Chapter 2 - Criminology

The UCR contains data on Part I and Part II crimes. Which of the following is not a Part I crime?​

Hate crime

Which neurotransmitter is shown to facilitate aggressive behavior?​

dopamine

People living in poverty are believed to engage in disproportionate amounts of _____ crimes, such as rape and assault, as a result of their rage, anger, and frustration against society.​

expressive

The majority of murderers use _____________ to commit their murder.​

firearms

According to the 2011 Monitoring the Future survey, the crime problem is​

greater than the UCR and NCVS indicate

The NCVS annually samples more than 40,000 _________ in order to estimate crime victimization. ​

households

According to the research on chronic offenders, punishment was ___________ related to chronic offending.​

inversely

UCR data associate social class with crime, indicating higher crime rates in inner-city, high-poverty areas. An alternative explanation for the association between social class and crime is ____, not actual criminal behavior patterns. ​

law enforcement practices

The view of crime suggesting that the social and economic roles of women in society control their crime rates is termed​

liberal feminist theory

The police chief in Anytown, USA, is conducting weekly seminars where the residents of his city can come and learn about crime rates, crime trends, and crime patterns in their city. Every week the seminars seem to become more popular. At the most recent seminar, 200 people attended. They had to move the seminar into the city auditorium.​ The theory explaining that some women have biological and psychological traits similar to those of men and thus may be more likely to commit crime is referred to as the _____ hypothesis.​

masculinity

The reporting accuracy of self-report studies is affected by the _____ phenomenon.​

missing cases

When evaluating the three primary sources of crime data, the crime patterns and trends are​

often quite similar

Discovery of the chronic offender has forced criminologists to consider _____ in their explanations of crime.​

persistence and desistence

Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins believe the _____ is the single most significant factor separating the crime problem in the United States from that of the rest of the developed world.​

proliferation of handguns

All of the following would be considered an instrumental crime except​

rape

Survey research involves _____, which is the process of selecting for study a limited number of subjects who are representative of entire groups sharing similar characteristics, called the population.​

sampling

What neurotransmitter is known to limit offensive behavior? ​

serotonin

Which of the following is not mentioned as a predictive factor for chronicity?​

single-parent households

A validity concern associated with the NCVS involves​

victims over reporting crime

Although self-report studies can be used to examine the offense history of prison inmates and drug users, most self-report studies have focused on _____ crime.​

youth

The police chief in Anytown, USA, is conducting weekly seminars where the residents of his city can come and learn about crime rates, crime trends, and crime patterns in their city. Every week the seminars seem to become more popular. At the most recent seminar, 200 people attended. They had to move the seminar into the city auditorium.​ ​ At this week's seminar, one of the participants asked the chief of police to comment on crime rates. Which statement below would the chief be able to state with certitude?

​"Speculating about future crime trends is risky because change can occur rapidly."

Wolfgang et al.'s second cohort study tracked males and females. What percentage of chronic offenders consisted of females?​

1 percent

Crime peaks in adolescence and then declines rapidly thereafter. What is the peak age for property crime?​

16

Martha is looking to move to a new city to raise her two young children. School quality and crime rates are her two biggest concerns that she will evaluate before deciding on which city to move to. Her employment is flexible in that she works from home. Thus she is able to work from anywhere in the country.​ One of Martha's children is a 15-year-old boy. He is starting high school in the fall. She is concerned that he will start to hang out with the wrong crowd and possibly begin to commit crime. According to the research, the peak age for property crime is believed to be ____, and thus Martha should be mindful of her son's activities.​

16

In Wolfgang et al.'s study of male juvenile delinquents, what percentage consisted of chronic offenders? ​

6 percent

Which of the following factors has been the most stable indicator of criminal likelihood?​

Age

Who has become a central focus of crime control policy?

Chronic offenders

Referring to the ecology of crime, which statement about crime and temperature is accurate?

Crime increases as temperature increases

Martha is looking to move to a new city to raise her two young children. School quality and crime rates are her two biggest concerns that she will evaluate before deciding on which city to move to. Her employment is flexible in that she works from home. Thus she is able to work from anywhere in the country.​ ​ Martha has decided to move to San Francisco, California. She decides to attend a neighborhood watch meeting where members of the local police department are speaking. They are explaining the crime trends over the past 30 years. Which of the following is accurate information concerning the crime rates?

Crime rates peaked in the 1990s and have been in sharp decline ever since.

Martha is looking to move to a new city to raise her two young children. School quality and crime rates are her two biggest concerns that she will evaluate before deciding on which city to move to. Her employment is flexible in that she works from home. Thus she is able to work from anywhere in the country.​ Martha calls many police departments around the country, seeking information about their crime statistics. One particular police department recommends that she look at the published UCR reports. What agency is responsible for publishing these UCR reports?​

FBI

The Uniform Crime Report is a primary source of crime data collected by the​

FBI

According to the research on chronic offenders, arrests and court experiences deter chronic offenders.​

False

Although people are disturbed by media accounts of violent incidents, in reality media reports simply reflect the significant increase in violent crimes since 1991.​

False

Chronic offenders eventually age out of crime.​

False

Most reported crimes occur during the months of April and May.​

False

Rehabilitation is the current sentencing approach taken to deal with chronic offenders.​

False

The "Hierarchy Rule" impacts the validity of the National Crime Victimization Survey.​

False

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the federal agency that collects data from local law enforcement agencies and publishes them yearly in its Uniform Crime Report (UCR).​

False

Wolfgang and associates' second cohort study found that 6 percent of female delinquents were chronic offenders.​

False

The police chief in Anytown, USA, is conducting weekly seminars where the residents of his city can come and learn about crime rates, crime trends, and crime patterns in their city. Every week the seminars seem to become more popular. At the most recent seminar, 200 people attended. They had to move the seminar into the city auditorium.​ The community is concerned that the police department is not deploying its manpower effectively. According to the research, during what months should police staffing be maximized?​

July and August

The police chief in Anytown, USA, is conducting weekly seminars where the residents of his city can come and learn about crime rates, crime trends, and crime patterns in their city. Every week the seminars seem to become more popular. At the most recent seminar, 200 people attended. They had to move the seminar into the city auditorium.​ The police chief explains that there are problems with the UCR crime data. What is the biggest potential problem with the validity of UCR crime data?​

Many serious crimes are not reported to police and therefore are not counted in the UCR.

Martha is looking to move to a new city to raise her two young children. School quality and crime rates are her two biggest concerns that she will evaluate before deciding on which city to move to. Her employment is flexible in that she works from home. Thus she is able to work from anywhere in the country.​ Martha has narrowed her choices to New York in the Northeast, San Francisco in the West, Miami in the South, and Ohio in the Midwest. Based on the research on the ecology of crime, which of these cities has the highest crime rates?​

Miami

The police chief in Anytown, USA, is conducting weekly seminars where the residents of his city can come and learn about crime rates, crime trends, and crime patterns in their city. Every week the seminars seem to become more popular. At the most recent seminar, 200 people attended. They had to move the seminar into the city auditorium.​ The police chief recommends to the audience that they should look at other sources to evaluate statistics on crime. He suggests that the participants review the _______________ which is a comprehensive, nationwide survey of victimization in the United States conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. ​

NCVS

Martha is looking to move to a new city to raise her two young children. School quality and crime rates are her two biggest concerns that she will evaluate before deciding on which city to move to. Her employment is flexible in that she works from home. Thus she is able to work from anywhere in the country.​ Martha is particularly concerned with drug offenses and vandalism in the community that she will move to. These types of offenses are ____ crimes according to the official crime records.​

Part II

_____ theory suggests that as the African-American population increases, so does the amount of social control directed at them. This type of racism could account for the higher rates of minority crime in UCR data. ​

Racial threat

The UCR expresses data as raw figures, crime rates, and changes in the number and rate over time. How are crime rates expressed in the UCR?​

Rates per 100,000 total U.S. population

Which region of the United States has the highest crime rates?​

South

According to UCR data, what is known about today's property crime rate?​

The property crime rate has dropped more than 10 percent in the past decade.

As the number of guns in the population increases, so do violent crime rates.​

True

Critics of self-report studies frequently suggest that expecting people to candidly admit illegal acts is unreasonable.​

True

Most people commit less crime as they mature.​

True

Property crime rates have declined in recent years, dropping more than 10 percent during the past decade.​

True

Racial and ethnic differentials in crime rates are tied to economic and social disparity.​

True

Racial threat theory contends that as the percentage of African Americans in the population increases, so does the amount of social control that the justice system aims at blacks.​

True

Repeat offenders usually begin their careers at a very early age.

True

The National Crime Victimization Survey addresses the nonreporting of crime issue inherent in the UCR.​

True

The age structure of the population has a significant influence on crime trends.​

True

The elderly are particularly resistant to the temptations of crime.​

True

The weight of recent research suggests that serious crime is more prevalent in socially disorganized lower-class areas.​

True

Those living in poverty engage in disproportionate amounts of expressive crimes, such as rape and assault.​

True

Referring to the ecology of crime, which of the following settings has the highest violent crime rate?​

an urban area in the south

What biological process accounts for desistance and aging out?​

the level of hormone activity in the brain

What shortcoming in the UCR is addressed by the National Crime Victimization survey?​

the non-reporting issue

How does today's violent crime rate compare to the violent crime rate in 1991?​

today's violent crime rate has decreased by nearly 40 percent

Expressive crimes are committed to​

vent rage