Sociology: society, family, culture and social problems

40 Kerala PSC Staff Nurse Gr II practice questions on Sociology: society, family, culture and social problems, part of Behavioural Sciences. The first 25 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

1. Question 1 · Hard

   A 45-year-old man cannot stop once he starts drinking, makes excuses for his drinking, feels remorse, and tries short periods of total abstinence. He still holds his job. Which Jellinek phase is he in?

   1. AProdromal phase
   2. BCrucial phase
   3. CPre-alcoholic phase
   4. DChronic phase

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   Answer: B · Crucial phase

   Loss of control after the first drink is the hallmark of Jellinek's crucial phase. Rationalisation, remorse, attempts at abstinence and family conflict also belong to this phase, while the person may still be working. The prodromal phase is marked by blackouts and secret drinking without loss of control. The chronic phase brings prolonged binges, tremors, ethical deterioration and collapse of excuses.

   • A: The prodromal phase has blackouts and secret drinking, but control is still kept.
   • C: The pre-alcoholic phase is only relief drinking, with no loss of control.
   • D: The chronic phase shows long binges, tremors and deterioration, which he does not yet have.

2. Question 2 · Medium

   The son of a daily-wage labourer becomes a doctor. Which type of social mobility is this?

   1. AHorizontal intergenerational mobility
   2. BHorizontal intragenerational mobility
   3. CUpward intergenerational mobility
   4. DDownward intergenerational mobility

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   Answer: C · Upward intergenerational mobility

   Social mobility is movement of a person or group between positions in the social hierarchy. Vertical mobility changes rank, upward or downward, while horizontal mobility changes position at the same level. Intergenerational mobility compares a child's position with the parents'. Here the son rises above his father's class, so it is upward intergenerational mobility, made possible by education.

   • A: A change from labourer to doctor is a change in rank, so it is not horizontal.
   • B: Horizontal mobility keeps the same rank; a labourer's son becoming a doctor is a rise in rank.
   • D: The son has moved up, not down, compared with his father.

3. Question 3 · Easy

   The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in:

   1. A1961
   2. B1956
   3. C1955
   4. D1971

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   Answer: A · 1961

   The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 makes giving, taking or demanding dowry an offence. Later criminal law added offences of cruelty by a husband or his relatives and of dowry death. Despite the law, dowry still causes harassment, suicide and violence against women. A nurse who sees injuries suggesting dowry abuse should record them and inform the authorities.

   • B: 1956 is the year of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Hindu Succession Act.
   • C: 1955 is the year of the Hindu Marriage Act.
   • D: 1971 is the year of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

4. Question 4 · Easy

   Which self-help fellowship helps people recover from alcohol dependence through a twelve-step programme?

   1. AAl-Anon Family Groups
   2. BAlateen groups
   3. CNarcotics Anonymous
   4. DAlcoholics Anonymous

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   Answer: D · Alcoholics Anonymous

   Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide fellowship of recovering drinkers who meet to share experience and follow twelve steps toward sobriety. Membership is free and the only requirement is a wish to stop drinking. Al-Anon and Alateen support the spouse, family and teenage children of drinkers. Nurses in de-addiction centres refer patients to AA groups for long-term relapse prevention.

   • A: Al-Anon supports the families and friends of drinkers, not the drinker.
   • B: Alateen is for teenage children of alcoholics.
   • C: Narcotics Anonymous is for people dependent on other drugs.

5. Question 5 · Medium

   Socialisation in a total institution such as a prison or the army, which strips a person's old identity, is called:

   1. APrimary socialisation
   2. BAnticipatory socialisation
   3. CDevelopmental socialisation
   4. DResocialisation

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   Answer: D · Resocialisation

   Resocialisation is the deliberate replacement of old values and behaviour with new ones. Erving Goffman showed how total institutions do this by removing personal belongings, routines and privacy. Long-stay psychiatric patients can lose social skills in the same way, which is why rehabilitation keeps them involved in normal community activities. Anticipatory socialisation, by contrast, prepares a person for a future role.

   • A: Primary socialisation happens in early childhood within the family.
   • B: Anticipatory socialisation is learning a role before taking it up, as a student does.
   • C: Developmental socialisation builds on earlier learning, without stripping identity.

6. Question 6 · Medium

   In Ogburn's concept of cultural lag, the 'lag' means that:

   1. AA migrant slowly loses the culture of the home country
   2. BNon-material culture changes slower than material culture
   3. CA minority group adopts the culture of the dominant group
   4. DA person judges other cultures by the standards of his own

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7. Question 7 · Easy

   The term 'Sanskritisation' was introduced by the Indian sociologist:

   1. AG. S. Ghurye
   2. BM. N. Srinivas
   3. CIrawati Karve
   4. DD. P. Mukerji

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8. Question 8 · Easy

   The traditional matrilineal system of inheritance among the Nairs of Kerala was called:

   1. AThalikettu
   2. BMakkathayam
   3. CSambandham
   4. DMarumakkathayam

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9. Question 9 · Hard

   A 17-year-old is accused of a heinous offence. After a preliminary assessment of his mental capacity, the Juvenile Justice Board decides he should be tried as an adult. Where does the case then go?

   1. AFamily Court
   2. BChildren's Court
   3. CObservation home
   4. DChild Welfare Committee

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10. Question 10 · Easy

    Which is an element of non-material culture?

    1. AHospital buildings
    2. BClothing
    3. CReligious beliefs
    4. DCooking utensils

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11. Question 11 · Easy

    What type of family consists of a husband, wife and their unmarried children?

    1. ABlended family
    2. BExtended family
    3. CNuclear family
    4. DJoint family

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12. Question 12 · Easy

    Customs whose breach brings strong moral condemnation, such as the ban on incest, are called:

    1. AFashions
    2. BFolkways
    3. CMores
    4. DFads

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13. Question 13 · Easy

    Which is the primary agency of socialisation in early childhood?

    1. APeer group
    2. BSchool
    3. CFamily
    4. DMass media

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14. Question 14 · Medium

    Which feature distinguishes social class from caste?

    1. AClass is open and membership can be achieved
    2. BClass membership is fixed by birth for life
    3. CClass has fixed hereditary occupations
    4. DClass strictly forbids marriage outside it

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15. Question 15 · Medium

    A nurse feels a tribal patient's food habits are 'backward' simply because they differ from her own. This attitude is:

    1. AEthnocentrism
    2. BAcculturation
    3. CCultural relativism
    4. DAssimilation

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16. Question 16 · Easy

    Which rule requires a person to marry outside his or her own gotra or clan?

    1. AHypogamy
    2. BHypergamy
    3. CEndogamy
    4. DExogamy

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17. Question 17 · Medium

    Which is an agency of formal social control?

    1. AReligion
    2. BPublic opinion
    3. CPolice and courts
    4. DFolkways

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18. Question 18 · Hard

    In a village, a lower caste gives up meat and alcohol, adopts vegetarianism, and copies the rituals of the dominant upper caste to raise its standing. What is this process called?

    1. ASanskritisation
    2. BWesternisation
    3. CSecularisation
    4. DModernisation

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19. Question 19 · Hard

    A staff nurse with a sick child at home is asked to stay for a double night shift. The pressure between her duties as a mother and as a nurse is best described by which term?

    1. ARole conflict
    2. BRole reversal
    3. CRole strain
    4. DRole set

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20. Question 20 · Medium

    Which feature typically marks an urban community, compared with a rural one?

    1. AHomogeneity and face-to-face relations
    2. BStrong control by custom and neighbours
    3. CAgriculture as the main occupation
    4. DHeterogeneity and secondary relations

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21. Question 21 · Easy

    Who is regarded as the father of sociology?

    1. AMax Weber
    2. BAuguste Comte
    3. CEmile Durkheim
    4. DHerbert Spencer

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22. Question 22 · Easy

    Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, a child is a person who has not completed:

    1. A14 years
    2. B18 years
    3. C16 years
    4. D21 years

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23. Question 23 · Easy

    What is a small group with close, face-to-face and lasting relations, such as the family, called?

    1. AOut-group
    2. BSecondary group
    3. CPrimary group
    4. DReference group

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24. Question 24 · Medium

    A 15-year-old boy is caught stealing a mobile phone. Under the JJ Act, 2015 he is produced before the:

    1. AChild Welfare Committee
    2. BLok Adalat
    3. CJuvenile Justice Board
    4. DSessions Court

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25. Question 25 · Easy

    Under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, the minimum legal age of marriage for a woman is:

    1. A21 years
    2. B18 years
    3. C16 years
    4. D19 years

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