Deck 3: General Characteristics of Crime and Criminals

Question 1

While crime in the United States was rising in the 1960s, it was decreasing in Japan. This observation is significant because ______.

A) it highlighted the inaccuracy of our statistics on crime as it is common knowledge that crime rates are consistent across nations
B) it proved beyond a reasonable doubt that American society is particularly prone to criminality
C) it discredited the assumption that modernization inevitably produces increased criminality
D) it provided support for the long-held notion that modernization inevitably leads to an increase in criminality

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Crime rates are difficult to compare cross-nationally due to all of the following except ______.

A) different definitions of crime
B) quality of data
C) ideological differences
D) economic development of the countries

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to the International Crime Victimization Survey, the rate of violent crime in the United States is ______.

A) lower than the rates in both Canada and Western Europe
B) lower than the rate in Canada, but higher than the rate in Western Europe
C) higher than the rate in Canada, but lower than the rate in Western Europe
D) higher than the rates in both Canada and Western Europe

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The low crime rate in Japan is achieved by a strong ______ orientation.

A) individualistic
B) communal
C) patriarchal
D) materialistic

Question 5

According to the text, in the twenty-first century, all of the following are known to produce higher global crime except ______.

A) breakdown of political order
B) lack of police training
C) increase in economic equality
D) growing urbanization

Question 6

Which one of the following crimes is considered the most common for business travelers?

A) robbery
B) sexual assault
C) theft
D) murder

Question 7

Which of the following is true regarding the relationship between age and crime?

A) Both property and violent crime rates peak early in life, and then decline significantly with age.
B) Property crime rates peak early in life, with violent crimes peaking around middle-age.
C) Violent crime rates peak early in life, with property crimes peaking around middle-age.
D) Both property and violent crime rates are low among the young, and tend to increase with age.

Question 8

Most of those arrested are ______.

A) older
B) young
C) educated
D) uneducated

Question 9

According to the text, the peak arrest age for property crime is ______ years.

A) 15
B) 16
C) 17
D) 18

Question 10

The "age/crime" debate refers to the debate surrounding ______.

A) whether there is a relationship between age and crime
B) whether "maturing out" of crime is a phenomenon true of all offenders and all types of crime
C) the cause of a recent spike in violent crime committed by the elderly
D) the age at which most individuals first become involved in criminal behavior

Question 11

Of all demographic variables, which is the best predictor of criminality?

A) age
B) race
C) gender
D) socioeconomic status

Question 12

The gap between male and female crime rates is ______ in modernized societies.

A) narrowing
B) remaining stable
C) widening
D) at its widest

Question 13

In stating that most theories of crime and delinquency have been androcentric, it is meant that they have been ______.

A) male-centered
B) female-centered
C) too reliant on a singular research methodology
D) too focused on regional variations among crime rates

Question 14

Traditionally, males are socialized to be all of the following except ______.

A) aggressive
B) empathetic
C) active
D) dominant

Question 15

Which of the following types of crimes do females tend to concentrate on?

A) shoplifting
B) murder
C) arson
D) drug trafficking

Question 16

According to the text, the traditional handmaiden of sexism has been ______.

A) materialism
B) paternalism
C) misogyny
D) capitalism

Question 17

Nationally, the disparity of rates between black and nonblacks was much greater for ______ offenses.

A) drug
B) violent
C) property
D) fraudulent

Question 18

In stating that criminology may have a Eurocentric bias, it is meant that the field has been ______.

A) focused on crime in Europe
B) focused too much on minority offenders
C) dominated by views reflecting those of European (what) descent
D) dominated by European influence of criminologists

Question 19

Hereditary theories of racial inferiority to explain why African Americans, despite social changes in the 1960s, had failed to succeed were referred to as ______.

A) racist theories
B) racial inequality theories
C) cryptoracist theories
D) racism theories

Question 20

A discriminatory practice by some police departments of stopping and searching a disproportionate number of blacks and minorities, particularly in traffic stops is referred to as ______.

A) racial profiling
B) racial inequality
C) prejudice
D) blatant racism

Question 21

Of major religious groups in the U.S.A., the ______ group has the lowest official crime rate.

A) atheists
B) Catholics
C) Jews
D) Protestants

Question 22

Which of the following best describes the relationship between immigration and crime in the United States of America?

A) There is no relationship between immigration and crime rates.
B) First-generation immigrants have high crime rates, but their children do not.
C) First-generation immigrants do not have high crime rates, but their children do.
D) Both first-generation immigrants and their children have high crime rates.

Question 23

All of the following were suggested as reasons for differences between the immigrant and black experiences except ______.

A) gender roles
B) cultural factors
C) the disability of race
D) the maturing economy

Question 24

The region of the United States of America with the lowest overall crime rate is the ______.

A) Midwest
B) Northeast
C) South
D) West

Question 25

According to the text, rates for ______ were the highest in the South.

A) rape
B) murder
C) arson
D) vehicle theft

Question 26

According to the text, rates for ______ were the highest in the West.

A) rape
B) murder
C) arson
D) vehicle theft

Question 27

In the U.S.A., rates for ______ crime were actually higher for smaller than for larger cities.

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

Question 28

Which of the following is considered the most important social institution in regard to socializing children?

A) media
B) family
C) religion
D) schools

Question 29

All of the following were identified as the most important variables correlated with delinquency except ______.

A) poor home discipline
B) indifference
C) neglect
D) independence

Question 30

Which of the following was classified by Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) as a medium predictor?

A) lack of parental supervision
B) parental rejection
C) parental criminality
D) parental health

Question 31

Which of the following was classified by Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) as a weak predictor?

A) lack of parental supervision
B) parental rejection
C) parental criminality
D) parental health

Question 32

This does not cause or prevent crime but rather reflects one's social class, location of residence, and exposure to criminal or delinquent opportunities.

A) family
B) education
C) religious preference
D) ethnic background

Question 33

Research on crime and delinquency has come to focus most heavily on ______ and education as critical variables.

A) social class
B) family
C) gender
D) politics

Question 34

Which of the following are known for having the highest rates of crime?

A) Jewish
B) Catholics
C) Protestants
D) Evangelicals

Question 35

According to the text, ______ is the explanation for higher crime rates, rather than denominational affiliation.

A) gender
B) social class
C) education
D) family

Question 36

Which of the following crimes tends to occur during wartime?

A) murder
B) theft
C) vandalism
D) white-collar crime

Question 37

This type of crime tends to increase in periods of prosperity and to decrease during periods of depression.

A) property
B) violent
C) white-collar
D) juvenile delinquency

Question 38

Which of the following variables is related to an increase in crime rates?

A) aging
B) rising socio-economic status
C) unemployment
D) war

Question 39

As unemployment rises, crime rates tend to ______.

A) decrease significantly
B) decrease slightly
C) remain stable
D) increase

Question 40

Fads in crime that are stimulated by media coverage or portrayals are referred to as ______.

A) copycat crimes
B) crimes of flattery
C) Hollywood crimes
D) trend-induced crimes

Question 41

Descriptions of characteristics of crime and criminals can vary immensely, depending on the sources of information.

Question 42

Statistics regarding crime and delinquency are easily measured.

Question 43

Triangulation assists in providing multiple assessments of the subject matter.

Question 44

Triangulation, which occurs when researchers allow their personal bias to shape their research, is one potential threat to the accuracy of our data on crime.

Question 45

Data have improved recently, but because of variations in quality of data, definitions of crime, recording practices, ideological differences, and differences in measurement, (three things) caution is still warranted.

Question 46

Hidden factors may affect crime rates, such as age and urbanism, and they are referred to as factual equalities.

Question 47

High levels of crime appear to be associated with high rates of income inequality.

Question 48

Compared to other countries, the United States has a strikingly low rate of violent crimes such as murder and rape.

Question 49

Modernization and urbanization are both associated with higher levels of property crime and lower levels of violent crime.

Question 50

The measurement of violent crime may play a role in why the rates appear lower in the U.S.

Question 51

Legal codes define crimes in different ways.

Question 52

The multinational nature of organized, white-collar, and more sophisticated crimes is a declining phenomenon.

Question 53

While most persons arrested and convicted as adult criminals were first arrested as juveniles, most juvenile delinquents do not become adult criminals.

Question 54

The age-crime debate is a disagreement among criminologists whether all "mature out of crime" or whether some remain career criminals.

Question 55

The graying of America has led to forecasts of an increase in the number of older criminals.

Question 56

Age is the best predictor of criminality across time and place.

Question 57

The charge that criminology has reflected a male-centered bias is referred to as the androcentric bias.

Question 58

Most crime is committed by males historically and internationally with the exception of prostitution.

Question 59

Social class is the best predictor of criminality.

Question 60

The proposal that racial discrimination in sentencing is most prevalent among the least serious crimes, in cases where the judge has more discretion, is known as the liberation hypothesis.

Question 61

Race is a relatively arbitrary, socially defined construct.

Question 62

The liberation hypothesis holds that racial discrimination in sentencing is significant primarily in less serious cases.

Question 63

Crime has in the past been primarily intraracial in nature.

Question 64

Race is as crucial an explanatory variable in traditional crime commission as social class.

Question 65

The concentric zone theory assumes that city growth occurs in a series of rings.

Question 66

Urban recorded crime rates are generally lower than rural crime rates.

Question 67

UCR statistics in general show a negative relationship in which, as the size of community increases, the crime rate also increases.

Question 68

Church is an example of an institution.

Question 69

Organizations that serve a broad range of interests in society, such as the family are referred to as institutions.

Question 70

Institutions are relatively stable social patterns that serve a broad range of crucial functions in society.

Question 71

The belief that what goes on in the family is somehow separate from outside social forces that affect the family is referred to as the fallacy of autonomy.

Question 72

The trend that poverty increasingly takes place within female-headed households is referred to as feminization of poverty.

Question 73

Statistics indicate that juveniles who come from broken homes are significantly more likely to engage in crime than those who do not.

Question 74

Delinquents are less likely to have families characterized by physical illness, mental retardation, and mental disturbance.

Question 75

There is a positive relationship between the amount of formal schooling individuals possess and arrest rates for traditional crimes.

Question 76

A major predictor of delinquency is misconduct in school.

Question 77

Religion may be the "forgotten" factor in criminological theory.

Question 78

During war, domestic crime rates tend to decline.

Question 79

War does not have an impact on crime.

Question 80

A major form of crime that tends to increase during wartime is white-collar crime.