Deck 1: Introduction to the Book: an Overview of Issues in Criminological Theory

Question 1

______ theory assumes that all individuals have a predisposition to be greedy, selfish, and violent (i.e., individuals are born 'bad').

A)Control
B)Conflict
C)Deviance
D)Legalistic

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Across demographic catergories, the highest rates of victimization AND offending are among ______.

A)women
B)Hispanics
C)Blacks/African-Americans
D)the teen-age population

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Based on past trends, criminal activity tends to increase during the ______ season.

A)winter
B)spring
C)fall
D)summer

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Exceeding the speed limit in a school zone is a good example of a ______ act.

A)mala prohibita
B)mala in se
C)mala dominant
D)mala insane

Question 5

______ is the extent to which a theoretical model is supported by scientific research.

A)Empirical validity
B)Testability
C)Scope
D)Logical consistency

Question 6

When researchers use aggregate statistics to study crime they are doing ______ analysis.

A)consensual
B)conflict
C)macro-level
D)micro-level

Question 7

One of the main criticisms of the Uniform Crime Report is that it ______.

A)takes in too much data
B)does not examine violent crimes
C)does not get at the dark figure or crime
D)does not collect information from law enforcement agencies

Question 8

The data reported by the National Crime Victimization Survey is based on the number of crimes per 1,000 ______ per year.

A)persons
B)households
C)voters
D)law enforcement officers

Question 9

The ______ perspective assumes that individuals have free will.

A)positive school
B)classical school
C)conflict
D)control

Question 10

The ______ perspective assumes that individuals are passive subjects of determinism.

A)positive school
B)classical school
C)conflict
D)control

Question 11

The Uniform Crime Report is generated annually by the ______.

A)DEA
B)FBI
C)ATF
D)BJS

Question 12

Murder is a good example of an act that is considered ______.

A)mala prohibita
B)mala in se
C)mala dominant
D)mala insane

Question 13

According to the positive school, three factors that determine individual behavior include ______.

A)IQ, economics, and age
B)IQ, age, and peer influence
C)economics, age, and peer influence
D)economics, IQ, and peer influence

Question 14

The UCR's Part 1 offenses are also referred to as ______.

A)non-index crimes
B)non-violent crimes
C)index crimes
D)victimless crimes

Question 15

The shopping center parking lot in Some City, Texas has high levels of motor vehicle theft.This parking lot, then, would be referred to by law enforcement as a/an ______.

A)impact area
B)hot spot
C)neglected area
D)target area

Question 16

If the relationship between X and Y is causal, then X would be considered the ______ variable.

A)explanatory
B)predictor
C)demographic
D)theoretical

Question 17

______ is perhaps one of the most important characteristics used in determining how good a theory is at explaining a given phenomenon.

A)Scope
B)Parsimony
C)Testability
D)Logical consistency

Question 18

Theory is defined as ______.

A)philosophical renderings about why a phenomenon happens
B)an untested idea about why something happens
C)a legal examination of a particular event
D)concepts that are linked together by a series of statements to (help) explain why an event occurs

Question 19

If a theory explains a phenomenon in the simplest way possible, then this theory is ______.

A)testable
B)wide in scope
C)parsimonious
D)logically consistent

Question 20

According to the latest estimates, about ______ of the index offenses are not reported to police

A)10-20%
B)25-35%
C)50-60%
D)70-80%

Question 21

When an increase in employment (X) leads to a decrease in crime (Y), this is called a/an ______ association.

A)linear
B)unique
C)positive
D)negative

Question 22

Across categories of race/ethnicity, ______ are the most victimized.

A)African Americans
B)Native Americans
C)Hispanic Americans
D)Asian Americans

Question 23

______ data are primarily collected by independent academic scientists or think tank agencies.

A)The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports
B)The National Crime Victimization Survey
C)Self-report
D)Arrest

Question 24

The number of U.S.homicides increased during the 1920s and 1930s.Many criminologists and historians contribute this to ______.

A)prohibition
B)the Great Depression
C)prohibition and Word War I
D)the Great Depression and prohibition

Question 25

The three criteria that are needed to show causality are temporal ordering, covariation, and ______.

A)accounting for spuriousness
B)correlation
C)parsimony
D)scope

Question 26

______ have had the highest crime rates in the last few decades.

A)The south and the west
B)The south and the east
C)The west and the north
D)The west and the east

Question 27

In the early 1600s, those who committed crime were typically ______.

A)banished from society or shunned
B)put to death
C)made to pay restitution
D)stoned

Question 28

According to the author, the most important aspect of ______ is that it/they provide information about the social and psychological reasons people commit crime.

A)the UCR
B)the NCVS
C)Census data
D)self-report studies

Question 29

Overall, crime rates of males and of females do not differ greatly.

Question 30

According to the text, ______ would NOT be a good example of a hot spot.

A)fast food restaurants
B)tattoo parlors
C)check-cashing businesses
D)churches

Question 31

Criminology is the scientific study of crime.

Question 32

When a change in X causes a change in Y, this is referred to as spuriousness.

Question 33

Perhaps the most important way that crime and victimization tends to cluster in groups is by ______.

A)race/ethnicity
B)religion
C)age
D)region

Question 34

Lombroso's initial claim that tattoos were one way to identify born criminals violates which criteria of causality?

A)covariation
B)correlation
C)spuriousness
D)temporal ordering

Question 35

Statutory rape is an index offense.

Question 36

A good theory should be able to translate into realistic and useful practices.

Question 37

When an increase in X leads to an increase in Y, this is referred to as a/an ______.

A)negative correlation
B)positive correlation
C)upward correlation
D)absence of correlation

Question 38

The ______ perspective is considered the 'nonconflict' model.

A)deviant
B)legal
C)consensual
D)conflict

Question 39

When a person perceives that an event occured more recently than it actually did, this is referred to as ______.

A)parsimony
B)telescoping
C)scoping
D)spuriousness

Question 40

______ is the oldest and most used measure of crime rates in the United States.

A)The National Crime Victimization Survey
B)The National Incident Based Reporting System
C)The Uniform Crime Report
D)The Census Report

Question 41

Perhaps the most chronic reason for failure to report crimes can be traced to the U.S.school system.

Question 42

The NCVS uses a scientifically selected random sample of households, therefore the results data is generalizable.

Question 43

Testability refers to the extent to which a theory can be put through scientific testing.

Question 44

Think about how crime rates have increased and decreased over the last century.Identify one decade in which crime rates increased, and one decade in which crime rates decreased.How might you explain each of these trends, given the decade in which each occurred?

Question 45

The consensus paradigm asserts the law is a tool those in power use to define what is crime and what is not crime.

Question 46

Prohibition was an attempt by the government to prohibit individuals from buying firearms.

Question 47

It is possible for a behavior to be illegal but not deviant.

Question 48

Briefly explain the relationship between race and crime.

Question 49

Crime rates in the U.S.have not changed at all since the early 1900s.

Question 50

The dark figure of crime refers to the crimes that go unreported to the police.

Question 51

Prior to Prohibition, gangsters had not held much power.

Question 52

A theory is an educated guess.

Question 53

The NCVS is criticized because it does not collect data on homicide.

Question 54

Some people will not report a crime to the police because they fear retaliation.

Question 55

The NCVS provides rates of crime as "crimes per 100,000 people per year."

Question 56

According to the author, the most important way to classify theories is in terms of their assumptions.

Question 57

Provide two to three ways that the UCR and NCVS are useful to criminologists.

Question 58

Your classmate has asked you to explain what makes a good theory.What do you tell him/her? Be sure to include the characteristics of a good theory discussed in this chapter.

Question 59

The UCR has been collecting data since 1900.

Question 60

What effect has the Baby Boom generation had on crime in the last 50 years?