Deck 1: Crime and Policy: a Complex Problem

Question 1

There have been no signs of reversal of the imprisonment boom.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

While crime rates are down, most criminologists feel that this is a statistical artifact rather than a genuine decline.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Explaining the crime drop might involve broad changes in behavior that are beyond the reach of social science to explain.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Explanations for the recent crime drop

A) have not yet been considered due to the newness of the trend
B) are complex and difficult to assign to one factor
C) suggest that the addition of many new police officers and zero tolerance policies have been more influential than tough new sentencing laws and increased incarceration
D) pinpoint one single factor that the majority of criminologists agree on

Question 5

America's crime problem is primarily a drug problem.

Question 6

A comprehensive social ledger on imprisonment would take into account the combined effect of adverse impacts on the "collective efficacy" of neighborhoods.

Question 7

The public health arena has few similarities with the field of crime control.

Question 8

Traditionally, crime policy has not demanded high quality research evidence of effectiveness for its implementation or continuation.

Question 9

Select the most accurate statement

A) contextual factors such as a shifting proportion of crime-prone young people in the population and the economic downturn have not likely impacted the crime rate
B) contextual factors include changes in corrections that have reduced crime while policy factors include changes in policing that have reduced crime
C) the interplay of contextual factors and criminal justice policies best explains the great crime drop
D) distinguishing between contextual and policy factors that affect the crime rate is a fruitless effort since these factors are arguably a false dichotomy

Question 10

While ineffective crime policies may be expensive, they cannot actually cause harm.

Question 11

While drug decriminalization has traditionally been a liberal proposal, a surprising number of prominent conservatives endorse drug legalization.

Question 12

America has two crime problems: one problem affects the poor minority inner-city population while the other affects the poor rural white population.

Question 13

According to findings of the Sentencing Project, the public believes the justice system is far more lenient than it really is.

Question 14

Regarding crime in America, select the most accurate statement

A) property crime is down, but violent crime has been rising steadily since the 1970s
B) both property and violent crime have been increasing steadily for two decades
C) both property and violent crime are at their lowest levels since 1993
D) no discernible trends can be determined using crime data from the last 10 years

Question 15

Evidence-based policy originated in

A) educational policies
B) health care policies
C) the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act
D) Canada's economic policies

Question 16

The following evidence indicates that the crime drop is genuine

A) reliable NCVS data shows similar trends to UCR reports
B) we have seen crime drop for two years in a row
C) crime is down in every city in the nation
D) statistics don't lie

Question 17

Both liberals and conservatives acknowledge the influence of the family on the likelihood that an individual will or will not commit crime.

Question 18

The increasing crime rate in the U.S.

A) began in the early 1960s
B) contributed to crime being a major issue in American politics
C) has instilled fear that ripped our social fabric as people moved out of their communities
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 19

One of the consequences of criminal justice practitioners' traditional reliance on good intentions rather than solid evidence in criminal justice policymaking has been

A) a misinterpretation of crime data as showing a 10-12 year decline
B) an overemphasis on contextual factors as indicators of success
C) inexpensive and effective policies such as Scared Straight
D) the continuation of expensive but ineffective policies such as DARE

Question 20

The war on crime raises expectations of a victory and an end to the problem rather than the goal of decreasing crime to a tolerable level.

Question 21

Select from the following list the item that is NOT a requirement of evidence-based policy

A) intentions and instinct
B) empirical evidence of effectiveness
C) high quality research designs
D) replication of findings

Question 22

The Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study and Scared Straight are examples of

A) the first evidence-based crime policies in the U.S.
B) well-intentioned treatment that can cause harm in the absence of research evidence on effectiveness
C) punitive responses to crime stemming from increased crime rates of the 1960s
D) the interplay between contextual and policy factors in policy making

Question 23

Walker argues that the first obstacle to developing sensible and effective crime policies is

A) that they do not employ evidence-based standards
B) that people do not understand the nature of the crime problem or how the justice system works
C) the drastic underfunding of crime policies
D) that they are based on the idea that "one size fits all"

Question 24

A "social ledger" for incarceration would include

A) a list of the races and religions of all people who have been incarcerated
B) the impact on people who are stopped and frisked illegally
C) a discussion of liberal vs.conservative ideology
D) an explanation of the way in which criminal justice policy unfairly harms minorities

Question 25

This book will focus primarily on the crimes of

A) murder and other violent crimes
B) drug possession and use
C) robbery and burglary
D) juvenile delinquency

Question 26

The most important force contributing to the imprisonment boom has been

A) the implicit racism of the justice system
B) the recent trend of directing crime policy efforts toward white-collar rather than street crime
C) a popular belief that the justice system has been and still is soft on crime
D) the lack of funding for representation of the accused in court

Question 27

According to Walker, which of the following would be considered the most sensible crime policy goal?

A) a series of different policies that produces a modest crime reduction
B) a moderately expensive policy that reduces crime by 15% in 5 years
C) a simple policy that produces quick and dramatic changes
D) Walker argues that a sensible crime policy goal is impossible to define

Question 28

The state of the economy, as reflected in the unemployment rate, has _________ on criminal behavior.

A) negligible effects
B) direct implications
C) uneven results, depending on race,
D) statistically proven effects

Question 29

A systematic review of all available research studies on a particular topic is known as

A) evidence-based policy
B) replication
C) meta-analyses
D) contextual analyses

Question 30

Regarding prevention and punishment

A) while prevention is appealing, our efforts should focus on punishment since the war on crime cannot be won
B) soft drug treatment programs are unable to prevent crime as effectively as tough sentencing policies such as the three-strikes law
C) prevention was a fad crime policy, and we need to stick with a healthy diet of punishment
D) this is arguably a false dichotomy since all crime policies are designed to prevent crime

Question 31

Research on drug use and drug convictions shows that

A) minorities are far more likely to use drugs and to be convicted for that use
B) racial patterns in drug use correlate closely with racial patterns in drug convictions
C) drug convictions in the U.S.correspond with racial patterns of drug use at a state level, but not at the federal level
D) racial patterns in arrest are not consistent with evidence on drug use

Question 32

Which of the following justifications were provided for the claim that war is the wrong metaphor for crime?

A) it raises unrealistic expectations for eliminating crime
B) it suggests we are fighting a foreign enemy
C) it leads to the demonization of criminals
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 33

A 2013 article in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that we can learn much from the successes in other areas when we try to deal with gun violence.One important lesson is that

A) community efforts are more effective than policy changes
B) a sweeping policy change is needed to make inroads in solving a problem
C) it takes a village to help individuals
D) several approaches reinforce each other to achieve a significant result

Question 34

The imprisonment boom in America can be partially attributed to

A) the wars of drugs and crime
B) determinate sentencing laws, such as truth in sentencing and mandatory sentences
C) restrictions on good time that limit early release
D) all of the above

Question 35

When Walker talks about America's two crime problems, he is referring to

A) crimes known to police and unreported and undetected crime
B) property crime and violent crime
C) those affecting poor minorities and white middle class
D) street crime and white-collar corporate offenses

Question 36

The wars on crime and drugs has disproportionally affected

A) younger Latino female population
B) older White middle class
C) young African American males
D) lower class Whites

Question 37

The crime problem within the United States in comparison to other countries is one of

A) property crimes
B) sexual assaults
C) lethal violence
D) drug use

Question 38

During the past 40 years, incarceration rates have

A) decreased in urban areas and increased in rural areas
B) increased in urban areas and decreased in rural areas
C) remained steady overall
D) increased exponentially

Question 39

One criticism of Michelle Alexander's ideas about crime policy and race is that

A) she gives too much credence to the gains of the civil rights movement
B) she embraces the conservative view while ignoring the liberal view
C) she unfairly blames minorities for their part in creating mass incarceration
D) she confuses the results of the war on crime with the intent of the great change in U.S.imprisonment policy

Question 40

One of the consequences of our wars on crime and drugs has been

A) a reduction in the racial polarization of the U.S.
B) the U.S.maintaining the highest incarceration rate in the world
C) a massive reduction in the number of emergency room admissions reporting mention of cocaine use
D) reduced fear of crime

Question 41

Extravagant promises about crime reduction have been made by

A) community and religious programs
B) both liberals and conservatives
C) liberal presidents but not conservative presidents
D) conservative presidents but not liberal presidents

Question 42

Crime-control theology conflicts most directly with which of the following?

A) community-focused programs
B) the prevention-punishment dichotomy
C) evidence-based practices
D) substantive criminal law

Question 43

In terms of the theoretical causes of crime which statement most accurately reflects liberal and conservative theology?

A) conservatives believe poverty causes crime while liberals believe crime causes poverty
B) liberals focus on the moral causes while conservatives focus on practical causes
C) liberals believe criminals are made while conservatives believe criminals are born
D) conservatives believe in rational choice and low self-control; whereas, liberals believe in peer influence and economic opportunity

Question 44

Liberals and conservatives generally disagree on their preference for crime-control measures.Which of the following statements most accurately summarizes their respective preferences?

A) liberals prefer shaming while conservatives prefer reintegration
B) conservatives prefer retribution and deterrence while liberals prefer rehabilitation
C) liberals prefer general deterrence while conservatives prefer specific deterrence
D) conservatives prefer prevention while liberals prefer punishment

Question 45

Both liberal and conservative theology is flawed.Which of the following flaws were noted in the chapter?

A) conservatives feel too many loopholes allow criminals to beat the system
B) liberals feel too many loopholes allow criminals to beat the system
C) liberals are guilty of blaming everything on overly soft punishments
D) conservatives are guilty of blaming everything on overly harsh punishments

Question 46

In his discussion of conservative and liberal theology, Walker notes that

A) liberals embrace the crime-control model while conservatives prefer the due process model
B) conservatives blame problems on harsh punishment and call for rehabilitation
C) liberals call for punishment similar to parental discipline, even though the real world of the CJS does not work like a family
D) conservatives believe criminals have low self-control, while liberals believe social factors such as economic opportunities influence behavior

Question 47

Examples of conservatives and liberals switching sides include all but which issue?

A) legalization of drugs
B) offender reentry
C) increased law enforcement presence
D) decreased prison sentences