Deck 15: Corrections in the 21st Century

Question 1

It is important to understand the history of corrections so that ______.

A) facilities can reuse resources
B) its patterns may be followed
C) its mistakes are not repeated
D) future policy can be made

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which correctional population quadrupled over the past 40 years?

A) probation
B) parole
C) jail
D) prison

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The United States has an incarceration rate ______ than the incarceration rates of most other developed nations.

A) dramatically lower
B) slightly lower
C) slightly higher
D) dramatically higher

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which statement accurately describes the relationship between policy and corrections?

A) Policy drives use of corrections.
B) The two operate independently.
C) Correctional use drives policy.
D) The two correlate but do not affect each other.

Question 5

Which statement accurately describes the recent relationship between policy and sentence length?

A) More punitive policy has increased sentence length.
B) More punitive policy has reduced sentence length.
C) Less punitive policy has increased sentence length.
D) Less punitive policy has reduced sentence length.

Question 6

According to recent reports, rates of victimization are ______.

A) slightly increased since the 1950s
B) the lowest since the 1970s
C) the highest since the 1980s
D) slightly decreased in terms of drug crimes

Question 7

A female inmate was just released after being incarcerated since the 1990s. What is the most likely reason she was incarcerated?

A) possessing drugs
B) committing homicide
C) robbing a bank
D) assaulting someone

Question 8

Between 1980 and 2013, the imprisonment rate for prisons in the United States ______.

A) decreased significantly
B) decreased slightly
C) increased slightly
D) increased significantly

Question 9

Since 1980, the rate of people incarcerated in America's jails has ______.

A) decreased significantly
B) decreased slightly
C) increased slightly
D) increased significantly

Question 10

In recent decades, the average length of sentences given by state courts has ______.

A) increased slightly
B) decreased
C) remained stable
D) increased significantly

Question 11

Even though incarceration rates have decreased in recent years, ______.

A) populations are still higher than historical norms
B) community corrections rates continue to balloon
C) rates of violent crimes are still on the rise
D) rates of incarcerations for drug crimes are rising

Question 12

In the past ten years, incarceration rates have ______.

A) declined
B) grown slightly
C) grown significantly
D) remained stable

Question 13

______ has likely contributed to recent lower incarceration rates.

A) The legalization of marijuana
B) Lower alcohol sales
C) Deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals
D) The war on drugs

Question 14

What can be credited for the recent decline in the use of incarceration?

A) an increase in property crime
B) the waning effect of the war on drugs
C) people staying in their homes
D) fewer people buying firearms

Question 15

In the northeastern states, a reduction in the population of ______ may have led to decreased street crime.

A) youth
B) people of color
C) White people
D) women

Question 16

An inmate has just been convicted and sentenced to incarceration in a state prison. What type of crime was he most likely convicted of?

A) violent
B) property
C) drug
D) white-collar

Question 17

Decreased incarceration rates mean that prison beds are reserved for ______ offenders.

A) property
B) white-collar
C) lower-level drug
D) more serious

Question 18

Porter (2011) notes that developing alternatives to imprisonment contributed to ______.

A) a drop in incarceration
B) fear among people in the community
C) more crime in the community
D) the end of the war on drugs

Question 19

Incarceration of first-time and nonviolent offenders had the effect of ______.

A) costing taxpayers billions of dollars
B) reserving beds for serious offenders
C) disproportionately imprisoning White offenders
D) incarcerating increased numbers of men

Question 20

Which of these offenders would benefit most from incarceration?

A) first-time drug dealer
B) chronic violent offender
C) repeat white-collar criminal
D) first-time property offender

Question 21

What is a possible negative outcome of decarceration?

A) less incarceration of low-level offenders
B) more incarceration of minority men and women
C) fewer tax dollars being devoted to incarcerating people
D) increased use of drugs and alcohol by ex-inmates

Question 22

A disadvantage of mass decarceration is ______.

A) a greater sense of justice
B) more crime in communities
C) fewer tax dollars devoted to corrections
D) a reduction in correctional industry growth

Question 23

A benefit of mass decarceration is ______.

A) less crime in our communities
B) growth in correctional industries
C) more tax dollars dedicated to corrections
D) less incarceration of low-level offenders

Question 24

Money saved through decarceration can be put toward ______.

A) jails
B) state prisons
C) addiction treatment
D) federal prisons

Question 25

An offender recovering from substance addiction was released early because the prison she was in was closed. She was close to her release date, and they felt that she could safely be released early because she did not pose a threat to society. What is an issue the offender will most likely face as a result of decarceration?

A) returning to her family and friends
B) being able to work on the outside
C) starting to use drugs again
D) having a record

Question 26

You are in charge of hiring at a prison. What is one thing that you should focus?

A) Try to cut costs by paying people a low wage.
B) Hire primarily local youth.
C) Ensure that you offer training for new officers.
D) Require tests of physical fitness.

Question 27

You are in charge of a private prison in your state. What is most likely to be a major concern for you?

A) staff turnover
B) the staff's benefits
C) recidivism rates
D) programming

Question 28

______ in corrections occurs when services are provided by or whole correctional institutions are operated by businesses or corporations rather than the government.

A) Privatization
B) Decarceration
C) Penal harm
D) Penal help

Question 29

What was the convict lease system an example of?

A) rehabilitation
B) privatization
C) decarceration
D) penal help

Question 30

In a study of private prisons by Camp and Gaes (2002), it was found that private prisons ______.

A) experienced more problems with escapes
B) were safer than state prisons
C) paid their employees more than state prisons
D) experienced less staff turnover than federal prisons

Question 31

Observers are currently comparing the corrections industry to the economy that has cropped up around ______.

A) pharmaceuticals
B) air travel
C) the military
D) communications technology

Question 32

In a facility near Boise Idaho, the Corrections Corporation of America was accused of ______.

A) not heating the facility
B) severely understaffing positions
C) starving inmates
D) whipping inmates

Question 33

The largest private juvenile prison in the country, which was shut down in 2016 for numerous violations, was located in ______.

A) Washington
B) Mississippi
C) Texas
D) Louisiana

Question 34

Which facility set up and encouraged violence and sexual abuse by the correctional officers?

A) Walnut Grove
B) the CCA-run Idaho prison
C) Sing Sing
D) Auburn Prison

Question 35

A former correctional officer at Walnut Grove is most likely to report that ______.

A) the staff was very respectful of the juveniles
B) the juveniles were kept highly secure
C) the ratio of staff to juveniles was dangerously low
D) employees received ample training and education

Question 36

The number of people housed in private prisons has ______.

A) stabilized
B) increased dramatically
C) increased slightly
D) decreased

Question 37

When all costs are accounted for, private prisons cost ______ publicly run prisons.

A) more than
B) less than
C) the same as
D) much more than

Question 38

______ house approximately 40 percent of juveniles in residential placement.

A) Adult prisons
B) Group homes
C) Private prisons
D) Houses of refuge

Question 39

Courts must adjust their sentences to the lower relative capacity of prisons.

Question 40

In recent years, the length of the average prison sentence given by state courts has increased.

Question 41

Five states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Question 42

Over the last decade, all states have experienced increases in their incarceration rates.

Question 43

Newly adopted criminal justice policies in many states may have contributed to reductions in prison populations.

Question 44

The effort to professionalize corrections has been successful.

Question 45

Hiring and keeping a professional staff are key to professionalizing correctional institutions.

Question 46

Insufficient supervision of inmates was the crux of the problem at Walnut Grove.

Question 47

Private facilities experienced the same number of escapes as the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Question 48

Discuss how the rate of incarceration in the United States compares to those of comparison countries.

Question 49

Discuss the possible negative outcomes of mass decarceration. Provide examples.

Question 50

Discuss the benefits and possible positive outcomes of mass decarceration. Provide examples.

Question 51

What is the penal help movement?

Question 52

Discuss the major problems associated with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) Idaho state contract.

Question 53

Do you agree or disagree with the privatization of prison systems? Use information from the book to support your answer.

Question 54

Analyze the historical relationship between punishment policy and corrections. What lessons do you think are important for the United States to learn from this history?

Question 55

Weigh the pros and cons of decarceration. Speculate on its effect on the future of U.S. corrections.

Question 56

What makes an industry "professionalized"? Provide examples of policies that could serve to improve correctional operations.

Question 57

Goldman argued that our environments could affect our biology and relationships. Evaluate this statement in the correctional environment, both in terms of correctional staff and inmates.

Question 58

Compare and contrast private prisons with public prisons. What issues do private prisons face in comparison to public ones?