Deck 6: Developmental Patterns of Offending

Question 1

The birth cohort study of Wolfgang and his colleagues suggests that a small number of youth commit a majority of delinquent offenses. This group is referred to as:

A) substantiated delinquents.
B) adjudicated delinquents.
C) the chronic 6%.
D) the persistent 10%.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In their age-graded theory of offending, Sampson and Laub found that ______________ was significantly related to desistance from offending in adulthood.

A) biological propensity
B) college graduation
C) a good marriage
D) All of the above.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Using data from a national work experiment, Christopher Uggen found that the influence of work on desistance differed depending on the _____________ of offenders.

A) race
B) age
C) gender
D) social class

Answer 3

B

Question 4

______________ refers to the extent to which juvenile delinquency is a component of a larger group of problem behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use, mental health problems, and underachievement in school.

A) Escalation
B) Trajectory
C) Transition
D) Generality of deviance

Question 5

The finding that problem behaviors such as delinquency, substance use, and school misconduct often occur together for serious, persistent delinquents is called:

A) early age of onset.
B) continuity of problem behaviors.
C) progression of seriousness.
D) generality of deviance.

Question 6

______________ is the tendency for offenders to move to more serious offenses as offending continues.

A) Escalation
B) Trajectory
C) Transition
D) Generality of deviance

Question 7

The concept of ______________ refers to patterns of behavior that are consistent and stable over time.

A) desistance
B) generality of deviance
C) behavioral continuity
D) escalation

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT one of the key themes of the developmental perspective?

A) Age of onset of problem behaviors
B) Continuity and change in problem behaviors
C) Progression of seriousness of offenses
D) Influence of social bonds on the offender

Question 9

Studies have shown that early-onset offenders tend to engage in ______________ offenses than do late-onset offenders.

A) more serious
B) a higher frequency of
C) a wider variety of
D) All of the above.

Question 10

Patterson and his colleagues propose two models of delinquency. According to these researchers, an early starter is defined as a child first arrested before the age of:

A) 13
B) 14
C) 15
D) 16

Question 11

Patterson and his colleagues developed a/an ______________ model to explain antisocial behavior of early starters.

A) peer influence
B) imitation
C) coercion
D) genetic

Question 12

Moffitt's theory of life-course-persistent offending attributes the early onset of antisocial behavior to a combination of a child's neuropsychological deficits and:

A) association with delinquent peers.
B) an adverse child-rearing environment.
C) hyperactivity.
D) All of the above.

Question 13

The most significant finding in the research of Wolfgang and his colleagues is that:

A) 6% of the sample was responsible for more than 50% of the offenses.
B) the majority of the boys studied had at least five police contacts.
C) age of onset was unrelated to the number of offenses committed.
D) "chronic offenders" committed more offenses than other delinquents, but less serious ones.

Question 14

Of the delinquents that Wolfgang and his colleagues studied, which group was smallest in number?

A) One-time offenders
B) Non-chronic recidivists
C) Chronic recidivists
D) All of the above groups were roughly equal in number.

Question 15

In Wolfgang's study, boys with ______________ or more police contacts were defined as "chronic offenders."

A) three
B) four
C) five
D) six

Question 16

In Delinquency in a Birth Cohort, Wolfgang and his colleagues divided the cohort they studied into three groups. Which of the following is NOT one of those groups?

A) Non-offenders
B) One-time offenders
C) Recidivists
D) Delinquents

Question 17

According to Moffitt's developmental theory, for ______________ offenders, delinquency is largely a product of deviant peer influence.

A) life-course-persistent
B) adolescence-limited
C) serious violent
D) serious property

Question 18

Life-course-persistent offenders continue offending at high rates well into adulthood because:

A) their moral development is stalled.
B) they are influenced primarily by delinquent peers.
C) they interpret, respond to, and create their own environments in antisocial ways.
D) their attraction to media violence reinforces their violent tendencies.

Question 19

Moffitt's developmental theory argues that adolescence-limited offending is due to:

A) a "maturity gap" between biological and social maturity.
B) "social mimicry" of life-course-persistent offenders.
C) positive reinforcement of delinquency by peers.
D) All of the above.

Question 20

The central tenet of the ______________ in criminology is that the development of problem behaviors tends to occur in an orderly, progressive fashion that is highly age-determined.

A) general theory of crime
B) developmental perspective
C) selective incapacitation approach
D) age-crime curve

Question 21

In terms of theory, the criminal careers construct is:

A) well defined.
B) not well defined.
C) consistent with social control theory.
D) consistent with conflict theory.

Question 22

The notion of career criminals has been controversial because of:

A) its policy implications.
B) weak empirical support.
C) its race implications.
D) its inconsistency with the developmental perspective.

Question 23

Most delinquents begin their offending careers with serious types of delinquency.

Question 24

Studies have shown that early-onset offenders tend to engage in less serious offenses than do late-onset offenders.

Question 25

The age at which an individual begins involvement in delinquency is referred to as participation age.

Question 26

The notion of career criminals has been controversial because of its policy implications.

Question 27

Research on criminal careers shows that most individuals who participate in offending commit only one or a limited number of offenses during late adolescence or early adulthood.

Question 28

The criminal career approach focuses on individual offenders and their patterns of offending over time.

Question 29

The research of Marvin Wolfgang and his colleagues shows that delinquents who begin offending at a relatively young age tend to accumulate lengthy criminal careers that extend well into adulthood.

Question 30

Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin's study of chronic offenders used self-report surveys for data collection.

Question 31

The general conclusion we can draw from research on the co-occurrence of problem behaviors is that various forms of deviance, including delinquency, often occur together.

Question 32

In Patterson's early- and late-starter models, an early starter is defined as a child first arrested before the age of 10.

Question 33

According to Patterson's early-starter model, poor parenting skills lead to children's antisocial behavior, which, in turn, produces school failure and peer rejection.

Question 34

The "criminal career" paradigm presented by Blumstein and his colleagues:

A) focuses on individual offenders and their patterns of offending over time.
B) makes a clear distinction between criminal careers and career criminals.
C) lacks a strong theoretical foundation.
D) All of the above.

Question 35

What term is used in the criminal career literature to refer to the average rate at which active offenders commit crimes?

A) Participation
B) Differential association
C) Generality of deviance
D) Frequency

Question 36

What term is used in the criminal career literature to refer to the proportion of a population who are active offenders at any given time?

A) Participation
B) Differential association
C) Generality of deviance
D) Frequency

Question 37

Wolfgang and his colleagues found that ______________ was related to length of criminal career and total number of offenses committed.

A) family socialization
B) age of onset of delinquency
C) number of delinquent friends
D) race

Question 38

Moffitt's theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior relies only on personal traits to explain the continuity of offending over the life course.

Question 39

According to Moffitt's model, life-course-persistent offenders constitute a relatively large proportion of all offenders.

Question 40

According to Patterson's developmental model, late starters are short-term offenders, less at risk for chronic offending than early starters.

Question 41

In Patterson's late-starter model, the direct cause of delinquency is poor parenting skills.

Question 42

Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin's study is most noted for its findings regarding "chronic offenders."