Crime in Am Ch 5 – Flashcards
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Rational choice suggests
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offenders commit crime because of the benefits it brings them.
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Which of the following statements fits neoclassical thinking?
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Criminals act with free will
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What was the dominant source of knowledge in the Western world through the middle ages?
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Religion
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Neoclassical explanations of crime are rooted in _____.
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Economic thinking
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Which of the following best reflects the beliefs of classical school philosophers such as Beccaria and Bentham?
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They believed that people acted to maximize pleasure and reduce pain.
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Which of the following best describes Beccaria's position regarding punishment as a deterrent to crime?
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It must be certain and swift
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Rational choice perspective emphasizes two related concepts:
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Situational factors and opportunity
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Regarding deterrence theory, various kinds of evidence suggest that ____ especially has little or no deterrent effect.
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Severe Punishment
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Which of the following best reflects the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment?
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A time when religious views began to give way to scientific explanations
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Why was Joan of Arc burned at the stake?
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She was thought to be a witch.
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Which type of criminal offense is committed for emotional reasons and with little or no planning?
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Expressive
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Which of the following types of crimes is considered more deterrable?
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Instrumental
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Positivism suggests that
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forces both outside and inside an individual might affect his/her likelihood of breaking the law.
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The idea that areas with high crime rates have lower arrest rates because their police are "extra" busy, and their police also realize that too many arrests would overburden the criminal justice system is known as the _____ argument.
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System capacity
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The idea that potential and actual legal punishment can deter crime is a synopsis of _____.
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Deterrence Theory
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Which type of crime offense is committed for material gain with some degree of planning?
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Instrumental
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Which of the following has become so common in the US, especially among young males in large cities, that scholars think they have lost the stigma they once held?
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Arrest and imprisonment
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Who pioneered the classical school of criminology?
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Beccaria
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Which of the following best expresses situational crime prevention?
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Efforts that aim to reduce exposure to motivated offenders
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Which of the following is an example of situational crime prevention?
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Hot-spot policing
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During the Enlightenment period, because laws were vague and different judges handed out different sentences, justice could be described as _____.
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Arbitrary
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The effect of increasing severity, certainty and/or swiftness of legal punishment is called _____.
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Marginal Deterrence
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Which of the following countries has enacted the most mandatory penalty laws?
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United States
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Which of the following reflects what routine activities theory suggests is a lack of guardianship?
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A child playing in a park alone
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Contemporary rational choice suggests that:
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offenders carefully plan all crimes they commit.
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Sociopaths are characterized by ________.
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cruelty and lack of empathy
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Correctional psychology is a branch of Forensic psychology which is designed to ________ and ________ mentally ill criminals.
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treat;rehabilitate
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Unlike the self-control theory, which accounts for episodes of stealing because of a disorder causing the compulsion to steal, the ________ theory accounts for the behavior by assuming the individual is following examples of parental or guardian criminal behavior experienced in childhood.
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modeling
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Psychological criminology focuses its analysis of criminal behavior on ________.
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individuals
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Stewart Palmer studied murderers and their siblings and found that male murderers experienced more ________ than their siblings.
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frustrations
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Mentally ill individuals can sometimes be convicted of their crimes if their illness is insufficient to justify their criminal actions. This is known as ________.
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substantial capacity
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In 1984, the Insanity Defense Reform Act ________.
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allowed the mentally ill to be found not guilty in court if their crimes were a product of their illness
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Criminal history, a history of ________ and criminogenic needs, including antisocial thoughts, values, and behaviors, were all found to be predictors of recidivism.
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pre-adult antisocial behavior
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Individuals who seek immediate gratification and lack persistence and focus may suffer from ________.
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impulse control issues
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In the context of psychological criminological theories, which individual feature is believed to be primarily responsible for the occurrence of crime?
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personality
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Hot-spot policing involves intensive police patrols of high crime areas.
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true
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Positivism stresses free will as the main reason for criminal behavior.
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false
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General deterrence is when someone does not offend because of fear of punishment.
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true
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Psychological solutions focus on the individual.
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true
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Ectomorphs are muscular and prone to violence.
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false
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When both members of a part act alike, it is called _____.
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concordance
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Criminals always act rationally choice assumes.
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true
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Some of the most important work in psychology and crime focuses on _____.
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personality
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People only commit crime for financial reward.
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false
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Prenatal problems concern effects of pregnancy and birth complications.
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false
