After Hurricane Katrina Devastated New Orleans,there Were Reports of Increased

question 49

Multiple Choice

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans,there were reports of increased criminal activity and looting.Looters broke into electronics stores and stole merchandise,and increasing numbers of violent attacks exceeded all efforts of the police to keep the rising levels of violence in check.How would a sociologist explain these phenomena?

• A)In the absence of a social context,urban residents,viewing the chaos in the streets in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,altered their behaviors to conform to the norms of a new social reality.
• B)In the absence of social structures to put limits on their behavior,the criminal members of any society view times of crisis as opportunities to mobilize large number of people to engage in criminal behaviors unimpeded.
• C)In the absence of social structures,rules are unclear,and everyone has to improvise.
• D)People always choose to act as criminals when they know police officers are not watching them.

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Definitions:

Class Consciousness

Awareness by a social class of its own interests, conditions, and the need for collective action to bring about social change.

Objective Economic

Relating to economic phenomena that can be quantitatively measured and analyzed without bias or subjective interpretation.

Capitalist Societies

Economic and social systems where trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit.

Cultural Superstructure

A concept in Marxist theory describing the cultural, ideological, and institutional structures built upon the economic base of society.