Deck 4: Deterrence: Scaring Offenders Straight

Question 1

Deterrence is based on the notion that people consciously do which of the following?

A) try to make healthy life choices
B) do not mind pain
C) avoid pain and seek pleasure
D) will make decisions regardless of the consequences

Answer 1

avoid pain and seek pleasure

Question 2

Which of the following is not a problem that deterrence theory faces?

A) individual differences matter when implementing punishments
B) the correctional system does not always want to inflict pain
C) correctional punishments are not always immediate
D) correctional punishments are not always certain

Answer 2

the correctional system does not always want to inflict pain

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of general deterrence?

A) Adam is punished so that Ryan is scared to commit a crime
B) Adam is punished so that he will not commit new crimes
C) Adam is reprimanded by the state and given back to the community to make sure he does not commit new crimes
D) Adam and Ryan are both punished even though only Adam committed the crime

Answer 3

Adam is punished so that Ryan is scared to commit a crime

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of specific deterrence?

A) Sara is punished as a way to warn other community members that they will also be punished if they commit a crime
B) Sara is viewed as a lost cause and the state gives up on her individual case, which deters her because she no longer receives attention
C) Sara is punished so that she will stop engaging in criminal behavior
D) Sara receives individualized treatment instead of going to prison so she will not commit new crimes

Question 5

In general, advocates of deterrence focus almost exclusively on manipulating which of the following?

A) the benefits of not committing crime by offering rewards to law-abiding
Citizens
B) the costs of crime through punishment
C) the costs and benefits of crime through individualized treatment
D) the costs of crime through public shaming

Question 6

Which of the following is not an assumption of rational choice theory?

A) crime is a choice
B) the choice to commit a crime is based on a calculation of costs and benefits
C) choosing to commit crime can be a subconscious decision
D) offenders and regular citizens are exactly the same

Question 7

Which of the following statements about findings from interrupted time-series studies on deterrence is true?

A) there are short-term deterrent effects that tend to decay or wear off over time
B) there is no relationship between any program deterrent effects and recidivism
C) there are strong deterrent effects that indicate a reduction in recidivism
D) there are only deterrent effects when the punishments are not visible to the public

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of a macro-level study?

A) measuring whether individual treatment is effective based on self-report surveys of improvement
B) measuring fraternity or sorority members fear of crime and whether it predicts their actual crime events
C) measuring whether people who have been incarcerated before are more likely to be rearrested if they own a parrot than those who do not own a parrot
D) measuring whether the size of the police department in an area affects crime rates

Question 9

Which of the following about meta-analyses is true?

A) it can be replicated by scholars who might question the findings
B) it is a tally system that adds up how many studies measuring a certain outcome variable find positive versus negative effects
C) it provides insight into some studies but has a limit as to how many studies can be included in the analysis
D) it provides a way to reanalyze studies that have already been do to confirm that their results are accurate and true

Question 10

Which of the following describes the ecological fallacy?

A) the use of macro-level data to make incorrect statements about macro-level factors
B) the use of macro-level data to make incorrect statements about individuals
C) the use of individual-level data to make incorrect statements about individuals
D) the use of individual-level data to make incorrect statements about macro-level factors

Question 11

Which of the following is not listed as an especially relevant factor when measuring the influence of deterrence on criminal behavior?

A) controlling for other predictors of crime
B) longitudinal studies of crime
C) family or societal reactions to punishment
D) the experimental effect

Question 12

The study by Pogarsky, Kim, and Paternoster (2005) examined a national sample of youth to see if being arrested affected perceptions of the certainty of punishment. Which of the following statements about their findings is true?

A) if youth or their peers engaged in offending then the youths' perceptions of certainty of punishment significantly increased
B) the evidence was inconclusive
C) only convictions had an effect on perceptions of the certainty of punishment
D) arrests had little effect on perceptions of the certainty of punishment

Question 13

According to Pratt et al. (2006), which of the following statements about their review of 40 studies examining the effects of perceived deterrence is not true?

A) multivariate studies suggest that the effects of certainty and severity of punishment are weak to non-existent
B) perceptions of punishment is likely to be a minor cause of criminal involvement
C) legal sanctions might have effects on future crime through non-legal or social costs they evoke
D) bivariate studies substantially underestimated the effects of perceived deterrence

Question 14

If deterrence theory is correct, then punishment should work best-and be most easily detected in research-when it is applied to which of the following?

A) offenders within the correctional system
B) reformed offenders
C) community facilities that offenders use
D) offenders that are no longer being supervised

Question 15

Which of the following is not an example of an intermediate punishment implemented in the community?

A) electronic monitoring and home confinement
B) drug testing
C) boot camps
D) jail

Question 16

Which of the following factors is true and helped to make the RAND intensive supervision programs (ISP) study a criminological classic on the effects of deterrence?

A) the study used stratified random sampling so only minority offenders were included
B) the study used an experimental design in which offenders were randomly assigned to intensive supervision, regular supervision, or to prison
C) the study only used jurisdictions with large populations within a single state to be more representative
D) the study allowed offenders to volunteer for the program so they were motivated to participate

Question 17

Which of the following statements about recidivism rates is not true across time?

A) the recidivism rate is generally based on a three year follow-up period
B) the recidivism rate is about one third among those who enter prison for the first time
C) the recidivism rate is about two thirds among all those sent to prison
D) the recidivism rate has been lowered by deterrence initiatives

Question 18

Which of the following statements about labeling theory is true?

A) treating people as offenders increases their criminal involvement
B) labeling victims of crime as victims makes them more vulnerable to future offenders
C) labeling offenders as offenders in public will shame them so they do not commit future crimes
D) offenders that are given numbers instead of names in prison lose their identity

Question 19

Punishing offenders in society almost certainly has which type of effect?

A) a specific deterrent effect
B) a null effect
C) a general deterrent effect
D) a fear effect

Question 20

Prison condition studies that compared easier conditions (minimum security level) to harsher conditions (higher security level) generally found what effect on recidivism?

A) easier conditions might lead to more post-release crime
B) harsher conditions did not reduce recidivism
C) harsher conditions decrease recidivism for certain offenders
D) easier conditions reduced recidivism

Question 21

Describe what deterrence theory is and its underlying assumptions. How does deterrence theory propose to reduce crime?

Question 22

Define what specific and general deterrence are and how they work to prevent crime. What are the similarities and difference between these two components?

Question 23

Briefly outline rational choice theory and its underlying assumptions. How does rational choice theory apply to deterrence theory?

Question 24

Describe the five types of studies that are used to examine the extent to which the punishments handed out by the courts and correctional system deters potential offenders. Which of the five studies is the most significant? Make sure to support your rationale.

Question 25

Provide a definition for the certainty of punishment and the severity of punishment. How do these two components work together in deterrence theory? Is one component more important at deterring crime than the other? Justify your position.