperous nation in the world sinks in
the course of a few years to the lowest depths of poverty and
degradation.[45]
A nation prospers if its government is wisely administered in the
interest of the people, if the sources of wealth are widened, and if the
proceeds from taxation are spent for the uplift of the people and
among the people. It is impoverished if its government is carried on
by an outside power for the purpose of exploitation; if the sources of
its wealth are narrowed from the crippling of its industries, and if its
revenues are largely remitted out of the country without an economic
return. Americans stand in awe before the single monopoly of the
Standard Oil Company. They are appalled by the magnitude and
tyranny of its power. They should remember that the Standard Oil
monopoly is a pigmy before the British monopoly of India. England
has exercised for nearly two hundred years exclusive and undivided
control over the affairs of India. She has had power to shape the
destinies of three hundred million people according to her will, being
responsible to no one but herself. She has held not only the
government of India, but its commerce, its finances, and its industry.
In conclusion let us repeat the poignant remark quoted earlier, “The
national wealth of India did not sprout wings and fly away. It had to
be carried away.”

FOOTNOTES:
[35] Quoted from R. C. Dutt, Economic History of British India.
[36] Quoted from R. C. Dutt.
[37] Quoted from R. C. Dutt.
[38] Prosperous British India.
[39] From The Government of India.
[40] Quoted from R. C. Dutt.
[41] Quoted from R. C. Dutt.
[42] Quoted from R. C. Dutt.
[43] Quoted from Lajpat Rai.
[44] Digby.
[45] Digby.
Chapter IX
INDIAN NATIONALISM—ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH
Before discussing at length the problems of Indian nationalism, let us
consider whether India is really a nation, or is merely a composite of
peoples inhabiting the same country. India’s fundamental unity as a
nation has been denied often by prominent scholars, while its historic
and cultured oneness has really never been acknowledged by the
English rulers of the country. Sir John Strachey remarks:

“This is the first and most essential thing to learn about India—
that there is not and never was an India, or even any country of
India, possessing, according to European ideas, any sort of
unity, physical, political, social, or religious; no Indian nation, no
‘people of India’ of which we hear so much.”

We believe that Sir John Strachey is profoundly wrong in his


assertion that India is not a nation in the “physical, political, social, or
religious” sense. On the contrary, it can be proved easily that
geographically, historically, culturally, and spiritually India is
fundamentally one. Cut off from the north and the east by the snow-
clad Himalayas, and surrounded on the south and the west by the
mighty Indian Ocean, India is geographically, one country. Every part
of the interior is freely accessible from all sides. No natural boundary
lines within the country divide it into different parts; nor do any high
mountains obstruct the free passage from one part of the country to
the other. In fact, India is a physical unit, much more distinct than
any other country in Europe or America.
When we study the history of India, from the ancient Vedic period to
modern times, we find again the whole of the Indian peninsula, from
Bengal to Gujrat, and from Ceylon to Kashmir, mentioned always as
one motherland. “The early Vedic literature contains hymns
addressed to the Motherland of India. The epic poems speak of the
whole of BHARAT as the home-land of Aryans.” We hear nowhere
any account of separate nationalities within the country. The
literature of India is full of thoughts about Indian nationality; but there
is no mention of separate Bengal, Madras, Gujrat, or Punjab nations,
based upon geographic divisions. Powerful emperors in ancient as
well as modern times have ruled over the entire peninsula in peace
and security. “In fact, the belief in the unity of India was so strong in
ancient times that no ruler considered his territories complete until he
had acquired control over the entire peninsula.” Asoka ruled over the
whole of India in perfect harmony. Akhbar’s power spread to the
farthest ends of the land. And when, later on, the different governors
of the border provinces rose in revolt and refused allegiance to the
successors of Akhbar, it was the great distance from the capital that
suggested revolt to the population of these distant provinces, and not
a feeling of separate nationality.
Culturally, again, India is one nation. In their daily habits, their ethical
standards, and their spiritual responses the Indians of every religion
and locality are fundamentally alike. “Their family life is founded on
the same bases; their modes of dress and cooking are the same.
Their very tastes are similar.” They respect the same national heroes
and worship the same ideals. They have the same hopes and
aspirations in this life and in the hereafter. As a result, their mental
and spiritual behavior is similar. In fact, they are fundamentally one
in mind and in spirit.
It is true that more than one dialect is spoken in the country. Until
1920 the business of the Indian National Congress itself was carried
on in the English language because no other language was common
to the whole of India. It was really tragic that a people who were so
profoundly proud of their national heritage and who aspired to
political freedom were obliged to use at the meetings of their national
assemblies an utterly foreign language. That the variety of
languages was in fact a very slight difficulty was demonstrated at the
session of the Indian National Congress in 1920. From the Congress
platform at Amritsar in 1919 Mahatma Gandhi had announced that at
all subsequent meetings the business of the Congress would be
conducted in the Hindi language, which is spoken by more than a
third of the population of the country. Teachers were sent
immediately to different parts of the country to instruct the people in
the Hindi language and when the Congress convened again in 1920
its business was carried on in Hindi. Delegates from Bengal, Madras,
and Bombay made their speeches in Hindi as fluently as those from
the United Provinces and the Punjab. Every one felt satisfied at the
change. A miracle had happened; India had acquired a common
tongue in the course of a year.
The population of India is composed of many different peoples, who
came to the country originally as invaders, and later settled there
and became a part thereof. Through the process of assimilation and
adaptation extending over generations, the original Afghan, Mongol,
and Persian conquerors of India have lost their peculiar
characteristics, and become one with the rest of the population in
their language, ideas, and loyalties. The position of these foreign
types in India is exactly analogous to peoples of different
nationalities, who migrated from Europe into America in the early
times. The interval of a single generation was usually sufficient to
transfer the loyalties of European immigrants from their native
countries to the United States. The difference between India and the
United States in this respect is merely that the Indian must go back
many more generations to reach his immigrant than must the
American.
The chief barrier in the way of spiritual unity among the people of
India, is religion. Hinduism and Mohammedanism are the dominant
religions of the country. The main portion of the population is Hindu,
but seventy millions of Mohammedans are scattered over the whole
country in small groups. The Mohammedans came to India originally
as invaders and conquerors, and now occupy a position in the
country of mixed authority and subjection. Wherever they form the
majority group, they dominate the followers of other religions; while
in other places they are held down as minorities. Since the beginning
of their contact the Hindus and the Mohammedans of India have
never agreed. Intervals of peace and harmony between the two
communities have occurred occasionally during the reigns of
benevolent emperors like Akhbar and Shah Jahan; but their hearts
were never joined in true companionship even before the beginning
of English influence. The modern rulers of India have helped to
strengthen the differences between the Hindus and the
Mohammedans in so far that the animosities between the two
religious groups were no less bitter in 1918 than they were three
hundred years ago. Since the days of Gandhi’s leadership, however,
a great deal has been accomplished in building up a feeling of
genuine comradeship and love between the Hindus and
Mohammedans of India. When the Moslems all over the world were
in a state of deep distress at the Khilafat issues after the Severes
treaty, the Hindus of India made common cause with the Moslems of
the world. Khilafat was included in the Congress program as one of
India’s main issues. This liberality helped to win the hearts of the
Mohammedan population of India toward their Hindu compatriots,
and the Hindu Gandhi was idolized by both religious groups, as
leader and savior. It was an auspicious beginning of friendship
between these two isolated factions in India, and ever since it has
been enthusiastically followed up by the younger generation of the
country. It may be confidently expected that as the youth of India
acquire influence in the affairs of the country, the friction between the
Hindus and the Mohammedans will cease, and their age-long battles
based upon superstition and error will come to an end.
Worse still in their ethical and spiritual significance are the
differentiations between the caste groups among the Hindus.
Numerous social reform societies are working at the present time to
remove the barriers of caste within Hindu society; and until the work
of building up a human fellowship among the different caste and
religious groups of India, based upon the highest moral teachings of
the Hindu sages, is completed, the political as well as spiritual
regeneration of the country will remain an idle dream.
We have seen that in the cultural sense, on account of the
sameness of feelings and instincts, the Hindus, Mohammedans,
Sikhs, Parsis, Bengalis, Mahratas, and Madrasis are fundamentally
alike. Yet the bitterness between these warring elements of the
country had grown into such immense proportions at one time that a
communal feeling of neighborhood and human decency among them
seemed inconceivable. Two hundred years ago, when the English
first began to acquire control over the country, the people of India
were divided into perfectly hostile groups; and no power then existed
which could bring together these warring factions. Among the causes
that have secretly conspired to develop a spirit of unity among the
different religious and social groups of India, the foremost has been
British imperialism in the country. Britain gave to India, in the first
place, a long reign of peace. This enabled the people of different
parts of the country to have a more direct and steady intercourse
than was possible in earlier times. The English also gave to the
higher classes of India a knowledge of English history and classical
literature, whose study breathed into the minds of the educated
Indians a love of liberty. Acquaintance with the spirit of European
nationalism created a desire for Indian nationality. A national
consciousness soon sprang into existence and found expression
through the medium of the Indian National Congress.
Greater than everything else, however, in its direct consequences of
uniting the people of India into one nation has been the universal
antagonism toward British rule. As the tyranny of foreign rule
gradually began to be felt, hatred against it increased. The different
factions in the country were forced to unite for the purpose of driving
out of the country the arrogant intruders. Whatever else may be
doubtful, one thing is certain about India: “The sentiment of
antagonism toward British rule and of resentment against its
iniquitous character is both universal and profound.”
The principal grievances against English rule are its alien character
and its exploitation of the country’s wealth. Mahatma Gandhi calls it
“Satanic,” because it is founded not upon the consent of the
governed but upon the military strength of the ruler. “It is based not
on right but on might. Its last appeal is not to reason or to the heart
but to the sword.” Gandhi writes:

“I came reluctantly to the conclusion that the British connection


had made India more helpless than she ever was before,
politically and economically.... The government established by
law in British India is carried on for this exploitation of the
masses. No sophistry, no jugglery in figures can explain away
the evidence the skeletons in many villages present to the
naked eye. I have no doubt whatsoever that both England and
the town-dwellers of India will have to answer, if there is a God
above, for this crime against humanity which is perhaps
unequalled in history.”—Gandhi, Speeches, pp. 753-4.

We said just now that one of the main grievances against English
rule in India is its alien character. It may be asked: “Why should the
alien origin of a rule itself be such a strong argument against it?” “Is
it not true that England has given to India peace and efficiency in
government? That constitutes the chief function of governments
everywhere, and the rule which has successfully achieved this
purpose justifies its existence. If it is true elsewhere, it should be true
in India also.” Our questioner may be both profoundly right and
profoundly wrong. However, the acceptance or rejection of a foreign
lordship by the heart is a matter of such subtle sentiment, that the
only way to explain its meaning to the reader is to create a situation
where he shall be called upon to judge in the matter.
Let us suppose that by some trick of fortune Japan obtained mastery
over America. Let us grant, at the same time, that the Japanese rule
over America was more efficient than the American rule, and in the
light of our modern knowledge it is not beyond the limit of probability
to imagine that Japanese efficiency in government could be greater
than American efficiency. How would our reader feel about the
situation? Would he be willing to discard his own indigenous native
government for the sake of a more efficient rule under the Japanese
Mikado? What would be his reaction if he saw his own “stars and
stripes” replaced by the Imperial flag of Japan? Certainly, he would
not feel at ease about the matter. The condition of the native of India
under British authority is exactly similar in cause and consequence.
In its fundamental aspect the rule of a country by an alien power is
essentially wrong in principle. It is unnatural and hence utterly
immoral. Whether it is the Japanese in Korea, the United States of
America in the Philippine Islands, or the English in India—it is all
unnatural and immoral. There can never be any ethical, moral, or
spiritual justification of an other than native rule in a country. “The
government of a people by itself,” says John Stuart Mill, “has a
meaning and reality; but such a thing as government of one people
by another does not, and cannot exist.”
So far there have existed only two principles for the government of
any country in the world, one is the government of a country by its
chosen representatives, who are held responsible to their
constituents, and are necessarily required to rule the country in the
interests of the governed. This system was described by an
American emancipator as “government of the people, by the people,
for the people.” When we look back over the histories of the different
countries of the world, we find that, without a single exception, the
countries which have advanced in their material and cultural
possessions, during the past two hundred years, have been those
whose governments were based on the principle of “government of
the people, by the people, for the people.”
In the modern world we find that the governments of the United
States of America, England, France, and Germany are typical for
their representative characters. It goes without saying that the
progress which these nations have made during recent times would
not have been possible under any other system of government. Take
the case of any of these countries, America for example; you will find
that “America has been made great by the democratic character of
its governmental institutions. Its colossal achievements in the
mechanical arts, the high advancement in its cultural and artistic life,
the mammoth nature of its commercial and industrial progress, the
magnitude of its educational equipment, its institutions of learning
and research, and its high standard of living—all these owe their
origin to the beneficent character of the American government,”
whose foundation was laid upon the noble principles contained in the
Declaration of Independence:

“ ... That all men are created equal; That they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed; ...”

There is still another principle (or lack of principle) on which the


government of a country could be based. This occurs where the
country is governed by an alien power, which derives its authority not
from the consent of the governed, but from some outside source. As
a natural consequence of this system the rulers of such countries are
not concerned with the benefits to be derived by the ruled country. In
such cases the interests of the subject nation are completely
subordinated to those of the master country. “The commerce of the
ruling power is expanded at the expense of the ruled; the industries
of the governing country are enhanced at the cost of the extinction of
those of the governed.” “The material, cultural, and moral life of one
people is enriched at the expense of the life sources of a more
helpless and unfortunate people.” The process begins with the
impoverishing of the subject nation through a system of economic
exploitation of its wealth resources by the dominant powers. Poverty
in its turn degrades the character of the people, and the nation
becomes morally flabby. The degeneration of an impoverished and
suppressed people is assisted by the deteriorating influence of the
other policies of the foreign ruler, such as the disarming of the
subject people, the introduction in their midst of an alien system of
education so designed as to form in its higher classes a group of
miseducated “snobs” and to create in the upper sections of the
country contempt for its past history and culture.
This kind of government has existed in India for the past two
hundred years. To begin with, England carried away all the tangible
wealth of the country “in the form of indemnities, grants, and gifts
from its princes, and assessments and taxes from the people.” At the
same time the industries of the country were destroyed, and its
commercial prosperity was checked by a selfish policy of enriching
the manufacturing classes of England at the expense of those in
India. The entire population of the country was disarmed as the next
step. Thus were the natures of the people degraded, their martial
spirit was crushed, and “a race of soldiers and heroes converted into
a timid flock of quill-driving sheep.”
The introduction of an utterly alien system of education was still
another step in rooting out of the country the remnants of national
honor and pride. According to the scheme of English education in
the country, formulated by Lord Macaulay, English was made the
medium of instruction for all branches of study. English history and
English literature received preference over Indian history and Indian
literature. The text-books for schools and colleges were prepared by
English agents of the government; and from them sentiments of love
and admiration for Indian civilization and culture on one hand, and
respect for the character and behavior of its princes on the other,
were rigidly excluded. In its place the English kings, the English
people, the English religion, the English government, the English
institutions, in fact everything English was held up as ideal.
According to the history texts, whenever a battle was fought between
the English and the native princes, the former were always in the
right and the latter forever in the wrong. The English were always the
victorious, and the natives always the beaten party. Mir Jafar, the
arch-traitor of the country, was a noble and worthy prince, while Mir
Kasam, the benevolent protector of his subjects against the injustice
of the East India Company’s agents, was a hypocrite and a
debauché. The reason for the exaltation of Mir Jafar and the
execration of Mir Kasam is, however, easily understood. Mir Jafar
was the commander-in-chief of the army of Siraj-ud-Daulah, who
stood against the forces of Lord Clive on the battlefield of Plassey. At
a suggestion of bribery from Clive, Mir Jafar led the whole of his
army over to the side of the enemy, and thus secured for the English
the victory of Plassey, which was the beginning of their real power in
the country. On the other hand, Mir Kasam was continually fighting
against the encroachments of the East India Company over his own
territories and the rights of his subjects. Which of the two princes
was a real man and a worthy hero among his people, Mir Jafar or Mir
Kasam? Mir Kasam, according to every kind of moral and ethical
standard of nobility and courage; Mir Jafar, according to the corrupt
standards of British Imperialism in India.
After the Indian youths had finished their scanty education, the future
that lay before them was of a very uninviting nature. As all the high
offices in the service of the country were monopolized by the
English, the only positions left for the educated classes of Indians
were those of low-paid clerks and assistants in the government
offices. No prospect of fame, or wealth, or power opened before
them. There was no great stimulus for the pursuit of higher
knowledge. The young scholars no sooner began to know their
positions in the world than they realized the uselessness of great
attainments. Of what use was their learning if they were not to have
employment as responsible public administrators of their country and
so use their knowledge in the service of India? The extent of the
exclusion of the native inhabitants of the country from offices of
dignity and high emoluments in the government service may be
realized from the following figures. According to the figures of 1913,
out of 2,501 civil and military offices in British India carrying monthly
salaries of 800 rupees ($266.00) or more, only 242, less than ten per
cent were held by Indians; out of the 4,986 appointments carrying a
monthly salary of 500 rupees ($166.00), only 19 per cent were held
by Indians; and out of the 11,064 appointments carrying a monthly
salary of 200 rupees ($66.00) only 42 per cent were held by Indians.
Conditions have not changed much since 1913.[46]
In order to enable the American reader to realize fully the magnitude
of injustice involved in the wrong policies of the English government
in India regarding the country’s systems of education and public
employment, we shall use our previous illustration once more. Let it
be supposed that simultaneously with the consolidation of Japanese
power in America it was ordered by the Mikado that henceforth the
Japanese language should form the sole medium of instruction in the
schools and colleges throughout the United States. The American
children would be required to learn the Japanese language before
reaching school. The texts given to the youths of the country to study
and digest would be books written and published in Japan, from
which the names of such national heroes as Washington and Lincoln
were excluded, but in which the praises of Japan were sung in high
chorus. Shakespeare, Milton, Emerson, Longfellow, and Hawthorne
would be excluded from the American school curriculum, and
Japanese literature substituted in its place. The business of all

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