Deck 2: Criminal Justice, Society, and Morality

Question 1

A society is perfect and all people living in it get along perfectly. This is an example of what?

A) One reason why there would not be a criminal justice system.
B) The goal of the criminal justice system.
C) A dream of many.
D) None of the above.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A free-for-all environment in which there is little order is called

A) Chaos.
B) The state of nature.
C) The way things are.
D) The natural way.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In a state of nature

A) Individuals would be responsible for enforcing their own self-interest, potentially by taking revenge against wrongdoers.
B) Individuals would fear that they would accidentally offend others and then be the victims of revenge.
C) There would be little to protect the weak from being victimized by the strong, who could take or do what they wished without fear of punishment.
D) All of the above.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Why do we need criminal justice agencies?

A) If everyone would just get along, we would not need them.
B) To punish criminals.
C) We need the police, courts, and corrections so we can maintain order in society.
D) None of the above.

Question 5

Because state of nature is an undesirable way to live, what do societies do?

A) Individuals agree to give up some of their freedom in exchange for security.
B) Engage in social contract theory.
C) Both a and b.
D) Live in chaos.

Question 6

In considering the amount of freedom to be exchanged for security, who determines this balance?

A) The court systems of this country.
B) Public opinion.
C) Social contract.
D) Both a and b.

Question 7

When a government does not have legitimacy, there may be

A) Protest.
B) Widespread disobedience of laws.
C) Revolution.
D) All of the above.

Question 8

Why is it important for us to consider the philosophies that underlie our criminal justice system?

A) Because it helps us stop crime.
B) So we do not return to a state of nature.
C) Because debates about these ideas shape understandings of the criminal justice system and perceptions of its legitimacy.
D) None of the above.

Question 9

The criminal justice system must meet a number of ideals, including

A) Fairness.
B) Equality.
C) Effectiveness.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

To criminal justice scholars, the answers to questions are typically grounded in

A) Textbooks.
B) The collection of data, such as statistics, careful observations, and in-depth interviews.
C) Moral opinions.
D) Keeping society safe.

Question 11

The general public's main concern with the criminal justice system is

A) What must occur for it to accomplish its goals.
B) It costs as little as possible to run.
C) That the system keeps society safe.
D) The methods that are used.

Question 12

The criminal justice professionals realize that the focus of the criminal justice system needs to be

A) What must occur for it to accomplish its goals.
B) As cost-efficient as possible.
C) That the system keeps society safe.
D) The focus should be the ends or outcomes, not the means or methods.

Question 13

Which of the following about morality is true?

A) Does not assume that there is a master list of moral or immoral actions against which all others are judged.
B) Refers to commonly accepted rules of conduct, patterns of behavior approved by a social group, and values and standards shared by the group.
C) Consists of beliefs about what is good and right held by a community with a shared history.
D) All of the above.

Question 14

How would a scholar view the role of prisons in protecting society?

A) What happens inside the prison is inconsequential.
B) What we can do while a criminal is in prison so he or she is less likely to commit a crime again on release.
C) The most important role of prisons is to lock up prisoners.
D) All of the above.

Question 15

Debates about physician-assisted suicide are an example of what?

A) Data collection.
B) Agency discretion.
C) Morality issue.
D) None of the above.

Question 16

A police department must address the problem of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI). The department comes up with several ideas to try and solve the problem. The ideas are known as

A) Strategies.
B) Programs.
C) Laws.
D) None of the above.

Question 17

An important question to consider when weighing various strategies for addressing DUI is

A) Is it fair to take DUI offenders home instead of holding them accountable for their actions?
B) Is it a good use of police resources to spend money on an advertising campaign, rather than spending it on other things?
C) Would aggressive enforcement strategies violate anyone's constitutional rights?
D) All of the above.

Question 18

An agency adopts a strategy of aggressively enforcing a state's law requiring seat belts to be worn by the occupants of a vehicle (and that failure to do so results in a $50 fine). What would be an example of a tactic to support this strategy?

A) Pull over all vehicles and then arrest any persons not wearing seat belts.
B) Put up signs that encourage seat belt usage.
C) Teach children about the importance of seat belt usage.
D) All of the above.

Question 19

What is the basis for an idealist's analysis of morality?

A) The initial starting point.
B) The broad goals of the system.
C) Religion.
D) Their personal beliefs.

Question 20

The main goal of prisons is to reduce crime. A pragmatist would view this as

A) The goals of the system are important, but equally important is information and evidence about how the system actually works.
B) The goal is the one and only concern.
C) What happens inside the prison does not matter.
D) All of the above.

Question 21

An idealist sees the goals of the criminal justice system to be protection of citizens by police and punishing of offenders. How would this idealist view the death penalty?

A) The idealist would agree with the death penalty because it achieves the goals.
B) The idealist would be undecided on the death penalty.
C) The idealist would oppose the death penalty, making the moral argument that because it does not achieve either goal, it is unacceptable.
D) None of the above.

Question 22

An idealist considers a goal of the criminal justice system to sanction offenders under the law. How would an idealist view the use of private prisons?

A) The idealist would oppose private prisons because the government had not accepted full responsibility for the punishment of an offender.
B) The idealist would support private prisons, making the moral argument that because it does achieve the desired goal, it is acceptable.
C) The idealist would be undecided about private prisons.
D) The idealist would be unwilling to consider the possibility of private prisons..

Question 23

How would a pragmatist view the notion of private prisons?

A) The pragmatist would first want to study the private prisons, in practice, using data to draw conclusions about it.
B) The pragmatist would oppose private prisons because the government had not accepted full responsibility for punishment..
C) The pragmatist would support the use of private prisons because they support the rule of law.
D) The pragmatist would be unwilling to consider the use of private prisons.

Question 24

Under Kant's categorical imperative, is it acceptable to lie?

A) Yes, because in a free state each can do what pleases oneself.
B) No, because it would not be desirable to have a society in which all persons felt that it was appropriate to do so.
C) Yes, because everyone lies.
D) It is always acceptable to lie.

Question 25

Which statement best describes the idealist's view of harmony?

A) Harmony is an ideal we should strive for.
B) Harmony does not exist.
C) That which is in line with truth is harmonious.
D) Harmony is perfection.

Question 26

How might an idealist who believed that offenders benefit from hard work and discipline view a correctional boot camp?

A) Positively, because it would lead to harmony by instilling the idealist's desired universal values of hard work and discipline within the offenders.
B) Would not form an opinion until studying the data and research.
C) Would disagree with the idea of them.
D) Idealists only advocate for prisons.

Question 27

All of the following are steps in the scientific method of problem solving EXCEPT:

A) Become aware of a problem.
B) Report the issue to proper authorities.
C) Possible hypotheses.
D) Collect data to verify.

Question 28

Pragmatists define as truth only

A) Those observations that could be verified in some way, whether through observation or through the analysis of data.
B) An ultimate truth that guides, or should guide, human action.
C) What is correct thinking.
D) All of the above.

Question 29

At which level of Kohleberg's stages of moral decisions does an individual advocate for rights and values through the democratic process?

A) Postconventional
B) Preconventional
C) Conventional
D) All of the above.

Question 30

Collecting and analyzing data to provide objective answers to specific research questions is known as:

A) Empiricism
B) Idealism
C) Pragmatism.
D) Paradigms

Question 31

Social contract theory:

A) Is rooted in the notion that the government is responsible for protection, rights and fairness
B) Is the product of empiricism.
C) Results in numerous violations of rights of those accused of crime.
D) Is not a metaphor.

Question 32

The five concepts of morality include

A) Death.
B) Self.
C) Resurrection.
D) Both a and b.

Question 33

The moral beliefs held by a majority of society is known as:

A) Private morality.
B) Majority rules.
C) Public morality.
D) Absolute truth.

Question 34

Which of the following statements is closest to the truth?

A) If one is an idealist, he or she must follow all an idealist believes.
B) If one is a pragmatist, he or she must follow all a pragmatist believes.
C) Once you are either an idealist or a pragmatist, you can never change.
D) Idealism and pragmatism may be viewed as endpoints on a continuum of beliefs.

Question 35

Pragmatists have a five-step approach to problem solving. These are to become aware of a problem; locate, define, and analyze the problem; and

A) Determine possible hypotheses, choose one hypothesis, and collect data to verify results.
B) Interview all involved, examine related studies, and make a plan.
C) Observe the problem, interview others for ideas, and execute the ideas.
D) All of the above.

Question 36

Charles Sanders Pierce believes there are four ways of knowing something. These four ways are

A) Education, research, beliefs, and hypotheses.
B) Tenacity, authority, common-sense argument, and a posteriori logic.
C) Research, development, idealism, and pragmatism.
D) Execution, implementation, practice, and study.

Question 37

Referring to the five-step approach to problem solving, which step does the following example demonstrate? The public complains about drivers speeding by a nearby park.

A) Entertain possible hypotheses for addressing the problem.
B) Become aware of the problem.
C) Locate, define, and analyze the problem.
D) Choose one hypothesis to test.

Question 38

Referring to the five-step approach to problem solving, which step does the following example demonstrate? The police add extra officers to monitor the area for speeders and increase the amount of speeding tickets they give in the area in the hope of reducing speeding.

A) Entertain possible hypotheses for addressing the problem.
B) Become aware of the problem.
C) Locate, define, and analyze the problem.
D) Choose one hypothesis to test.

Question 39

Referring to the five-step approach to problem solving, which step does the following example demonstrate? The police decide they could put up signs warning drivers to slow down because there is a park nearby or they could give more speeding tickets.

A) Entertain possible hypotheses for addressing the problem.
B) Become aware of the problem.
C) Locate, define, and analyze the problem.
D) Choose one hypothesis to test.

Question 40

Referring to the five-step approach to problem solving, which step does the following example demonstrate? The amount of speeders declines one month after the increase in patrol.

A) Entertain possible hypotheses for addressing the problem.
B) Become aware of the problem.
C) Locate, define, and analyze the problem.
D) Collect data to verify the results.

Question 41

There are two possible reasons why a society would not need criminal justice systems.

Question 42

A society without police, courts, and prisons would operate in a state of nature, a free-for-all environment in which there is little order. This is a possible outcome if there were no criminal justice system.

Question 43

Certainly the chaotic state of nature is an ideal lifestyle.

Question 44

The criminal justice system helps us live in an orderly society in the middle ground that exists between a perfect but unrealistic crime-free society and a state of nature.

Question 45

The social contract is static because the amount of freedom exchanged for the amount of security received does not vary over time.

Question 46

When a government has legitimacy, there may be protest, widespread disobedience of laws, or revolution.

Question 47

A government has legitimacy when the people accept that it has the right to govern them.

Question 48

In a democracy, government agencies must be legitimate and responsible to the public.

Question 49

It is not necessary for the criminal justice system to meet ideals such as fairness, equality, and effectiveness.

Question 50

The answers to all questions, for criminal justice scholars, are grounded in the collection of data, such as statistics, careful observations, and in-depth interviews.

Question 51

We need police, courts and correctional agencies to maintain order in society.

Question 52

Morality assumes that there is a master list of moral or immoral actions against which all others are judged.

Question 53

Morality is not grounded in any particular ideology, be it religious, political, economic, or any other.

Question 54

Morality may be viewed as an ongoing process in which society continuously reflects on issues with the goal of determining the best solution to a dilemma.

Question 55

Criminal justice practitioners make seemingly routine decisions on a daily basis that require them to grapple with difficult and complex issues, and the collection of those decisions helps shape the moral conceptions that serve as the foundation of criminal justice.

Question 56

Strategic decisions are typically made by agency supervisors or administrators, and agency employees are expected to carry out the strategy.

Question 57

Even when strategies are established, they do not rely on individuals' judgments and decisions to carry them out.

Question 58

Understanding the differences between idealism and pragmatism can help us understand why there are disagreements on questions involving morality, crime, and justice.

Question 59

Pragmatists do not closely represent most scholars.

Question 60

Idealists, like the overall public, are concerned with the overall goals of the criminal justice system.

Question 61

Liberals can be either idealists or pragmatists.

Question 62

Conservatives can be either idealists or pragmatists.

Question 63

Regardless of their views, idealists use the same basic method: identifying a grand goal as moral doctrine and then judging all details based on whether they meet that goal.

Question 64

Whether an idealist chooses to support private prisons remains a moral decision, but one based on data and analysis rather than adherence to broad goals.

Question 65

There is a single moral code to which all people subscribe, we just have to determine what it is.

Question 66

It is the idealists who truly consider harmony a natural guiding principle for making moral criminal justice decisions.

Question 67

It is harmony with universal principles

Question 68

Disagreement about policies, especially among idealists, often occurs because of disagreements about what constitutes the truth.

Question 69

Idealists believe when something is in line with accepted truth then the world is harmonious.

Question 70

Idealists advocate for the perfect version of a concept as they envision it in their mind.

Question 71

Idealists believe that humanity is composed of organisms capable of thought, and as a result, they create their own individual meanings about what life is or should be.

Question 72

According to Kohlberg at the preconventional level avoiding punishment forms the basis of moral decision-making.

Question 73

Idealism and pragmatism may be viewed as endpoints on a continuum.

Question 74

Scholars have a five-step method for solving problems.

Question 75

Empiricism is the basis for social science research as well as evidence-based criminal justice tactics and strategies.

Question 76

Some idealists may not believe in all of the elements of idealism, and some pragmatists may not believe in all of the elements of pragmatism.

Question 77

The first step in the scientific five-step method for solving problems is locating, defining, and analyzing the problem.

Question 78

The third step in the scientific five-step method for solving problems is to entertain possible hypotheses for addressing the problem.

Question 79

The second step in the scientific five-step method for solving problems is locating, defining, and analyzing the problem.

Question 80

The fourth step in the scientific five-step method for solving problems is becoming aware of the problem.