Exam 1: Thinking Critically About Crime

What can the development of criminological theory be used to do?

Which of the following is not a key reason why most members of society have a distorted or biased view of serial murderers?

According to Merton, some crime occurs because people feel worthless if they cannot meet this goal of American society.

A crime-prevention program that focuses on improving schools and providing jobs in a neighborhood so residents will be more invested in the community and less likely to break the law would be based on which of the following theories?

What do conflict theorists consider to be at the root of most crime?

Explain why white-collar offenders tend to be more treated more leniently than street-crime offenders. Do you agree or disagree with way the criminal justice system has treated white-collar offenders? Explain your views. Why has our treatment of white-collar offenders changed in recent years?

This field emerged to improve our understanding of the social mechanisms for dealing with crime.

This type of law is most important to ensuring that society is orderly and citizens feel safe.

Explain why society's reaction to the breaking of laws is so complex. Do you think public interest in crime, even among people who have never personally been victimized, is a good thing? Explain your view.

According to strain theory, what is strain similar to?

Who proposed the classic definition of criminology?

These forces control how crime is defined and how criminal law works.

Traditionally, which of the following offenses has the criminal justice system treated most leniently?

Which of the following questions would be most likely to be asked by a criminologist, as opposed to a criminal justice practitioner?

This is a statement or set of statements that explains a concept and that has withstood repeated tests and can be used to make inferences about other concepts.

Because laws are made by people to control people, what are criminologists interested in?

What does "empirical validity" mean in terms of theory?

Which of the following is not a common social reaction to crime?

What is deviance?

Which type of law governs private rights and settles disputes between citizens?