Deck 1: What Is Delinquency and How Does It Differ From Adult Crime

Question 1

According to the text, society views most juvenile offenders as individuals who are:

A) in need of guidance
B) fully responsible for their actions
C) deserving of punishment
D) all of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Agnew and Brezina discussed the case of a 6-year-old girl who repeatedly hit her friend with a piece of wood to illustrate:

A) the innate cruelty of children
B) our tendency to view juvenile offenders differently than adult offenders
C) failures in our efforts to rehabilitate some psychotic children
D) what happens when parents fail to supervise their children effectively
E) the "copycat" effect

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to Agnew and Brezina, status offense laws reflect:

A) state efforts to more closely regulate the lives of juveniles
B) efforts by the federal legislature to ensure the safety of all citizens
C) the lobbying efforts of large tobacco and alcohol corporations
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a status offense?

A) disobeying parents
B) violating underage drinking laws
C) running away from home
D) shoplifting
E) violating curfew

Question 5

The terms CHINS and PINS are used to:

A) designate juveniles' ethnic heritage
B) identify different types of juvenile institutions
C) classify status offenders
D) specify different types of criminal offenses
E) none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following statements is (are) TRUE of juvenile court?

A) Juveniles have a constitutional right to a jury trial.
B) Juvenile court focuses primarily on the offense rather than the offender.
C) Juveniles have most of the due process rights given to adults but frequently waive their rights.
D) All of the above are true statements.

Question 7

Agnew and Brezina consider the case studies of "Little B" and the juvenile at Heritage High School to illustrate:

A) how we often view and treat older juveniles who commit serious crimes much like adult offenders
B) how we view juvenile offenders as immature and in need of our guidance
C) the effectiveness of juvenile court in dealing with most juvenile offenders
D) the media's coverage of various types of juvenile crime
E) juvenile corrections' focus on rehabilitation

Question 8

Recent legislation designed to deal with older juveniles who commit serious offenses has focused on:

A) making it easier to try such offenders as adults
B) increasing the treatment services available to such offenders
C) diverting such offenders from institutions
D) all of the above

Question 9

In referring to the "invention of juvenile delinquency," Agnew and Brezina are pointing out that:

A) delinquent acts were less common in the past
B) juvenile offenders were ignored in the past
C) we now view and treat juvenile offenders differently than in the past
D) all of the above

Question 10

A few hundred years ago, children:

A) were viewed like adults
B) often engaged in "adult" behaviors, like sexual relations
C) were treated like adults when they broke the law
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 11

The invention of juvenile delinquency was fostered by:

A) the rising death rate among children
B) the desire of slum residents to improve their conditions
C) a decrease in juvenile offending
D) increasing delinquency among the middle and upper classes
E) massive urbanization during the 1800s

Question 12

Which of the following statements is TRUE of the juvenile court?

A) It was invented in the Middle Ages.
B) It is open to the public.
C) It focuses on the "offender" rather than the "offense."
D) all of the above

Question 13

In the adult court system, they use terms like "conviction" and "sentencing." The equivalent terms (in the correct order) in the juvenile court system are:

A) disposition and adjudication
B) adjudication and disposition
C) adjudication and sanctioning
D) fact finding and disposition

Question 14

According to Agnew and Brezina, the "child savers" who helped invent juvenile delinquency were most likely motivated by:

A) a genuine concern for poor children
B) a desire to control poor children
C) both a concern and a desire to control
D) none of the above

Question 15

In the United States, juvenile courts were not present in all 50 states until what year?

A) 1776
B) 1823
C) 1945
D) 1990

Question 16

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a major movement to:

A) severely punish older juveniles who commit serious crimes
B) increase the severity of the punishments administered by the juvenile court
C) make it easier to try older juveniles who commit serious crimes in adult court
D) all of the above

Question 17

Attempts to "get tough" with very young offenders (for example, offenders who are 5 years old):

A) tend to provoke public outrage
B) frequently succeed in juvenile court without any legal obstacles
C) allow judges to sentence very young offenders to adult prisons
D) none of the above

Question 18

Agnew and Brezina used two examples of very young children who were involved in similar, serious offenses that occurred decades apart to illustrate:

A) that very young children are becoming more violent and dangerous
B) that very young offenders are typically adjudicated of very serious crimes
C) the changes that have occurred in attitudes toward serious juvenile offenders
D) the changes that have occurred in the structure and function of the juvenile court

Question 19

What were some of the problems found in the slums in the late 1800s and early 1900s where children lived?

A) health problems
B) overcrowding
C) crime
D) all of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is a reason for the retreat from the get-tough approaches of the 1980s and 1990s?

A) There recently has been a dramatic increase in delinquency.
B) People now are more threatened by juvenile crime.
C) There is new evidence on brain development.
D) Get-tough approaches are thought to be effective at reducing delinquency.

Question 21

Define "juvenile delinquency." How does the definition distinguish it from other forms of juvenile and adult behavior?

Question 22

Describe how juvenile delinquents are viewed differently than adult offenders. What impact does this view have on the treatment of juvenile offenders?

Question 23

Discuss how and why juvenile offenders are treated differently than adult offenders.

Question 24

Define "status offense" and then provide examples of three different status offenses.

Question 25

What were some of the criticisms of status offense laws? How can these "offenses" be dealt with other than by referral to juvenile court?

Question 26

Describe the major differences between juvenile court and adult court. Discuss how these differences reflect our societal view of juveniles.

Question 27

Indicate how and discuss why the terminology differs for juvenile court and adult court.

Question 28

Discuss advantages and disadvantages for juveniles and for society in sealing or erasing juvenile court records when juveniles stay out of trouble for a certain amount of time.

Question 29

Discuss advantages and disadvantages specific to juveniles in having most of the due process rights that are available to adults.

Question 30

In Chapter 1, Agnew and Brezina describe various ways in which juveniles and adults are viewed and treated differently. Discuss how our society would be different if we viewed and treated them the same. Do you think juveniles would be more or less involved in crime?

Question 31

Describe current trends in the treatment of older, serious juvenile offenders. Explain why they are treated differently than other juvenile offenders.

Question 32

Discuss what Agnew and Brezina mean by the statement "juvenile delinquency is a social invention."

Question 33

Explain how and why our conception of childhood changed over time.

Question 34

There are two major interpretations about how the growth of urban slums contributed to the invention of juvenile delinquency. Briefly describe each interpretation. Can both be "true"?

Question 35

How are the goals of juvenile court different from the goals of adult court?

Question 36

Juvenile court hearings usually are closed to the public and the media. How is this different from adult court hearings? Are the policies of keeping juvenile court hearings closed beginning to change? If so, how?

Question 37

What are some of the differences between the sentences given out by juvenile courts and the sentences given out by adult courts?

Question 38

Describe the special correctional programs for juveniles that are sometimes referred to as "youth development centers" or "training schools." How do these juvenile institutions protect juveniles? What is the primary goal of these institutions?

Question 39

Describe how attitudes toward serious juvenile offenders have changed over time.

Question 40

Describe how our view and treatment of juvenile offenders changed from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. What were the reasons for this change?

Question 41

Describe how our view and treatment of juvenile offenders has changed since the early 2000s. What are the reasons for this change?