Chapter 1 Pt. 1

Question 1

Why are homicide and sex offending are a concern?

Answer 1

they offend the high value we place on human life and personal safety

Question 2

What is the difference between etiology and epidemiology?

Answer 2

etiology- the causes and risk factors in the onset, persistent, and desistance

epidemiology- the social, spatial, and temporal distribution of these crimes

Question 3

What are the 3 definitions of crime?

Answer 3

1) normative/moral definitions
2) legal/legalistic definitions
3) labeling/interactionist definitions

Question 4

A normative/moral definition of crime would suggest that everyone in a society agrees that:
1)
2)

Answer 4

1) murder is wrong and those who commit this act should be punished severly by death or life imprisonment
2) calling someone an “idiot” is not very nice but nearly everyone would agree that it shouldn’t be against the law

Question 5

Which type of definition of crime is this:

criminal behavior represents conduct that violates public standards of morality

Answer 5

normative/moral definitions

Question 6

Pre-industrial societies= _____ level of agreement

Highly diverse and industrialized societies=____ level of agreement

Answer 6

high

low

Question 7

Which type of definition of crime is this:

crime is a violation of legal rules

Answer 7

legal/legalistic definitions

Question 8

Crime-law-violating behavior that involves a _______ ____ (actus reus), a ______ _____ (mens rea), and __________ (the union of the physical and mental elements)

Answer 8

physical act
mental state
concurrence

Question 9

Crime-law-violating behavior that involves a physical act (______ ____), a mental state (____ ____), and concurrence (____ _____ __ ____ _______ and _______ ________)

Answer 9

actus reus
mens rea
the union of the physical and mental elements

Question 10

What are the additional conditions of legal definitions of crime?

Answer 10

1) the act must involve conscious, voluntary, public harm
2) the offender must have criminal intent
3) the law must specify a punishment for any criminal act and the act must be illegal at the time it was committed

Question 11

What are the different types of criminal intent, from most sever to lease severe?

Answer 11

1) purposefully
2) knowingly
3) recklessly
4) negligently

Question 12

Which level of criminal intent is this:

done with specific intent

Answer 12

purposefully

Question 13

Which level of criminal intent is this:

conscious risk taking

Answer 13

recklessly

Question 14

Which level of criminal intent is this:

unconscious risk taking

Answer 14

negligently

Question 15

Police departments in the U.S. and other countries use a _____ definition of crime when compiling and counting crime data

Answer 15

legal

Question 16

______ _________ is the basis of labeling/interactionist definition of crime

Answer 16

Social construction

Question 17

Which type of definition of crime is this:

assumes that no behavior is inherently criminal (except murder and rape)

Answer 17

labeling/interactionist definition

Question 18

labeling/interactionist definition is also based off of ________ ______

Answer 18

conflict theory

Question 19

Which type of definition of crime is this:

those without power are criminalized for doing the same acts that the powerful do

Answer 19

labeling/interactionist definition

Question 20

What are moral panics?

Answer 20

the seriousness of a specific crime problem may be grossly overstated by police and the mass media to create a panic that mobilizes various resources to fight this problem

Question 21

Having an accurate measrure of crime is important for what 3 reasons?

Answer 21

1) enables police to allocate resources to fight crime because stats will show the “hot spots” for criminal behavior/risk factors
2) criminologists need an accurate measure of the nature and extent of crime to evaluate the ultility of criminological theories
3) important for citizens to have a reasonable estimate of their risks of criminal victimization

Question 22

What are the 3 distinct approaches for counting crime and its characteristics?

Answer 22

1) the use of official crime statistics compiled by police departments (UCR)
2) self-report studies
3) surveys of crime victims

Question 23

What is the most widely used source of crime data in the U.S?

Answer 23

UCR

Question 24

UCR was created by the ____ in the _____’s

Answer 24

FBI

1930

Question 25

True or False: UCR data is a voluntary program

Answer 25

true

Question 26

UCR data covers about ___% of police agencies

Answer 26

95%

Question 27

Why are police reports on crime not an accurate measure of the extent of crime?

Answer 27

most crimes in the U.S. and other countries are unknown to police

Question 28

Primary classification used in UCR is divided into _____ ______ (part __ offenses) and the ____-_____ ______ (part __ offenses)

Answer 28

index crimes
I
non-index crimes
II

Question 29

What type of crimes are under index crimes (part I offenses)?

Answer 29

• violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault)

- property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson)

Question 30

most of the index crimes known to the police are _________ crimes

Answer 30

property

Question 31

What is the most prevalent index crime?

Answer 31

larceny-theft

Question 32

The higher clearance rate for these violent crimes is attributed to what factors?

Answer 32

1) greater pressure on police departments to “solve” homicides and thus, they devote more resources to investigate them
2) most murders and aggravated assaults involve family members and friends/acquantances, making them a easier crime to identify the suspects
3) (due to personal relationship with their victims) offenders of murders and aggravated assaults are more likely to call the police and report these crimes themselves

Question 33

violent crime rates are generally higher in the _________ and ________ states

Answer 33

southern

western

Question 34

violent crime rates tend to be higher in geographical areas with ________ population density

Answer 34

higher

Question 35

True or False: there is little dramatic difference in states and geographical areas when it comes to property crimes

Answer 35

true

Question 36

Groups more likely to be arrested for both violent and property crimes?

Answer 36

• males
• african-americans
• 18-24 years old

Question 37

What are some problems with UCR data as an accurate measure of crime?

Answer 37

1) crimes known to the police are not representative of all crimes
2) national coverage problems
3) non-uniform reporting of UCR data aerocs jurisdictions

Question 38

People don’t report crime to police for what reasons?

Answer 38

1) a feeling that nothing could be done
2) fear of retaliation by the offender for reporting it
3) a belief that it was a “private matter”
4) a belief that the police would not want to be bothered even if the offense was reported

Question 39

What are the dark figures of crime?

Answer 39

gap between the amount of crimes known to the police and the true extent of crime

Question 40

Self report surveys are better at addressing that “____ ______ __ _____” gap

Answer 40

dark figure of crime

Question 41

Self report surveys have been used to examine behaviors like?

Answer 41

• drug and alcohol use
• employee theft and other types of white collar crimes
• domestic violence
• income tax evasion
• sex offending

Question 42

Self report data shows less demographic differences than ____ data

Answer 42

UCR

Question 43

the _________ _____ represents the proportion of crimes known to the police that are cleared by arrest of the suspect

Answer 43

clearance rate

Question 44

most arrests in the U.S. are for ___-_____ crimes

Answer 44

non-index