AQA GCSE Sociology (8192): The Social Construction of Crime and Deviance – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Crime and deviance revision notes

These questions cover AQA GCSE Sociology (8192) section 3.5.1, The social construction of crime and deviance: how crime and deviance are defined by society; anomie, labelling, structural, subcultural and interactionist explanations; the key ideas of Merton and Becker; and functionalist, interactionist, feminist and Marxist perspectives. Tariffs of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 follow the style of Paper 2.

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Questions

1. Which term did Merton use to describe a situation in which the usual rules are abandoned in the pursuit of success?

A. Status frustration B. Anomie C. Master status D. Deviant career

[1]

2. In Becker’s theory, what is a master status?

A. The highest social class position B. An identity that overrides all others in how a person is seen C. A status gained through educational qualifications D. A role in a delinquent subculture

[1]

3. Describe what sociologists mean when they say crime and deviance are socially constructed. [3]

4. Identify and explain one of Merton’s adaptations to the strain between goals and means, other than conformity. [4]

5. Identify two agents of social control that, according to Becker, have the power to make a label stick. [2]

6. Item B (invented for practice)

A sociologist spent six months as a volunteer youth worker in a town, observing how police and shopkeepers responded to groups of teenagers. She found that young people from one estate were regularly moved on and searched, while others behaving similarly elsewhere were ignored. Several young people from the estate told her, “If they think we’re trouble, we might as well be.”

• (a) From Item B, examine one strength of the research. [2]
• (b) Identify and explain how Item B supports Becker’s labelling theory. [4]

7. Identify and explain one criticism of Merton’s theory. [4]

8. Discuss how far sociologists would agree that deviance is created by the reactions of others. [12]

9. Discuss how far sociologists would agree that crime is mainly caused by the structure of society. [12]

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Answers and mark guidance

1. [1] B.

2. [1] B.

3. [3] Crime and deviance are not fixed qualities of acts (1); what counts as criminal or deviant is defined by members of society and those with power (1), and varies between societies, over time and between situations — for example acts accepted in one culture may be illegal in another, or behaviour once legal may later be criminalised (1).

4. [4] 1 for identifying, up to 3 for explanation. For example innovation (1): people accept the cultural goal of material success (1) but lack legitimate means such as qualifications (1), so they turn to illegitimate means such as theft or fraud; Merton saw this as most likely among lower classes (1). Accept ritualism, retreatism or rebellion explained correctly.

5. [2] Any two: police, courts, teachers, social workers, probation officers. 1 mark each.

6(a). [2] One strength examined: six months of participant observation (as a volunteer) gives in-depth, valid data about everyday interaction (1), revealing how labels are applied in practice, which a questionnaire would miss (1). Or: young people’s own words show the meanings they give to their behaviour.

6(b). [4] Identify (1): the item shows police and shopkeepers labelling teenagers from one estate. Explain (up to 3): the reaction depends on who commits the act and where, not the act itself — as Becker argued (1); agents of control (police) make the label stick through searches (1); the quotation “we might as well be” shows a self-fulfilling prophecy, the start of a deviant career (1).

7. [4] 1 for identifying, up to 3 for explanation. For example: Merton ignores power (1) — he does not ask who makes the laws and who benefits from them (1), which Marxists argue is central (1); laws may protect the property of the ruling class (1). Or: assumes value consensus; is deterministic — does not explain why only some people experiencing anomie turn to crime; exaggerates working-class crime and underestimates white-collar crime.

8. [12] Level guidance: 10–12 detailed, developed, a range of perspectives, supported conclusion; 7–9 sound with some evaluation; 4–6 limited or one-sided; 1–3 basic.

Agree (interactionist):

• Becker (1963): an act becomes deviant when others label it so; labels depend on who, when, where and who observes.
• Agents of control have the power to make labels stick; master status; self-fulfilling prophecy; deviant career.
• Selective policing may explain why some groups appear more often in statistics.

Disagree:

• Functionalists: Merton (1938) — strain between goals and means causes deviance before any reaction; Albert Cohen — status frustration and subcultures.
• Marxists: deviance is caused by capitalism’s inequality and greed, and laws reflect ruling-class interests.
• Feminists: gender patterns in crime are explained by patriarchal control (Heidensohn), not just labels.
• Labelling does not explain why the first act happens and can ignore real victims.

Conclusion: reactions shape deviant identities and statistics, but other causes explain the original behaviour.

9. [12] Same level guidance.

Agree (structural):

• Merton: the structure of society — unequal access to legitimate means — produces anomie and crime.
• Albert Cohen: working-class position and educational failure produce status frustration.
• Marxists: capitalist structure creates inequality and defines crime in ruling-class interests.
• Feminists: patriarchal structure controls women and shapes gendered patterns of crime.

Disagree:

• Interactionists (Becker): crime results from labelling in interaction, not just structure.
• Not everyone in the same structural position commits crime, so individual choices and meanings matter.
• Carlen (1988): women in her study made rational choices when the rewards of conformity failed.

Conclusion: structure helps explain patterns, but interaction and choice explain individual cases.

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Frequently asked questions

Which key sociologists does 3.5.1 name? Merton (functionalist) and Becker (interactionist).

How do I evaluate in 12-mark answers? Compare at least two perspectives, use the key sociologists’ ideas and criticisms, and finish with a judgement on “how far”.

What counts as a strength of the research in Item B? Any methodological strength linked to the item, such as validity from long-term observation.

Related pages: AQA GCSE crime and deviance study guide | crime and stratification practice questions