Deck 2: Crime Statistics

Question 1

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics deals only with data pertaining to types and amounts of crime.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The legal definition of crime impacts the way crime is counted.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The Victimization Survey has always been part of the General Social Survey.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Crime statistics in Canada are reported in three major surveys: the UCR, the Victimization Survey, and the Self-Report Survey.

Question 5

Victimization Surveys are useful for identifying under-reported crimes.

Question 6

Crime statistics are useful in developing and evaluating effective crime control policies.

Question 7

Adolphe Quételet proposed what he called the "thermic law" that morality undergoes seasonal variation.

Question 8

Both the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) and the Victimization Survey, conducted through the General Social Surveys, fall under the auspices of Canada's national statistics department, Statistics Canada.

Question 9

The first officially published crime statistics appeared in London's Gazette beginning in 1828 and France's 1825 Compte generale.

Question 10

The most recent data available indicate that males account for 77 percent of those adults accused of a criminal offence.

Question 11

Crime rate is the term used to describe crime per capita based on the number of recorded crimes calculated per 100 000 population.

Question 12

Although the gathering of crime statistics is a relatively new phenomenon, population statistics have been collected periodically since pre-Roman times.

Question 13

In Canada, rates of violent victimization were lowest among those aged 65 and older.

Question 14

Demographics are the characteristics of population groups, usually expressed in statistical form.

Question 15

The current UCR does not include information on victims, the accused, or the circumstances of the incident.

Question 16

The work of statisticians such as André Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quételet formed the historical basis for what has been called the statistical school of criminology.

Question 17

The dark figure of crime refers to that portion of criminal activity that goes unreported and/or undetected by official sources.

Question 18

Statistical data shows that the likelihood of crime commission declines with age.

Question 19

André Michel Guerry calculated per capita crime rates throughout various French provinces in the early 1800s.

Question 20

Correlates of crime are those variables observed to be related to criminal activity such as age, sex and gender, ethnicity, and social class.

Question 21

According to a 2009 report commissioned by the Federal Office of the Correctional Investigator, in Canada, __________ offenders tend to be released later in their sentences (lower parole grant rates) as well as being over-represented in segregation populations.

A) Aboriginal
B) male
C) mentally ill
D) African
E) young

Question 22

The rate of violence for Aboriginal females is 2.5 times higher than that for non-Aboriginal females

Question 23

The foremost and only source of error for the General Social Survey (GSS) in comparison to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) is legislative change.

Question 24

Because UCR data are based upon ________ crimes, the system has been criticized for underestimating the true incidence of criminal activity within the Canada - a measurement that would also include unreported crimes.

A) selected
B) violent
C) property  
D) reported
E) unreported

Question 25

The term "social dimensions of crime" is used to describe aspects of crime and victimization as they relate to ________ by which groups are defined, and according to which individuals are assigned group membership.

A) common characteristics
B) socially significant attributes  
C) socio-economic traits  
D) commonalities  
E) cultural traits  

Question 26

The equation to calculate a crime rate includes the number of reported crimes in the numerator.

Question 27

A group of four youths attack a single youth on their way home from the movies. All four are charged with assault. How many incidents of assault are recorded in the UCR?

A) Four, because there were four charges laid.
B) One, because there was only one victim.
C) It depends how many of the youths are convicted on the assault charges.
D) It depends on the gender of the youths involved.
E) We do not have enough information to answer the question.

Question 28

Although not an official source of crime data, Self-Report Studies do help to ________.

A) highlight the realities of crime victims
B) highlight the discrepancies between the UCR and Victimization Survey
C) overcome the methodological shortcomings of the UCR
D) overcome the methodological shortcomings of the Victimization Survey
E) highlight the relationship between crime and education levels, home life, peer group, and general socio-economic realities of the offender

Question 29

A(n) ________ refers to an offence that is closed when police have formally charged a person or when there is sufficient evidence to lay a charge against an identified person, even if that person has not been apprehended by police.

A) arrest rate  
B) offence cleared otherwise
C) offence cleared by charge  
D) crime rate  
E) clearance rate  

Question 30

According to published highlights of the 2011 UCR, police-reported youth crime also dropped in 2011.

Question 31

According to the results of the 2011 UCR, police-reported crime decreased in 2011, continuing the downward trend seen over the past 20 years.

Question 32

Unreported and underreported criminal activity has been called the ________ of crime

A) actual measure  
B) unbalanced rate  
C) dark figure  
D) unmeasurable rate
E) measurable rate  

Question 33

________ has been referred to as 'the best single predictor of criminality.'

A) Age
B) Socio-economic status
C) Sex
D) Ethnicity or race
E) Profession

Question 34

Unlike data from the United States, Canadian crime statistics do not routinely report on the ________ of offenders.

A) age
B) victimization
C) gender
D) type of crime
E) racial and ethnic makeup

Question 35

The Uniform Crime Reporting System ________.

A) was initiated by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in 1991, and became the responsibility of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics in the same year
B) was initiated in 1961 through the efforts of Statistics Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
C) was initiated by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics in 1991
D) was initiated by the Canadian Centre for justice Statistics in 1961
E) was initiated by Statistics Canada in 1961

Question 36

Most criminologists agree that prevention of crime is generally considered preferable to its punishment and prevention is largely based on prediction.

Question 37

Correlations are of two sorts: ________.

A) beneficial and destructive
B) agreeable and antagonistic
C) positive and negative  
D) random or select
E) applied or distinct

Question 38

In 2008, a police-reported Crime Severity Index (PRCSI) was introduced to _________________.

A) Gather information on the number and types of offences reported to police
B) Gather information on the number and sex of adults and youths charged
C) Measure changes in the severity of crime from year to year
D) Gather information on  circumstances of the incidence
E) Gather information on the genetic history of the accused  

Question 39

The phrase ____________________ refers to a case in which police cannot or do not charge a person even if they have identified a suspect and have enough evidence to support the laying of a charge.

A) offence cleared otherwise
B) the homeowner or renter
C) whoever answered the telephone
D) Offence of anyone under 16 years of age
E) offence cleared by charge

Question 40

Based on 598 incidents of homicides reported and a total population of 34 476 848, what would the rate of crime be for homicides?

A) 200.00  
B) 20.00
C) 2.00
D) 2200.00
E) 4500.00

Question 41

Population statistics have been collected since pre-Roman times. Indeed, historians believe that Roman population counts were made every ___________.

A) 3 years
B) 4 years
C) 5 years
D) 7 years
E) 10  years

Question 42

The crime rate used in the UCR is based on a population of ____________.

A) one million
B) 100,000
C) 10,000
D) 1,000
E) 10 million

Question 43

According to Public Safety Canada statistics (2011), the racial group least represented as a percentage of the federal offender population is _______________.

A) Caucasian
B) Aboriginal
C) Asian
D) Hispanic
E) Black

Question 44

Gender appears so closely linked to most forms of criminal activity that it has been called ________.

A) "the investigator's key"  
B) "the prosecutor's crutch"  
C) "the solution to investigative stalls"
D) "the best single predictor of criminality"
E) "the defence council's ace"

Question 45

List and briefly elaborate upon the four central reasons for not reporting a crime such as sexual assault.

Question 46

In 2009, women made up just over _________ of all adults charged with a Criminal Code offence, up from 15 percent in 1979.

A) 12 percent
B) 21 percent
C) 90 percent
D) 80 percent
E) 8 percent

Question 47

According to the Violence Against Women Survey (VAWS) undertaken by Statistics Canada in 1993, __________ of all Canadian women reported having experienced at least one incident of violence since age 16.

A) one-sixth
B) one-third
C) about 50%
D) two-thirds
E) nearly 75 percent

Question 48

Many of the difficulties surrounding research into the relationship between social class and crime appear to stem from _______________.

A) a lack of social dimension analysis
B) a lack of definitional clarity
C) a lack of correlation of crime analysis
D) a lack of geographic information studies
E) a lack of self-dimension analyses

Question 49

In Canada, those at the highest risk of personal victimization are between the ages of ________.

A) 12 and 18
B) 12 and 21
C) 14 and 20
D) 15 and 24
E) 21 and 25

Question 50

The apparently low rate of female criminality has been explained by some criminologists as being primarily due to all of the below cultural factors except ________.

A) A reluctance among criminal justice officials to prosecute women
B) role expectations
C) a reluctance among criminal justice officials to arrest women
D) early socialization
E) proximity of victim's residence to the accused's residence

Question 51

The accuracy of self-report studies is largely predicated on _______________.

A) the honesty and forthrightness of the respondent
B) the age and gender of the respondent
C) the ability of the respondent to analyze data
D) the gender and social class of the respondent
E) The social class and age of the respondent

Question 52

In 2008, a police-reported Crime Security Index was introduced in Canada to measure changes in the severity of crime ____________.

A) every 3 years
B) every 5 years
C) every 7 years
D) from year to year
E) every six months

Question 53

Briefly define what can be considered the "social dimensions of crime."

Question 54

It is believed that _______ is the most seriously under-reported crime.

A) sexual assault
B) theft $5 000 and under
C) robbery
D) fraud
E) assault with a weapon

Question 55

While there is no doubt that people from all social classes commit crimes, a number of studies point to a _______________ between lower socio-economic status and criminal activity.

A) significant correlation
B) insignificant correlation
C) highly significant correlation
D) marginal correlation
E) near-zero correlation