Deck 11: Environmental Criminology

Question 1

According to Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory, who among the following is least likely to be a crime victim?

A) A single male who works at night.
B) An adolescent who hangs out with his peers.
C) A college student who likes to party.
D) Someone who is married and has children.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory, which of the following is least likely to be stolen?

A) A refrigerator.
B) An automobile.
C) A portable flat-screen television.
D) A portable game system (Xbox, Wii).

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory, why have women become more victimized by crime in the past few decades?

A) Although routines of women have not changed, there are simply more motivated offenders in society these days.
B) Patriarchy in society has increased and thus men are more likely to think that they can use violence against women.
C) Because women are under more strain these days, they are less able to protect themselves.
D) Women are more likely to be away from home by themselves, such as going to work, going to college, and going out to bars.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Cohen and Felson argued that three factors were needed for a crime to occur. Which of the following did they not include as one of these three factors?

A) Absence of guardianship.
B) Social learning.
C) Suitable target.
D) Motivated offender.

Question 5

According to Cohen et al.'s groundbreaking research in which they developed routine activities theory,

A) Crime declined starting in 1960 while, at the same time, labor force participation rates increased.
B) Crime increased starting in 1960 while, at the same time, the percentage of households unoccupied during the daytime declined.
C) Crime declined starting in 1960 while, at the same time, personal consumption expenditures for durable goods increased.
D) Crime increased starting in 1960 while, at the same time, the percentage of households unoccupied during the daytime increased.

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of Brantingham and Brantingham's assumptions of the theory of target search?

A) Crime is not random.
B) Offenders and victims are not pathological in their use of time and space.
C) Crime events are simple.
D) Criminal opportunities and criminal events are structured.

Question 7

In offender search theory (also called crime pattern theory), what is the term used to refer to places like home, school, and work that offenders travel between in their daily activities?

A) Nodes.
B) Paths.
C) Edges.
D) Distance decay.

Question 8

Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory has been supported in that, after World War II, there was a(n)

A) Decrease in shoplifting.
B) Increase in daytime residential burglaries.
C) Increase in commercial burglaries.
D) Decrease in auto theft.

Question 9

According to offender search theory,

A) Offenders are likely to commit crimes in neighborhoods far from their home so that they are less easily recognized.
B) Offenders are likely to commit crimes in areas they have never been before to represent a challenge.
C) Offenders are likely to commit crimes near the nodes and routes that comprise their everyday activities because that is thought to be easiest and least risky.
D) The location of crime is unpredictable.

Question 10

Nodes that attract large numbers of people for reasons unrelated to criminal motivation are known as

A) Crime attractors.
B) Crime-neutral places.
C) Crime hot spots.
D) Crime generators.

Question 11

This is the term used to describe the social, cultural, economic, legal, structural, and physical surroundings in which criminal opportunities form.

A) Macro influence.
B) Environmental context.
C) Environmental backcloth.
D) Structural context.

Question 12

This principle of defensible space refers to the capacity of design to influence the perception of an area as unique, well maintained, and nonisolated.

A) Image.
B) Milieu.
C) Natural surveillance.
D) Territoriality.

Question 13

This term presented by multilevel criminal opportunity theory refers to the supply of offenders.

A) Market value.
B) Market exposure.
C) Market costs.
D) Market demand.

Question 14

Which of the following is true about Wilcox et al.'s theory?

A) Opportunity only occurs at the individual level.
B) Opportunity occurs only at the contextual level.
C) Opportunity can occur at the individual level, at the contextual level, or as an interaction between levels.
D) Opportunity is a constant.

Question 15

According to Newman, the key difference in a community in generating or preventing crime was its

A) Percentage of broken families.
B) Police coverage.
C) Number or residents.
D) Built environment.

Question 16

This principle of defensible space refers to the location of the space within the broader urban locale.

A) Image.
B) Natural surveillance.
C) Milieu.
D) Territoriality.

Question 17

Defensible space is an area where criminals perceive

A) The space as controlled by its residents.
B) A strong police presence.
C) A strong gang presence with marked territory.
D) Much support for the military.

Question 18

The value of an item gets at which of the following routine activity concepts?

A) Motivated offender.
B) Offender search.
C) Target suitability.
D) Effort.

Question 19

Which of the following is a hypothesis of routine activity theory?

A) Household activities are more risky than nonhousehold activities.
B) Expensive movable durable goods have higher risk of theft than bulky expensive items.
C) Those not in the labor force are at greater risk of victimization than are those employed outside the home.
D) Age of head of household is positively related to household victimization.

Question 20

Which of the following is a hypothesis of routine activity theory?

A) Two-adult households have higher rates of victimization than do single-person households.
B) Middle-aged adults will have higher rates of victimization than adolescents.
C) Single persons have higher rates of victimization than do married persons.
D) Young girls (preteens) have a higher risk of victimization than female college students.

Question 21

Explain routine activity theory. How did Cohen and Felson use the theory to explain increased crime in the United States post-World War II?

Question 22

Where are crimes likely to cluster in the environment, according to offender search theory?

Question 23

Explain the five categories of theories that can account for crime patterns as explained in the multilevel criminal opportunity theory.

Question 24

What is meant by Wilcox et al. when they argue opportunity is multilevel? Give an example of a criminal opportunity that is influenced by both the individual level and the neighborhood level.

Question 25

What is defensible space? List and give an example of each of the four principles of defensible space.

Question 26

Explain why, in Newman's classic study, the Brownsville housing community had a lower crime rate than the Van Dyke housing community.

Question 27

What are the four types of target searches proposed by Brantingham and Brantingham? Which stage is referred to as a multistaged journey? Explain that journey.

Question 28

Explain why offenders do not like to travel far from their anchor neighborhood when committing crime, according to Brantingham and Brantingham.