Criminology Final Exam Study Guide - Flashcards

question

If you commit a crime under duress, what does this mean?

answer

you were forced to commit the crime

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Crime and deviance refer to the same actions and behaviors.

answer

false

question

Deviance is simply any act which violates what?

answer

society's norms

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Human actions that violate the formalized laws of a country are known as what?

answer

crimes

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Mens rea is the actual act that the person is accused of.

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false

question

A criminologist is an individual who studies crime and criminals.

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true

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What are norms that have an underlying shared assumption of approval or disapproval?

answer

mores

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Which of the following is someone who collects and examines evidence in actual crimes?

answer

criminalist

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Crime statistics are incredibly accurate.

answer

false

question

What is one possible problem with the statistics in the NCVS?

answer

people may not accurately report the crime that they have experienced

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What are formal norms called?

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laws

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The NCVS generally reveals more crime than the UCR.

answer

true

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Who argued that deviance has benefits for society?

answer

Emily Durkheim

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One of the most common research methods in criminology is which of the following?

answer

surveys

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What is the scientific study of crime called?

answer

criminology

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Phrenology suggested that by seeing or feeling a person's skull, we could have insight into their personality and which characteristics were over or under developed.

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true

question

Who suggested that a person's physical characteristics could predict whether they were criminal or not?

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Cesare Lombroso

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Bandura argued that once a person had learned aggressive behavior, something had to trigger it.

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true

question

Harold G. Grasmick suggested that people with low self-control are drawn to risk-taking behaviors that are exciting and dangerous.

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true

question

Who argued that individuals learn aggressive behavior by imitating and learning from others?

answer

Albert Bandura

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Freud argued that a person was more likely to commit crime when what part of the personality wasn't fully developed?

answer

superego

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Hans J. Eysenck in the 1960s argued that crime was related to what?

answer

personality traits

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What food was used as a defense for murder in the 1980s?

answer

sugar

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Researchers have ruled out pollution as a potential cause of crime.

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false

question

One study examined 1,000 youths in Philadelphia and found that high levels of what in the body was associated with higher crime rates?

answer

lead

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The Behavioral Science Unit (BSI) is a part of what agency?

answer

FBI

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One of the first instances when the "not guilty by reasons of insanity" defenses was used involved which defendant?

answer

Daniel M'Naughten

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Franz Joseph Gull suggested that a person's what could predict their criminal tendencies?

answer

skull

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The hormone testosterone has been linked to aggression.

answer

true

question

Freud argued that which part of our personality held our unconscious urges, desires, and drives?

answer

id

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Secondary deviance is continued deviance.

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true

question

Which theory says that people have differing amounts of access to illegitimate means of reaching society's goals?

answer

differential opportunity theory

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Criminologists don't believe that the social environment has any effect on crime.

answer

false

question

Which theory reflects the idea that it is the type of place that makes a difference in crime, more than the kinds of people that live in a certain place?

answer

theory of deviant places

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Merton argued that anomie occurs when society emphasizes a goal but the accepted means to achieve that goal are inadequate.

answer

true

question

Differential opportunity theory argues that we all have the same opportunity to commit crimes, indicating that it is something about the person which determines who becomes a criminal and who does not.

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false

question

According to Stark, which area would be most likely to have a high crime rate?

answer

a dense, mixed-used neighborhood

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What theory argues that the causes of crime are located in the social conditions of a society that empower the wealthy and disenfranchise the poor and others less fortunate?

answer

radical criminology

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Cloward and Ohlin argued that some people have a greater access to illegal opportunities than other people.

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true

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Radical criminology theories argue that crime like most human behavior is learned through watching other people and interacting with them.

answer

false

question

Conflict theorists argue that who uses the law in order to reinforce their place in society?

answer

powerful

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Merton's strain theory would have the most trouble explaining which crime?

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assault

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One study in 2004 found that only two states in the United States had laws and regulations which affected the reintegration of former offenders to society.

answer

false

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Who proposed 30 different suggestions for why crime remained high in some areas even when there was high population turn-over?

answer

Rodney Stark

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When a group is experiencing a lot of upheaval or social change for some reason, crime may increase, according to social disorganization theory.

answer

true

question

Which of the following includes robbery that occurs at businesses and commercial settings, such as banks or convenience stores?

answer

institutional robbery

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Individuals who commit assaults are most likely to be in which age group?

answer

15-34

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About what percent of homicide victims knew their killer?

answer

43

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Mass murders are homicides that involve the murder of several individuals in at least three separate events.

answer

false

question

Most items taken through larceny are taken from where?

answer

cars

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Statistics on arson are limited in the sense that only fires classified as arson are reported to agencies like the FBI.

answer

true

question

Some studies have found that about two-thirds of all individuals have shoplifted at some point in their life.

answer

true

question

What type of homicide includes crimes in which the offender planned to kill another person and then carried out the act?

answer

first degree murder

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Who are individuals who let burglars know about attractive targets?

answer

tipsters

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Assaults have been declining since the early 1990s.

answer

true

question

Which of the following is NOT a crime against persons?

answer

arson

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Shoplifting accounts for more business loss than employee theft.

answer

false

question

Which type of thief can be defined as an individual who has acquired a degree of skill, plans his crimes, generates relatively good amounts of money, and spends little time incarcerated?

answer

professional thief

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What type of homicide is that in which the victim and perpetrator knew each other as friends, family, or other acquaintances?

answer

primary homicide

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Which of the following is NOT classified as a crime against property?

answer

robbery

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Drug cartels in South America engage in which type of crime?

answer

transnational organized crime

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What involves the agreement on the part of multiple corporations to charge a particular price for a good or service?

answer

price-fixing

question

What type of employee is most likely to steal from their employer?

answer

dissatisfied

question

Which infamous individual took over organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s?

answer

Al Capone

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Some estimates indicate that corporate crime may cost society more than $389 billion dollars each year.

answer

true

question

What is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States?

answer

marijuana

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What percentage of Americans has tried an illegal drug at some point in their life?

answer

46 percent

question

One of the hallmarks of occupational crime is its focus on the individual.

answer

true

question

One of the most notorious cases of a company hiding a dangerous product involved which of the following?

answer

Ford Pinto

question

During what period of time did organized crime in the United States gain power and become more coordinated?

answer

prohibition

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Criminologists have always been more interested in white-collar crimes than in street crimes.

answer

false

question

What are crimes that effect society's ability to operate and people's ability to function?

answer

public order crimes

question

Embezzlement is the theft of what?

answer

company funds

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Most people who embezzle money act alone and do so without the knowledge of other people.

answer

true

question

What is the lending of money at interest rates higher than the legal limits called?

answer

loan sharking

question

Crime statistics indicate that arson is the most frequent property crime.

answer

false

question

Experiments are most common in which discipline?

answer

psychology

question

What are external forces that influence our actions and lives?

answer

social conditions

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With the adaptation of rebellion, people reject both the goal and the means of reaching the goal, but replace them with different goals and means of reaching them.

answer

true

question

Who argued in the 1960s that society creates deviance and deviant individuals by responding in particular ways to behaviors and actions?

answer

Howard Becker

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Mesomorphs have which of the following body types?

answer

muscular and athletic

question

Which theory examines how geographical location and features in that location affect crime?

answer

environmental criminology

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The FBI collects which crime statistics?

answer

Uniform Crime Reports

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A GBMI decision in a trial means what?

answer

the person is mentally ill, but is still responsible for his crimes

question

What weather factor is consistently connected to crime in studies?

answer

temperature

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Homicide is the most frequent crime.

answer

false

question

Criminologists do not believe that biology has any effect on crime.

answer

false

question

About what percent of arson fires are set by individuals under 18?

answer

fifty percent

question

In Merton's strain theory, which category involves individuals accepting the societal goal but using new ways of reaching that goal?

answer

innovation

question

Constitutional theories are those that explain crime as related to psychological attributes.

answer

false

question

In 2003, the number of homicides was what percent of the total number of crimes reported?

answer

less than one percent

question

What is deviant in one place or in one time period may not be deviant in other places or in other time periods.

answer

true

question

General deterrence is the idea that if people see the punishments given to offenders that they will be less likely to commit crimes themselves.

answer

true

question

What is one reason why not all crimes enter the system?

answer

not all crimes are reported

question

An offender would be most likely to be given probation if they committed which of the following crimes?

answer

shoplifting

question

All criminal cases must go through all of the stages of the criminal case process.

answer

false

question

Some scholars argue that the criminal justice system helps teach morality in society.

answer

true

question

What is a panel of citizens who hear the prosecution's case in secret hearings and decide whether the individual should be formally charged?

answer

grand jury

question

As the stages of the criminal case process continue, more and more cases are involved.

answer

false

question

Many states exclude certain crimes from being tried in the juvenile courts.

answer

true

question

An example of alternative sanctions is?

answer

so-called "boot camps"

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A preliminary hearing takes place in front of whom?

answer

a judge

question

What is the power by prosecutors to directly try juveniles in adult courts?

answer

direct file

question

In juvenile courts, the upper age limit is always which age or younger?

answer

17

question

All crimes are investigated by the police.

answer

false

question

Unlike adults, juveniles are found to be what instead of "guilty"?

answer

delinquent

question

What is the first stage in the criminal case process called?

answer

entry into the system

question

Neighborhood Watch is an example of what type of policing?

answer

community policing

question

Studies show that the death penalty deters people from committing crimes.

answer

false

question

Counting the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices, how many individuals make up the Supreme Court?

answer

9

question

The due process model is concerned with doing what for individuals?

answer

protecting them

question

What is the largest category of cases handled by the federal district courts?

answer

drug cases

question

Since 1900, about how many people have been executed by the state who have probably or certainly innocent of the crime they were convicted for?

answer

23

question

At the heart of the police subculture is the obligation of support and loyalty to other police officers.

answer

true

question

A Justice of the Peace must have a law degree to be appointed to the position.

answer

false

question

The process of selecting the jury is called voir dire.

answer

true

question

Who appoints individuals to the position of Chief Justice or Associate Justices in the Supreme Court?

answer

the President

question

Who oversees courts of limited jurisdiction?

answer

Justice of the Peace

question

Any person convicted of a crime has the right to appeal their conviction to the appellate courts when there may be an error on a point of law.

answer

true

question

How many judges are there on state supreme courts?

answer

5-9

question

What is lowest level of jurisdiction in the federal system?

answer

federal magistrates

question

The U.S. Supreme Court hears about 2,000 cases each year.

answer

false

question

Having to serve meals to the homeless would be an example of which type of punishment?

answer

community service

question

The process of learning the prison society and its expectations and rules is known as what?

answer

prisonization

question

Prisons are typically under whose control?

answer

the state or federal government

question

Parole officers spend most of their time on administrative tasks.

answer

false

question

What were prison hulks?

answer

decommissioned ships used to hold offenders

question

What type of prison are those with high walls and gun towers surrounding the prison?

answer

maximum security prison

question

What is prison argot?

answer

a unique vocabulary used by prisoners

question

By 2001, at least 140 prisons were being operated by private companies.

answer

true

question

On average, how much does it take to incarcerate a prisoner in the U.S. for one year?

answer

$20,000

question

The number of individuals sentenced to probation is about four times as many as those sentenced to prison.

answer

true

question

Men make up about what percentage of prisoners in the United States?

answer

90

question

Jails are facilities that hold individuals for up to one year and are administered by local officials.

answer

true

question

The average caseload for a probation officer is about how many cases?

answer

200

question

What is the main aim of all prisons and jails?

answer

security

question

Where are prisoners convicted of misdemeanors who are serving sentences of a year or less typically held?

answer

county jails

Criminology Final Exam Study Guide – Flashcards

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