Essentials of Criminal Justice Law.docx

Essentials of Criminal Justice Law MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Using this definition, criminal law is a set of rules, codified by state authorities that express norms, goals, and values of the vast majority of society a. Conflict b. Consensus c. Interactionist d. Moral entrepreneur ANS: B 2. The statement; “The law is the instrument that enables the wealthy to maintain the position of power and to control the behavior of those who oppose their ideas” aligns with which view of crime? a. Conflict b. Consensus c. Interactionist d. Moral entrepreneur ANS: A 3. Which view of crime suggests that criminal law is structured to reflect the preferences and opinions of people who hold social power in a particular legal jurisdiction? a. Conflict b. Consensus c. Interactionist d. Moral entrepreneur ANS: C REF: p. 30 4. A Crime Index is? a. an estimate of crimes committed b. an accurate picture of the number of crimes committed c. an estimate of crime that is not reported to the police d. a measure of all crime, including crimes reported and crimes not reported to the police ANS: A REF: p 31 OBJ: 02 5. Which of the following crimes is not included on the list of Part I index crimes documented in the Uniform Crime Reports? a. Criminal homicide b. Motor vehicle theft c. Simple assault d. Arson ANS: C REF: p. 31 6. What is considered to be the most widely cited source of criminal statistics? a. National Crime Victimization Surveys b. National Indicators of Drug Abuse c. Uniform Crime Reports d. Bureau of Justice Statistics ANS: C REF: p. 31-32 6. What type of crime is not reported in Part I or Part II of the offense section of the UCR? a. Drug offenses b. Traffic violations c. Liquor law violations d. Sex offenses ANS: B REF: p. 31-32 7. Which of the following is an index crime? a. Kidnapping b. Simple assault c. Motor vehicle theft d. Forgery ANS: C REF: p. 32 8. Which of the following is one of the problems associated with the validity of the Uniform Crime Report? a. No federal crimes are reported. b. Reports are voluntary and vary in accuracy. c. If an offender commits multiple crimes, only the most serious is recorded. d. Crime rates per 50,000 people are computed. ANS: C REF: p. 31 9. The National Crime Victimization survey is prepared by what agency? a. National Institute of Health b. Bureau of Justice Statistics c. Central Intelligence Agency d. Federal Bureau of Investigation ANS: B REF: p.32 10. What data source relies on a multi-stage sample of housing units to collect information about citizen's encounters with criminals? a. National Crime Victimization Survey b. Uniform Crime Reports c. Monitoring the Future Survey d. National Incident-Based Reporting System ANS: A REF: p. 32 11. Which of the following is not a problem associated with the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)? a. Over-reporting because of victim's misrepresentations of events. b. Incomplete acts are lumped together with completed ones. c. Underreporting stemming from the embarrassment of reporting crime. d. Individuals may misrepresent the time line of events ANS: B REF: p. 32 12. The National Crime Victimization Survey asks participants to report on the frequency and characteristics of all but which one of the following crimes? a. Rape b. Murder c. Robbery d. Assault ANS: B REF: p. 32 13. Which type of data prefers the use of interviews and questionnaires for high school students? a. Official b. Victimization c. Self-report d. Observational ANS: C REF: p. 33 14. What type of study is the best measure of unreported crimes? a. Official records b. Prison data c. Self-report studies d. Victimization surveys ANS: C REF: p. 33 15. Which of the following statements about the validity of self-report data is false? a. Serious chronic offenders usually cooperate. b. Institutionalized youth are not generally represented. c. Some surveys contain an overabundance of trivial offenses. d. The "known group" can be used to assess validity. ANS: A REF: p. 33 16. Most reported crimes occur during which season? a. Summer b. Fall c. Spring d. Winter ANS: A REF: p. 34 17. In 2010, what percent of 12th graders reported using drugs in the past year? a. 38 b. 50 c. 75 d. 90 ANS: A REF: p.34 18. The greater the proportion of ____________ in the population, the higher the crime rate and the greater the number of persistent offenders. a. Young women b. Young men c. middle-aged women d. middle-aged men ANS: B REF: p. 40 19. Which regions of the country usually have significantly higher rates of crime? a. The Midwest and New England b. The West and the South c. The Midwest and the South d. New England and the West ANS: B REF: p. 37-38 20. For serious violent crimes, the male-female arrest ratio is ____ males to 1 female. a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5 ANS: C REF: p. 39 21. Which of the following groups experience violent crimes at a higher rate than other groups? a. Whites b. Latinos c. Asians d. African Americans ANS: D REF: p. 39 22. When a man is the victim of a violent crime, the perpetrator is usually described as a(n): a. wife/girlfriend b. Acquaintance c. Stranger d. Relative ANS: C REF: p.43 23. Cesare Beccaria advocated: a. Routine activities theory b. Social structure theory c. Social process theory d. Choice theory ANS: D REF: p. 45 24. Which view of criminality argues that people commit crimes if they believe it will provide immediate benefits without the threat of long-term risks? a. Psychological theory b. Social structure theory c. Social process theory d. Choice theory ANS: D REF: p.45 25. According to ____________ theory, indicators of neighborhood disorder are highly predictive of crime rates. a. Conflict b. Social structure c. Social process d. Developmental ANS: B REF: p. 48 26. Which view of crime suggests that individuals are born "good" and become "bad" as they mature? a. Social control theory b. Social structure theory c. Social learning theory d. Social reaction theory ANS: C REF: p. 49 27. __________________ maintains that everyone has the potential to become criminal. a. Social learning theory b. Social control theory c. Social reaction theory d. Social structure theory ANS: B REF: p. 50 28. ___________ theory focuses on the economic and political forces operating in a society and views these forces as the fundamental causes of criminality. a. Conflict b. Social structure c. Developmental d. Social control ANS: A REF: p. 50 29. ____________ theory recognizes that as people mature, the factors that influence their behavior change. a. Social structure b. Psychological c. Developmental d. Social process ANS: C REF: p. 50 30. In a study entitled Delinquency in a Birth Cohort, researchers found that chronic offenders a. Commit the most violent acts of all criminals b. Are deterred from further criminality if arrested during youth chronic offending c. Become adult repeat offenders d. Are more likely to continue criminality if they are female ANS: C REF: p. 41 TRUE/FALSE 1. It is estimated that there are more than 850,000 gang members in the United States. ANS: T REF: p. 35 2. As the number of guns in the population increases, so does the violent crime rate. ANS: T REF: p. 35 3. Crime rates appear to be increasing around the world as they decline in the United States. ANS: T REF: p. 38 4. Underdeveloped nations have murder rates significantly lower than the United States. ANS: F REF: p. 38 5. Research suggests that a distinct relationship exists between crime rates and urbanization. ANS: T REF: p. 40 6. The availability of legalized abortion is one factor that has recently been theorized to explain the drop in crime rates. ANS: T REF: p. 35 7. Cultural transmission is the process where people learn the techniques and attitudes of crime from relationships with criminal peers ANS: F REF: p. 49 8. Self-report studies indicate a significant rise in the number of teens using drugs. ANS: F REF: p. 33 9. African Americans account for almost 50 percent of Part I violent crime arrests. ANS: F REF: p. 31 10. When violence rates surged in the 1980’s, the increase was due almost entirely to young people. ANS: T REF: p, 40-41 OBJ: 04 COMPLETION 1. Crime, most simply, is a violation of ____________________. ANS: criminal law REF: p. 29 2. ____________________ is another name associated with the 8 index crimes from the Uniform Crime Reports. ANS: Part I crimes REF: p. 31 3. The ____________________ view of crime suggests that moral entrepreneurs define crime. ANS: Interactionist REF: p. 30 4. Murder, forcible rape, robbery, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, and ____________________ make up the FBI's Part I crimes. ANS: aggravated assault REF: p. 31 5. Criticisms of UCR data include ______________ of the victims and law enforcement ANS: reporting practices REF: p. 31 6. The ____________________ is one who has serious and persistent brushes with the law and whose behavior may be excessively violent and destructive. ANS: chronic/career offender/criminal REF: p. 41 7. ____________________ question large groups of high school students about their participation in criminal or delinquent acts. ANS: Self-report survey REF: p. 31 8. The _____________________ states that as the poverty of minorities in the population increases, so too does the amount of social control that the public directs at those minority group members ANS: Racial threat hypothesis REF: p. 40 OBJ: 07 9. Modern ____________________ theories of crime believe that elements of the environment interact with biological factors to control and influence behavior. ANS: biosocial REF:p. 45 10. According to ____________________ theory, disruptions in life's major transitions can be destructive and ultimately can promote criminality. ANS: developmental REF: p. 50 ESSAY 1. Explain the three significant methods used to measure the nature and extent of crime. Address the advantages and disadvantages of each method. ANS: The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is the best known and most widely cited source of aggregate criminal statistics. It tallies and annually publishes a number of reported offenses by city, county, standard metropolitan statistical area, and geographical divisions of the U.S. It also shows numbers and characteristics of individuals arrested for Part I and non-index Part II crimes, except traffic violations. It is not an accurate measure of crime on its own as it uses the hierarchy rule where it takes the most serious offense of every group of crime reported. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) asks crime victims about their encounters with criminals. It is the most important and widely used victim survey however validity issues include over-reporting, underreporting, inability to record personal criminal activity of those interviewed, sampling errors, and inadequate question format. Self-report surveys allow participants to reveal information about their violations and have focused mostly on juvenile delinquency and youth crime. Critics suggest that it is unreasonable to expect people to candidly admit illegal acts, that some people forget, exaggerate, or are confused about illegal acts, and that serious chronic offenders are unlikely to participate or be truthful. REF: p. 31 2. Elaborate the three views on defining crime. Discuss how and why some behaviors become illegal and are considered crimes while others remain non-criminal. ANS: There are three main views in defining crime. The Consensus view rests on the assumption that criminal law has social control function and crimes are those that are essentially harmful to a majority of citizens and are prohibited by the existing criminal law. The Conflict view states that crime is the outcome of class struggle between the rich and poor, have and have-nots resulting in the criminal justice system becoming an instrument of social and economic repression. Finally, The Interactionist view of criminal law is structured to reflect preferences and opinions of people who hold social power in a particular legal jurisdiction where campaigns are constructed to control behaviors that some view as immoral and wrong. REF: p. 29-30 3. Compare the trends in violent crime between the United States and one other country. ANS: It has been a long held belief that the United States was fatally crime prone and American culture, love of guns and frontier mentality was responsible for skyrocketing crime rates. The International Crime Victims Survey is now conducted in 60 countries and has found that several countries including Ireland, England and Wales, New Zealand and Iceland have high rates of victimization similar to the U.S. One country that has more reported robberies than the U.S. is England and Wales. High violence rates can be linked to drug trafficking, gang feuds, vigilantism, and disputes over tribal matters REF: p. 31 4. Describe the social, economic, personal, and demographic factors suggested by experts to account for the recent crime drop in the United States. ANS: There has been a distinct downward trend in the level of crime and victimization during the past decade. The drops are most pronounced in property crimes and burglary. One reason that may explain that decrease is that people are taking precautions to prevent crime. Improved security may also be one of the reasons behind the drop. Alternatively, there are many nations that are experiencing social and economic upheaval and have much higher crime rates than the United States. REF: p. 35 5. Summarize what self-report trends reveal about crime. ANS: Trends in self-reporting show that the use of most drugs has been in decline with the exception of marijuana and for the first time since the 1990’s ecstasy use seems to be on the rise. The crimes of theft, violence, and damage-related crimes are relatively stable. And there has been no visible reduction in self-reported criminality REF: p. 31 6. Discuss the intersection of race, class, gender, and crime victimization. ANS: Official crime data indicates minority group members are involved in a disproportionate share of criminal activity. Coupled with UCR arrest data that consistently show that males have much higher crime rate and commit more serious crimes than females. Crime rates are also highest crime rates highest in deprived, inner-city areas and that level of poverty and social disorganization in an area can predict its crime rate. REF: p. 39 7. Explain violent crime using one of the theories elaborated in the text. Discuss why this theoretical explanation is the most useful for understanding violent crime. ANS: Using rational choice theory that attempts to explain crime as a matter of rational decision making and personal choice. One can see that violent crime can be committed by anyone at anytime as long as they have the motivation to carry out their criminality. They may make a calculated decision by weighing the benefits and consequences of their actions. REF: p. 45 8. Compare and contrast social structure theory and social process theory. ANS: Social Structure Theory attempts to explain crime using the premise “ because they are poor”. It suggests there is an economic bias in the crime rate and the burden of urban poverty results in the development of a culture of poverty. Social process theory on the other hand attempts to explain crime as becoming socialized to the committing it. It states that people commit crime as a result of experiences they have while being socialized by various organizations, institutions, and processes of society. It also links family problems to crime as evidence that socialization, not social structure, is the key to understanding the onset of crime. REF: p. 48 9. Discuss the Delinquency in a Birth Cohort study and how its findings have shaped justice policy. ANS: The researchers in this study used official records to follow the criminal careers of almost 10,000 boys born in Philadelphia in 1945 until they reached age 18. They found; About 2/3 of the cohort never had contact with police authorities About 1/3 had at least one contact with police during their minority Of the repeat offenders, a relatively small subgroup were arrested five times or more. These were chronic offenders who made up 6% of the total The chronic offenders were responsible for 5,305 arrests or 51.9% of them. They committed 71 percent of the homicides, 73 percent of the rapes, 82% of the robberies, and 69% of aggravated assaults. The chronic offender concept has had a great impact on the criminal justice system. If a small number of offenders commit almost all serious crime than it would have an appreciable influence on the crime rate. This thought pattern has been responsible for the get-tough laws designed to put habitual offenders behind bars for long periods of time. REF: p. 41 10. Outline the tenets and significance of developmental theory for explaining crime. ANS: The developmental theory of crime attempts to explain criminality based on the premise that “life is a bumpy road”. The theory states that because transition from one stage of life to another can be a bumpy ride, propensity to commit crimes is neither stable nor constant; it is a developmental process. Additionally, disruptions in life’s major transitions can be destructive and can promote criminality