Chapter 2

Question 1

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

Answer 1

large database, compiled by the FBI, of crimes reported and arrests made each year throughout the United States

Question 2

Part I Crimes

Answer 2

Murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, arson, larceny, motor vehicle theft

Question 3

part II crimes

Answer 3

all other crimes, aside from the eight part I crimes, included in the UCR arrest data. Part II crimes include drug offenses, sex crimes, and vandalism, among others.

Question 4

cleared crimes

Answer 4

crimes are considered cleared when at least one person is arrested, charged, and turned over to the court for prosecution or when some element beyond police control (such as the offender having left the country) precludes the physical arrest of an offender.

Question 5

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Answer 5

program that requires local police agencies to provide a brief account of each incident and arrest within 22 crime patterns, including incident, victim, and offender information

Question 6

Sampling

Answer 6

selecting a limited number of people for study as representative of a larger group

Question 7

population

Answer 7

all people who share a particular characteristic, such as all high school students or all police officers

Question 8

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Answer 8

The ongoing victimization study conducted jointly by the Justice Department and the U.S. Census Bureau that surveys victims about their experience with law violation.

Question 9

Self-report survey

Answer 9

a research approach that requires subjects to reveal their own participation in delinquent or criminal acts

Question 10

instrumental crimes

Answer 10

offenses designed to improve the financial or social position of the criminal

Question 11

expressive crimes

Answer 11

offenses committed not for profit or gain but to vent rage, anger, or frustration.

Question 12

aging out

Answer 12

phrase used to express the fact that people commit less crime as they mature.

Question 13

neurotransmitter

Answer 13

a chemical substance, such as dopamine, that transmits nerve impulses from one neuron to another (neurons are specialized cells that make up the body’s nervous system).

Question 14

masculinity hypothesis

Answer 14

the view that women who commit crimes have biological and psychological traits similar to those of men,

Question 15

liberal feminist theory

Answer 15

a view of crime that suggests that the social and economic role of women in society controls their crime rates

Question 16

racial threat theory

Answer 16

as the size of the black population increases, the perceived threat to the white population increases, resulting in a greater amount of social control imposed on blacks.

Question 17

chronic offenders (career criminals)

Answer 17

the smallest group of persistent offender who account for a majority of all criminal offenses.

Question 18

early onset

Answer 18

the view that repeat offenders begin their criminal careers at a very young age

Question 19

“three-strikes”

Answer 19

laws that require offenders to serve life in prison after they are convicted of a third felony.