Deck 8: Violent Offending Psychology of Criminal Behaviour

Question 1

A recent meta-analysis summarizing the accuracy of various risk-assessment instruments found that in predicting recidivism:

A)unstructured clinical judgment was found to be the most accurate
B)the SAQ and the VRAG were among the best predictors of violent recidivism
C)the PCL-R was the best predictor
D)both clinical judgment and the instruments were equally accurate

Answer 1

the SAQ and the VRAG were among the best predictors of violent recidivism

Question 2

Common characteristics associated with higher rates of violent victimization are:

A)being older,being married,being Caucasian,and living in rural areas.
B)being young,being married,being Black,and living in suburban areas
C)being older,being single,being Aboriginal and living in suburban areas.
D)being young,being single,being Aboriginal,and living in cities.

Answer 2

being young,being single,being Aboriginal,and living in cities.

Question 3

Social learning theory holds that aggression is:

A)innate
B)evolutionarily based
C)learned
D)goal directed

Answer 3

learned

Question 4

Compared to general criminal recidivism,violent recidivism is:

A)less frequent,except in a few identifiable subgroups
B)more frequent,except in a few identifiable subgroups
C)about the same
D)far more frequent,especially in a few identifiable subgroups

Question 5

Crime motivated by hostility towards a victim's race,ethnicity,language,religion,sexual orientation,etc.is referred to as:

A)a violent crime
B)a hate crime
C)terrorism
D)a social status crime

Question 6

When examining "competitively disadvantaged" men and psychopaths the following is true:

A)they are both a more common type of offender than the "young men" category of offenders with low status
B)competitively disadvantaged offenders use more prosocial methods
C)they are both competitively disadvantaged but in different ways
D)they are both "life-course persistent" but the psychopath selects short-term,high-risk strategies as an alternative

Question 7

All acts of terrorism involve violence against a person.

Question 8

Which of the following risk assessment instruments is used to estimate risk for acts of violent terrorism?

A)VRAG-R
B)HCR-20
C)SAQ
D)VERA

Question 9

Approximately how many victims of violence suffer physical injury?

A)1 in 10
B)1 in 7
C)1 in 5
D)1 in 2

Question 10

Violent crime overall has increased in Canada over the last few decades.

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) offered by Correctional Service Canada?

A)A program for violent offenders designed to enhance program efficiencies,program effectiveness,and public safety results
B)A risk assessment instrument designed to estimate risk for violent terrorist acts in female offenders
C)A program for sexual offenders designed to identify criminogenic needs,targeted victims,and areas where treatment would decrease recidivism
D)A therapy for Aboriginal offenders that incorporates culture-specific programming

Question 12

The main idea behind the social learning theory of aggression is that it is more likely to occur when it is expected to be more rewarding than non-aggressive alternatives.

Question 13

The main difference between hostile and instrumental aggression is the concept of premeditation.

Question 14

Research conducted on the effectiveness of treatment programs for violent offenders has found that treatment is

A)equally effective at decreasing violent recidivism as jail time
B)less effective at decreasing violent recidivism than jail time
C)more effective at decreasing violent recidivism than jail time,regardless of whether it incorporates principles of risk,needs,and responsivity
D)more effective at decreasing violent recidivism than jail time,especially if it incorporates principles of risk,needs,and responsivity

Question 15

Violence that is premeditated and aimed at achieving some secondary goal is the definition of:

A)instrumental violence
B)hostile violence
C)secondary violence
D)purposeful violence

Question 16

The two items in the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide - Revised (VRAG-R) that have the highest correlations with violent recidivism are:

A)never marrying and having alcohol/drug problems
B)never marrying and antisociality (from the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised)
C)alcohol/drug problems and separation from biological parents by age 16
D)antisociality (from the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised) and prior admissions to correctional institutions

Question 17

The "unstructured clinical judgment" approach to risk assessment involves:

A)using empirical or mechanical instruments following explicit rules about what factors to consider and how to combine those factors
B)arriving at an estimate of risk based on the assessor's own idiosyncratic decisions about what factors to consider and how to combine those factors
C)using tables linking scores to expected recidivism rates
D)using a selection of factors derived from empirical literature on recidivism

Question 18

On the HCR-20 Violence Risk Assessment Scheme,items such as lack of insight,negative attitudes,active symptoms of mental illness and impulsivity fall into what group of items?

A)historical items
B)risk management items
C)clinical items
D)disorder items

Question 19

An impulsive reaction to some real or perceived provocation or threat is called instrumental violence.

Question 20

All of the following are approaches that can be used in research on what causes violence except:

A)description of a case or sample
B)hypothetical case analysis
C)single-wave longitudinal observational/correlational or quasi-experiment
D)randomized experiment

Question 21

Effect sizes for violent recidivism are highest for treatments where offenders are assigned homework and engage in role playing.

Question 22

Explain violent recidivism rates in Canada.

Question 23

All violence risk assessments are roughly equal in how accurately they predict violence recidivism.

Question 24

In their theory on general antisocial behaviour,what do Quinsey,Skilling,Lalumière,and Craig (2004) propose about evolutionary theory and different types of violent offenders?

Question 25

Describe the offence characteristics of violence in Canada.

Question 26

Outline the four types of homicide identified in the Canadian Criminal Code.

Question 27

Explain the four key approaches to assessing risk of recidivism for violent offenders.

Question 28

Researchers of violent offending can often draw stronger conclusions when they all use different methodological approaches and consider the evidence from all of these studies together.

Question 29

Overall,sanctions (prison) are more effective than treatment in reducing violent recidivism.

Question 30

Psychopaths are thought to make up a relatively large proportion of violent individuals.

Question 31

Describe a risk assessment tool used to estimate risk for violent terrorist attacks.

Question 32

Discuss the challenges to concluding,based on current research,that treatments for violent offenders are successful at decreasing recidivism.

Question 33

Identify and briefly describe the three violence risk assessment tools outlined in the text.

Question 34

Define "multiple murder" and describe the different types,including real life examples of each from Canada where possible.

Question 35

Outline how the Social Learning theory and General Aggression Model (GAM) differ in explaining the development of violence and aggression.

Question 36

The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) employs an unstructured clinical judgment approach to risk assessment.