Deck 2: Defining and Measuring Offenses by and Against Juveniles

Question 1

______, as a source of crime data, are gathered from offenders themselves.

A) NIBRS
B) NCVS
C) Self-reports
D) Police observational studies

Answer 1

C

Question 2

______ studies, however, are subject to criticism on the basis that respondents may underreport or overreport delinquency or abuse as a result of either poor recall or deliberate deception.

A) NIBRS
B) NCVS
C) Police observational
D) Self-report

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Because the ______ definition of delinquency includes many juveniles who do not become part of official statistics, we need to rely on unofficial, and sometimes questionable, methods for assessing the extent and nature of unofficial or "hidden" delinquency and abuse.

A) behavioral
B) standard
C) legal
D) statutory

Answer 3

A

Question 4

One of the most persistent roadblocks to juvenile justice reform across the country is ______.

A) media reports of youth violence
B) societal belief in a punitive approach
C) definitions of delinquency
D) resistance to change

Question 5

Because ______ definitions depend on official adjudication, they lead us to concentrate on only a small portion of those actually involved as offenders and victims.

A) behavioral
B) standard
C) legal
D) statutory

Question 6

In general, researchers prefer a ______ definition of delinquency because it provides a more realistic picture of the extent and nature of offenders and victims.

A) legal
B) standard
C) federal
D) behavioral

Question 7

Many states have encountered opposition to blanket laws to decriminalize ______ among underage youth because this would undermine the ability of police to intervene and exert their authority over the youth.

A) prostitution
B) status offenses
C) drug use
D) property crimes

Question 8

______, as a source of crime data, are gathered by trained observers who ride with police officers.

A) NIBRS
B) NCVS
C) Self-reports
D) Police observational studies

Question 9

A problem with legal definitions has been the ambiguity reflected with respect to:

A) gender.
B) age.
C) crime definition.
D) behavior.

Question 10

The ______, as a source of crime data, are based upon reports to law enforcement agencies.

A) NCVS
B) UCR
C) self-reports
D) metadata

Question 11

Black and Reiss (1970) found that in urban areas, only about ______ of police encounters with juveniles involved alleged felonies.

A) 25%
B) 2%
C) 6%
D) 5%

Question 12

Which of the following are reasons why crimes are not reported to the police?

A) fear of reprisal
B) too inconvenient
C) lack of proof
D) all of these

Question 13

______ definitions focus on juveniles who offend or are victimized even if they are not officially adjudicated.

A) Legal
B) Standard
C) Behavioral
D) Federal

Question 14

The ______, as a source of crime data, are collected from victims instead of law enforcement agencies.

A) NIBRS
B) NCVS
C) self-reports
D) metadata

Question 15

______ is/are a major error with the NCVS.

A) Underreporting
B) Overreporting
C) Crime definitions
D) Both overreporting and crime definitions

Question 16

Numbers of children suffering from abuse and neglect remain ______ in the United States.

A) low
B) moderately low
C) high
D) unchanged

Question 17

______ definitions of delinquency hold that only those who have been officially labeled by the courts are offenders.

A) Behavioral
B) Legal
C) Standard
D) Federal

Question 18

With respect to the minimum age at which children should be afforded court protection changed with the emergence of ______ and ______, both of which may have serious prenatal effects.

A) crack, methamphetamine
B) heroin, prescription pills
C) controlled substances, case law
D) case law, runaway children

Question 19

______ definitions of delinquency hold that those whose behavior violates statutes applicable to them are offenders whether or not they are officially labeled.

A) Behavioral
B) Legal
C) Standard
D) Federal

Question 20

______ is/are major error(s) with the UCR.

A) Underreporting
B) Overreporting
C) Definitional differences
D) Both underreporting and definitional differences

Question 21

Victimization surveys do not include interviews with children under the age of ______.

A) 11
B) 12
C) 13
D) none of these

Question 22

A source of statistical information on children missing due to criminal behaviors, parental kidnapping, and juvenile gang crimes would be found in the ______.

A) UCR
B) NIBRS
C) NCVS
D) self-reports

Question 23

Without specific definitions, accurate measurement is impossible, making development of programs to prevent and control delinquency and offenses against juveniles extremely difficult.

Question 24

Despite growth in the juvenile population over the past decade, crime and violence by juveniles have not declined.

Question 25

A basic difficulty with legal definitions is that they differ from time to time and from place to place.

Question 26

In their study using self-reports of delinquent behavior, Short and Nye found ______.

A) no difference between the extent and nature of delinquent acts committed by non-institutionalized youth and those committed by institutionalized youth
B) little difference between the extent and nature of delinquent acts committed by non-institutionalized youth and those committed by institutionalized youth
C) a large difference between the extent and nature of delinquent acts committed by non-institutionalized youth and those committed by institutionalized youth
D) a major disjunctive between the extent and nature of delinquent acts committed by non-institutionalized youth and those committed by institutionalized youth

Question 27

One of the major problems confronting those interested in learning more about offenses by and against juveniles involves defining the phenomena.

Question 28

Black juveniles were more likely to receive harsher dispositions in areas where the proportion of ______ was high.

A) Whites
B) Hispanics
C) Blacks
D) Asians

Question 29

Use of behavioral definitions necessitates reliance on unofficial methods to assess the extent and nature of hidden delinquency and abuse.

Question 30

In an attempt to combat some of the reporting problems found in UCR data since 1987, the FBI has been implementing an incident-based reporting system, a modification of the original UCR reporting system, throughout the United States.

Question 31

Using the behavioral definition, a juvenile who committed a relatively serious offense but was not apprehended would not be classified as delinquent.

Question 32

Nearly 60% of child victims suffered from ______, the most common form of child maltreatment.

A) physical abuse
B) neglect
C) sexual abuse
D) bullying

Question 33

Official statistics on abused and neglected children are only available from a limited number of sources.

Question 34

An act that is delinquent at one time and in one place might not be delinquent at another time or in another place.

Question 35

UCR data would be of value if one wanted to know something about the actual extent and distribution of delinquency, or about police handling of juveniles involved in less serious offenses.

Question 36

If we concentrate on juveniles who are not officially labeled, we get a far different picture from that if we include all of those who offend or are victimized.

Question 37

There is a dark figure of delinquent activity where a substantial amount of illegal behavior committed by youth is not detected.

Question 38

Poor recall and deliberate deception are both criticisms of the under- or over-reporting of abuse or delinquency in self-report studies.

Question 39

A problem with behavioral definitions is the ambiguity reflected with respect to age.

Question 40

Estimates of the extent of delinquency and abuse based on a legal definition are far lower than those based on a behavioral definition.

Question 41

Discuss the problems associated with the UCR/NIBRS crime statistic data.

Question 42

Discuss legal and behavioral definitions of delinquency. Include specific examples of how a specific offense might be analyzed under each definition as delinquent or not.

Question 43

Discuss the validity of the NCVS when combined with the UCR/NIBRS as a way to get to the dark figure of crime.

Question 44

Discuss the impact that different definitions of delinquency have on the juvenile justice system.

Question 45

Discuss the issues associated with measuring delinquency amongst juveniles.