Deck 1: The Origins of Modern Criminology

Question 1

Cesare Beccaria is known for which criminological school of thought?

A) The demonic school.
B) The classical school.
C) The positivist school.
D) The Chicago school.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Age of Enlightenment marked the transition to the dominance of which criminological school of thought?

A) The Chicago school.
B) The positivist school.
C) The classical school.
D) The demonic school.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the demonic perspective is true?

A) Crime is caused by supernatural forces.
B) Crime can be prevented through effective but humane punishment.
C) It was the dominant perspective in the 1800s.
D) It is based on the work of Cesare Lombroso.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements about classical theory is true?

A) The solution to crime lies in ridding offenders of evil spirits.
B) Its foundations were outlined in An Essay on Crimes and Punishment.
C) It is based on the work of Cesare Lombroso.
D) Its foundations were outlined in The Criminal Man.

Question 5

According to classical thinking, offenders

A) Have biological features, beyond their control, that cause crime.
B) Have psychological features, beyond their control, that cause crime.
C) Engage in irrational thinking.
D) Perceive that the pleasures of crime outweigh the pains of punishment.

Question 6

According to classical thinking, which is the most important element of punishment?

A) That it is unpredictable.
B) That it is swift.
C) That it is severe.
D) That it is certain.

Question 7

The belief that individuals, including criminals, are rational actors characterizes which criminological perspective?

A) The demonic perspective.
B) The classical perspective.
C) The positivist perspective.
D) The biological perspective.

Question 8

According to Lombroso's work, which of the following is true?

A) Criminals are self-interested.
B) Criminals and noncriminals are not different.
C) Criminals are genetic throwbacks.
D) Crime can be controlled by increasing the certainty and severity of punishment.

Question 9

Lombroso's The Criminal Man stated which of the following?

A) Criminals have physical traits that make them "caveman" in appearance.
B) Criminals possess intelligence and commit crime consciously.
C) Criminals and noncriminals have similar physical traits.
D) Modern jurisprudence should focus on effectively punishing criminals.

Question 10

Which school of thought suggests that crime is a result of biological, psychological, and social forces beyond the individual's control?

A) The demonic perspective.
B) The classical school.
C) The positivist school.
D) The Chicago school.

Question 11

Which school of thought is most associated with the scientific method as a way to understand crime?

A) The demonic perspective.
B) The classical school.
C) The positivist school.
D) The Chicago school.

Question 12

Which school of thought dominated from the late 1700s to the late 1800s?

A) The demonic perspective.
B) The classical school.
C) The positivist school.
D) The Chicago school.

Question 13

Beccaria's ideas about human nature and behavior are closely aligned with which of the following?

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Cesare Lombroso.
C) Ernest Hooten.
D) Thomas Hobbes.

Question 14

According to Beccaria's ideas about law and punishment, which of the following is true?

A) There should be a fixed proportion between crimes and punishments.
B) The intent of punishment is to rehabilitate the offender.
C) The longer the interval of time between the crime and the punishment, the more effective it will be.
D) The certainty of a small punishment will make less of an impact than the fear of a more severe punishment.

Question 15

According to Lombroso's The Criminal Man, crime results from

A) Rational choice.
B) The pursuit of self-interest.
C) Biological primitiveness.
D) Spiritual inferiority.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about Lombroso's entire body of work (spanning his career) is true?

A) Lombroso denied the role of environment throughout his career.
B) Lombroso consistently viewed all offenders as born criminals.
C) Lombroso's later work viewed criminals as forming a graduated scale leading from born criminal to a normal individual.
D) Lombroso saw born criminals as comprising over half of all offenders.

Question 17

Lombroso's ideas about the nature of crime and criminals were aligned with which of the following?

A) Charles Darwin.
B) Cesare Beccaria.
C) Travis Hirschi.
D) Thomas Hobbes.

Question 18

Scientific evaluation of Lombroso's ideas in the early to mid-1990s showed that

A) Atavism was a robust predictor of crime.
B) Comparisons of criminals and carefully matched noncriminals failed to support Lombroso's ideas on the impact of atavistic features.
C) About half of all offenders fit Lombroso's notion of "born criminals."
D) Criminals and noncriminals had dramatically different skeletal features but similar psyches.

Question 19

Lombroso's ideas were later criticized for implying which of the following type of crime-reduction policies?

A) Severe punishment, including death.
B) Swift punishment, without concern for due process.
C) Selective breeding.
D) Redistribution-of-wealth policies.

Question 20

The classical perspective assumes which of the following about offender motivation?

A) Individuals are differentially motivated to commit crime (i.e., some are motivated, whereas others are not).
B) All individuals lack motivation to commit crime; they are inherently social.
C) Individual motivation to commit crime is stronger in children than in adults.
D) All individuals are motivated to commit crime through the pursuit of self-interests.

Question 21

Answer the following with respect to the classical school of criminology:
a. Discuss the historical context of the origins (emergence) of this perspective. When did it arise? Was it a response to any previous perspectives?
b. Discuss the assumptions made by this school of thought regarding the nature of human beings and their behavior (i.e., the essential ideas of classical thought).
c. Describe why crime occurs, according to this perspective.
d. Discuss the crime-control implications of this perspective. What should be done to reduce crime?

Question 22

Answer the following with respect to Lombroso's scientific experiments:
a. How did he conduct his research for The Criminal Man?
b. What were his findings?
c. Why/how did his findings lay the foundation for the positivist school of criminology?
d. What were the limitations of his research?

Question 23

Discuss how today's criminal justice system both overlaps and departs from classical criminology.

Question 24

Compare and contrast the demonic and classical perspectives on crime. Do they share similarities? What are the differences?