True/False

Question 1

• Young adults are more likely to be the victims of serious violent crime
  than the elderly.

Answer 1

A: True.

Question 2

• Juveniles under age 18 commit the bulk of the major violent crime in the U.S.

Answer 2

A: False.
*Juveniles are overrepresented

Question 3

• Suicide is a more frequent occurrence than murder in American society. A: True.
• Twice more than murder

Question 4

• Most murder that is committed in the U.S. is cleared by arrest.

Answer 4

A: True.

• Clearance rate for murder is higher than for all other index crimes.

Question 5

• The murder and serious assault rates in the U.S. are higher today than ever before.

Answer 5

False.
* Murder rate peaked 1980 at 10.2/100,000, only time since WWII above 10; 23,040 killings.
* Highest volume of murders post WWII was 1991 at 24,703, rate 9.8/100,000.
* Major crime drop in murder beginning about 1994. Continued for two decades until 2014

Question 6

• Most murder that occurs in the U.S. is classified as related to the use of narcotic drugs.

Answer 6

False.
* Small portion of all murder is actually classified as related to narcotic drug laws or drug related brawls. UCR 2022: About 2.5%

Question 7

• Children who are the victims of murder are killed more often by people they know.

Answer 7

True.
o Jon Benet Ramsay
* Polly Klass

Question 8

• Violent crime is more common and occurs at higher rates than property crime.

Answer 8

A: False

*Violent crime is a much smaller component of all crime than is property crime or even other forms of crime. 
*More than 4:5 crimes known to the police are property or vice crimes.

Question 8

• All types of major violent crime are seldom if ever reported and/or known to the police.

Answer 8

A: False.
* About 42% of all NCVS serious violent victimizations combined were reported to the police in 2022 (AA, rape, robbery); about 46% in 2021. Decreased slightly.
* Alan Lizotte

Question 9

• The death penalty is an effective deterrent for lowering the murder rate.perpetrate.

Answer 9

A: False.
*Since the 1960s, the murder rate in the U.S. has varied inconsistently with the number of executions, sometimes going up, down, or remaining steady.
*Jack Katz: People who kill often experience anger that builds to rage, or they feel “righteous” about the killings that they

Question 10

• Most serious violent crime in the U.S. is committed by a small percentage of people.

Answer 10

A:True.
* Marvin Wolfgang
* Terrie Moffit

Question 10

• Most major violent crimes are committed by people with severe mental illness.

Answer 10

A: False
* Most serious violence aren’t committed by the mentally ill, usally not dangerous and more elikely to be victims of serious violence

Question 11

• Serial murder is a predatory form of killing that occurs primarily in the U.S.

Answer 11

A: False.
* Documented in multiple countries
* Eric Hickey: Serial Killers and their Victims

Question 12

• Women are more fearful of becoming the victims of serious violence than are men.

Answer 12

A: True.
* Kenneth Ferraro: Fear of Crime

Question 13

• Less than half of all murder and non-negligent manslaughter is committed with a firearm.

Answer 13

A: False.

• UCR 2021 & 2022 combined: 3:4 murders occurred with a firearm. (55% of suicides in 2021).
• About 1:12 (8%) killings occurred with a knife, 1:25 (4%) hands/fists/feet, 1:50 (2%) a blunt object; killings by poison, fire, strangulation, asphyxiation, or drowning are rare.

Question 14

• A majority of the American public today favor the use of the death penalty for premeditated murder.

Answer 14

A: True (with qualification)