Criminology–Ch 4-6 – Flashcards
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            ____________ involves employing the scientific method to produce research findings that can validate a theory.
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        Deontology
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            According to WIlliam Sheldon, who believed that criminals manifest distinct physiques, which somatotype was most likely to become criminal?
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        Mesomorph
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            Which criminologist believed that criminals could be identified by observing the physical traits of offenders?
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        Lombroso
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            Sociobiology differs from earlier theories of behavior in that it stresses that genetic and biological conditions affect:
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        How social behaviors are percieved
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            Henry Goddard, Richard Dugdale, adnd Arthur Estabrook were advocates of which school of thought?
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        Chicago school
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            The belief that no serious consideration should be given to biological factors when attempting to understand human nature is known as:
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        Biophobia
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            Which of the following statements pertaining to the link between lead and crime is inaccurate?
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        The average blood lead level has increased over the past decade
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            The study of brain activity is called:
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        Neurophysiology
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            It has been argued that declining levels of which hormone help to explain the aging-out process?
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        Testosterone
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            Neurological deficits may interact with another trait or social condition to produce antisocial behaviors. Research conducted by Raine found that children who had experienced birth complications and who then experienced ______ were more likely to engage in criminal offending than children who did not experience these factors.
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        Maternal Rejection
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            Explosive rage disorder is considered an important cause of spouse and child abuse, suicide, aggressiveness, and motiveless homicide. This disorder is a type of:
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        Neurotransmitter Disorder
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            A disorder in which a child shows a developmentally inappropriate lack of attention and an excess of impulsivity is known as:
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        Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
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            Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often accompanied by which disorder?
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        Conduct disorder
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            The notion that some individuals may engage in crime because of the attraction of "getting away with it" is known as:
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        Arousal Theory
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            What do studies of monozygatic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins indicate?
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        If one member of a twin pair was delinquent, so was the other, and the effect was greater for MZ twin pairs
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            Some researchers feel that what appears to be a genetic effect, evidenced in twin research, is usually the effect of sibling influence on criminality. This is referred to as the:
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        Twin Effect
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            According to Freud, which part of the brain is involved in instant gratification?
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        Id
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            According to Freud, the superego is the ________ aspect of one's personality.
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        Moral
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            According to Freud, which part of the brain controls impulses and desires for immediate gratification?
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        Id
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            John Bowlby is most closely associated with which theory?
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        Attachment
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            The psychodynamic model of the criminal offender depicts an aggressive, frustrated person dominated by events that occurred during:
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        Early childhood
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            The concept used to describe people who have feelings of inadequacy and compensate for them with a drive for superiority (controlling others) is:
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        Inferiority complex
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            Social learning theory holds that people learn to be aggressive through their life experiences. Which of these is not a source of this behavior-modeling process?
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        Religious affiliation
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            Errors in cognition and information processing have been used to explain the behavior of child abusers. What distorted thinking pattern/perception is expressed by child abusers?
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        Abusers express all these thinking patterns/perceptions
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            People at the highest stages of moral development refrain from crime because they:
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        Believe in duty to others and universal rights
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            Some violent offenders have a disturbed character structure commonly referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy, or antisocial personality. What is known about the psychopathic personality?
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        Children who lack the opportunity to form an attachment to a mother figure during the first three years of life are most likely to develop psychopathic personalities
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            One of the most widely used psychological tests designed to measure many different personality traits, including psychopathic deviation, schizophrenia, and hypomania, is known as the:
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        Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
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            A frequently administered personality test used to distinguish deviant from nondeviant groups is the.
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        California Personality Inventory
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            Psychologist Hans Eysneck linked personality to crime when he identified two distinct traits--extroversion/introversion and
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        Stability--instability
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            The antisocial personality concept seems to mesh with what is known about chronic offending. Which percent of chronic offenders exhibit sociopathic behavior patterns?
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        80
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            According to the moral and intellectual development branch cognitive theory, what is wrong with criminals?
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        They have low levels of moral reasoning development
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            Recent research on IQ and crime suggests that low IQ increases the likelihood of criminal behavior through its effect on:
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        School performance
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            Which crime-prevention programs focus on reducing recidivism rates?
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        Tertiary prevention programs
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            Beccaria believed that criminals choose to commit crime and that criminal choices could be controlled by:
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        Fear of punishment
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            Beccaria believed that humans were naturally:
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        Egotistical and self-centered
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            Rational choice theory is rooted in the classical school of criminology developed by:
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        Cesare Beccaria
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            If petty offenses were subject to the same punishment as more serious crimes, offenders would choose the worst crime. This is referred to as the concept of:
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        Marginal deterrence
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            Beccaria's beliefs and writings about the proportionality of crime and punishment have been credited as the basis for the elimination of what nineteenth-century practice?
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        Torture
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            Before choosing to commit a crime, _________ criminals evaluate the risk of apprehension, the seriousness of punishment, the potential value, and the immediate need for criminal gain.
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        Reasoning
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            Who wrote Seductions of Crime, a book that argues that there are immediate benefits to criminality?
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        Jack Katz
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            The view that criminals are not robots who engage in random acts of antisocial behavior reflects ____________ crime.
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        Offender-specific
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            ___________ violations involve encounters in which the grievant's essential character has been challenged.
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        Status-based
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            Most burglars prefer to commit crimes in neighborhoods that contain a greater than usual number of access streets. These neighborhoods are referred to as:
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        Permeable neighborhoods
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            While outwardly considered the most irrational of offenders, serial murders are considered rational killers because:
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        They pick their targets with care
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            Some law violators describe the adrenaline rush that comes from successfully executing illegal activities in dangerous situations. This integration of danger, risk, and skill is, for some, a seduction of crime and is referred to as:
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        Edgework
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            The belief that crime can be reduced by modifying that physical environment to reduce opportunity is called:
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        Defensible space
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            Well-lit housing projects that maximize surveillance reflect Oscar Newman's concept of _______ that suggests that crime can be prevented via the use of residential architectural designs that reduce criminal opportunity.
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        Defensible space
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            When urban planners consider the characteristics of sites that are at risk for crime, the factors that attract people to these sites, and what equips potential criminals to take advantage of the illegal opportunities offered, they are engaging in a practice known as:
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        Situational crime prevention
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            Brightly displaying "no littering" signs is an example of eliminating:
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        Excuses
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            Adding a security guard to reduce shoplifting in a department store is an example of a crime:
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        Discourager
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            When efforts to prevent one crime unintentionally prevents another and when crime control efforts in one locale reduce crime in other, nontarget areas, this is called:
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        Diffusion of benefits
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            Situational crime prevention is not without its problems. When crime-reduction programs redirect offenders to alternative targets, the practice is termed:
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        Crime displacement
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            Officer Smith with the Charleston, SC, police department begins motorcycle patrols in an effort to reduce public intoxication offenses in the downtown area. The increased police presence reduces public intoxication offenses in downtown Charleston, but in neighboring communities, a spike in these offenses occurs. This is an example of:
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        Displacement
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            When an effort to prevent one crime has the unintended consequences of preventing other crimes, this is referred to as:
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        Diffusion of benfits
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            According to ____________, punishment has the potential to discourage all individuals in the population from committing crime.
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        General Deterrence
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            According to the deterrence theory, if the probability of arrest, conviction, and sanctioning could be increased, crime rates should:
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        Decline
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            The three components of deterrence theory are severity, certainty, and speed of legal sanctions (punishment). Of these components, deterrence theorists tend to believe that the which component of punishment seems to have the strongest impact.
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        Certainty
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            The Kansas City, Missouri, police department's study of patrol effectiveness convinced criminologists that:
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        The mere presence of patrol officers on the street did not have a deterrent effect
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            "Crackdowns" are sudden changes in police activity designed to lower crime rates through an increase in the communicated threat or actual certainty of punishment. What does research indicate about the effectiveness of crackdowns?
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        Crackdowns initially deter crime, but the effect soon wears off after the high-intensity police activity ends.
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            Which statement best reflects the effect of informal sanctions aimed at shame and humiliation?
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        Their effectiveness depends on the amount of media attention they recieve
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            What do immediate impact studies indicate about capital punishment's deterrent effect on murder?
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        Impact studies indicate that the overall impact of executions might actually increase the incidence of homicide.
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            According to rational choice theory, why might a criminal decide not to commit crime?
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        The criminal perceives that crime is too risky
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            ___________ argues that punishing an offender will prevent that offender from committing the same crime again.
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        Specific deterrence
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            After the famous Minneapolis domestic violence study, other studies and analyses have been conducted. Overall, what are the implications of these domestic violence studies?
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        These studies indicate that if offenders were released after arrest, no deterrent effect was evidenced.
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            Criminologists argue that "three strikes" policies will not work because:
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        Current sentences for violent crimes are already too severe
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            The view that purposes placing offenders behind bars during their prime crime years in order to lessen their opportunity to commit crime is known as:
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        Incapacitation effect
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            Evaluations of incarceration strategies reveal that their impact may be less than expected. Why might incarceration not work?
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        Because prison exposes young, impressionable offenders to higher-risk, more experienced inmates who can influence their lifestyle and shape their attitudes.
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            The philosophy of justice that asserts that those who violate the rights of others deserve to be punished is known as:
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        Just desserts
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            According to Von Hirsch's view on "just desserts," why is punishment based on deterrence or incapacitation wrong?
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        Punishment based on deterrence or incapacitation involves an offender's future actions.
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            The concept of "just desserts" has been proposed by Von Hirsch as a theoretical model to guide justice policy. Which statement reflects that just desserts theory is concerned with the rights of the accused?
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        An offender who violates others' rights deserves to be punished
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            Some rational choice theorists believe that all criminal behavior, no matter how destructive or seemingly irresponsible, is actually a matter of thought and decision making.
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        Ture
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            Rational choice theory has roots in the positivist school of criminology developed by Lombroso.
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        False
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            To deter people from committing more serious offenses, Beccaria believed punishment should be as severe as possible regardless of the offense.
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        False
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            British philosopher Jeremy Bentham helped popularize the view of utilitarianism.
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        True
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            According to Bentham, the purpose of law is to produce and support the total happiness of the community it serves.
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        False
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            British philosopher Sir Lawrence Driscoll wrote the book On Crimes and Punishment, from which the Classical School was developed.
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        False
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            If a crime is offense-specific, offenders have weighed their abilities, resources, needs, and levels of fear.
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        False
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            Status-based violations occur when an individual challenges a criminal's manhood or character.
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        True
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            The Division of Labor in Society was authored by:
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        Emile Durkheim
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            People in the United States live in what type of society?
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        Stratified
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            Which of the following groups has the lowest level of income?
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        African American
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            Individuals who have been cut off from society and whose members lack the education and skills needed to be effectively in demand in modern society are considered members of the:
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        Underclass
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            In 1966, Oscar Lewis argued that the crushing lifestyle or lower-class areas produce __________, which is/are passed from one generation to the next.
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        Culture of poverty
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            Poverty during early childhood may have a more severe impact on behavior than poverty during adolescence or adulthood. What percent of American children live in poverty?
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        45
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            Members of the underclass who are socially isolated, live in urban inner cities, occupy the bottom rung of the social ladder, and are the victims of discrimination are known as:
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        The truly disadvantaged
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            What are the three branches of social structure theory?
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        Social disorganization theory, strain theory, cultural deviance theory
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            A socially disorganized area is one in which ___________ have broken down and can no longer carry out their expected or stated functions.
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        Institutions of social control
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            The theory that holds that crime is a function of one's inability to achieve personal goals (such as earning money, owning a home, having a nice car) because society is stratified by socioeconomic class is called:
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        Strain theory
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            According to Durkheim, __________ occurs in a society in which rules of behavior have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis, such as war or famine.
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        Anomie
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            ___________ is a characteristic of preindustrial society, held together by traditions, shared values, and unquestioned beliefs.
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        Mechanic Solidarity
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            When individuals use culturally approved means to attain social goals, this is known as:
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        Innovation
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            When an individual accepts the goals of society, but rejects the legitimate means and instead achieves the goals through crime, it is called:
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        Rebellion
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            Those who reject the goals but retain the traditional means to retain the little they have been able to achieve represent which type of adaption?
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        Conformists
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            Institutional anomie argues that the high rate of crime in the United States is due to its overemphasis on which institution?
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        Economics
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            The application of sociological concepts to criminology can be traced to the works of Quetelet and Durkheim.
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        True
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            People in the United States live in a stratified society.
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        True
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            Findings suggest that poverty experienced during adolescence may have a more severe impact than poverty experienced during early childhood or during childhood.
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        False
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            The three branches of social structure theory are social disorganization, deterrence, and cultural deviance.
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        False
