Deck 5: Crime and Criminalization Criminal Behavior

Question 1

In American curricula, for the most part, the subject matter of courses designated with "deviance" and "deviant" in the title overlap but is not identical with courses the department refers to with the titles "crime" and "criminology."

Answer 1

True

Question 2

There are many acts that are deviant but not criminal.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The legal system of the United States began with and is based on the English common law.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Violations of the drug laws are examples of violations of the common law.

Question 5

Gambling is a violation of statutory law.

Question 6

White collar and corporate crime are primal crimes.

Question 7

In the United States, criminologists only study the FBI's Index Crimes

Question 8

When criminologists make generalizations about crime in general, they tend to focus on "street" or Index Crimes.

Question 9

This book focuses entirely on behaviors that activate formal-and not those that activate informal-sanctions.

Question 10

Property crime is much more common than violent crime.

Question 11

Street crimes are the "meat and potatoes" of positivist criminologists, that is, they are the most exemplary or paradigmatic forms of crime.

Question 12

Since the 1970s, the influence of the Marxist or radical school of criminology has declined.

Question 13

The drug laws represent an example of a primal crime.

Question 14

This book takes the approach that a textbook on deviance should not discuss criminal behavior.

Question 15

According to the author, by definition, deviant acts are not criminal and criminal acts are not deviant.

Question 16

Murder is the least common Index Crime.

Question 17

The positivist's mission with respect to murder is to determine under what circumstances the taking of human life is tolerated, that is, not considered deviant.

Question 18

In the Western world since the Middle Ages, lethal violence has declined enormously.

Question 19

Men are more likely to commit murder than women

Question 20

The United States has the highest rate of criminal homicide in the world.

Question 21

The taking of human life is universally deviant and criminal everywhere and during all periods of history.

Question 22

Rape is an exception to the rule that behavior is socially constructed; rape is not socially constructed.

Question 23

By definition, murder is an unauthorized, illegitimate killing.

Question 24

The rate of criminal homicide peaks in the 18-to-24-year-old age category.

Question 25

Most victims of criminal homicide are women.

Question 26

Most of the time that women kill, they kill a woman.

Question 27

Women are more likely to be the victim of a murder than men.

Question 28

Worldwide, the countries with the highest rates of criminal homicide tend to be affluent, industrialized countries in the Western world.

Question 29

Murder is completely unrelated to social class; the likelihood that someone will kill or be killed is equal at all strata of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Question 30

Most murders are skillfully and carefully planned.

Question 31

Rape is an act of violence and only an act of violence; sex does not play any part in it at all.

Question 32

By definition, rape is an act of violence.

Question 33

Of all age categories in the population, the elderly stand the highest likelihood of being victimized by a robbery.

Question 34

Lower-income persons are much more likely to be robbed than is true of higher-income persons.

Question 35

By definition, robbery entails confrontation between the perpetrator and the victim.

Question 36

Young, urban, African-American males have a disproportionately high likelihood of committing robbery, relative to their numbers in the population.

Question 37

African-Americans are more likely to be the victims of robbery than is true of whites.

Question 38

Members of the poorest households are more likely to be the victims of a robbery than is true of members of the most affluent households.

Question 39

Murder victimization is inversely correlated with socioeconomic status (SES)-the higher the SES, the lower the likelihood of being murdered.

Question 40

Murder and robbery are inversely related by area; the higher the murder rate in a given region, the lower its rate of robbery is.

Question 41

The historical period in the US during which the rate of imprisonment was at an all-time high was:

A) the 1940s and 1950s
B) the 1960s and 1970s
C) during the 1990s
D) between 2005 and 2011
E) between 2012 and 2016

Question 42

Deviance and crime:

A) are completely separate and distinct phenomena; there is no overlap between them.
B) are identical-one and the same thing.
C) are imperfectly overlapping phenomena.
D) are unknown and unknowable phenomena.
E) none of the above

Question 43

In comparison with criminologists, the crimes sociologists of deviance are more likely to study are:

A) "moral" or "public order" crimes.
B) crimes of violence
C) property crime
D) Index Crimes
E) white collar crime

Question 44

In New York City, between 2012 and 2018, the number of police stop-and-frisks of suspects:

A) increased substantially.
B) decreased substantially.
C) remained the same.
D) fluctuated wildly and randomly from year to year.
E) remains unknown and unknowable.

Question 45

Criminologists refer to legislature-created law as:

A) primal crime
B) common law
C) deviance
D) street crime
E) statutory law

Question 46

Which of the following is not included as an Index Crime?

A) burglary
B) rape
C) murder
D) robbery
E) prostitution

Question 47

The majority of the persons subjected to a police stop-and-frisk in the New York City have been:

A) white
B) black
C) Hispanic
D) Asian
E) of unknown racial origin

Question 48

In New York City in the past decade or so, the majority of suspects arrested on marijuana charges have been:

A) white
B) black
C) Hispanic
D) Asian
E) of unknown racial origin

Question 49

An example of a "primal" crime is:

A) drug use
B) prostitution
C) corporate crime
D) gambling
E) murder

Question 50

Index crimes are most likely to be committed:

A) by persons at the bottom of the class structure
B) by persons at the top of the class structure
C) equally by persons up and down and across the class structure
D) in the middle of the class structure
E) none of the above

Question 51

Common law includes the laws against:

A) drug possession and sale
B) white collar offenses
C) murder
D) abortion
E) gambling

Question 52

An example of an FBI Index Crime is:

A) rape
B) the sale of alcohol to a minor
C) fraud
D) organized crime
E) treason

Question 53

The least common of the following crimes is:

A) robbery
B) burglary
C) forcible rape
D) aggravated assault
E) murder

Question 54

Does a racial disparity exist in incarceration in the US?

A) yes; whites are more likely to be incarcerated than members of other races.
B) yes; African Americans are significantly more likely to be incarcerated than members of other races.
C) no; incarceration rates are the same for members of all races.
D) the rate of incarceration for members of different races is unknown and unknowable.
E) none of the above.

Question 55

The FBI defines which of the following as an example of a larceny-theft:

A) robbery
B) motor vehicle theft
C) burglary
D) shoplifting
E) none of the above

Question 56

More _______________ are reported to the police than any other property crime:

A) motor vehicle thefts
B) burglaries
C) robberies
D) white collar crimes
E) larceny-thefts

Question 57

In the US, public opinion polls indicate public support for the death penalty:

A) higher among Democrats than Republicans.
B) higher for Republicans than for Democrats.
C) the same for Democrats and Republicans.
D) unknown and unknowable with respect to party affiliation.
E) none of the above

Question 58

Most executions in the US take place in two states. Those states are:

A) California and New York
B) Hawaii and Alaska
C) Texas and Georgia
D) Vermont and New Hampshire
E) Arizona and New Mexico

Question 59

Technically, statutory law is law constituted by:

A) case law or "judge-made" law
B) primal law
C) laws enacted by legislatures
D) unwritten law
E) none of the above

Question 60

Which of the following offenses are violations of common law:

A) gambling
B) white collar crimes
C) the possession and sale of controlled substances
D) rape
E) none of the above

Question 61

Which of the following statements about murder is true?

A) The public has an extremely accurate perception of the rate and nature of murder.
B) On a person-for-person or statistical basis, we are much more likely to be murdered by strangers than by intimates.
C) Sociologically, murderers and murder victims are very different from one another.
D) Murders tend to be inter-racial.
E) Men are substantially more likely to be murder victims than women.

Question 62

Since the 1990s, the crime rate in the United States:

A) has increased substantially
B) has decreased substantially
C) has remained about the same
D) has fluctuated substantially from year to year
E) remains unknown and unknowable

Question 63

Which of the following regions of the United States has the highest rate of criminal homicide?

A) the Northeast
B) California and the Pacific Northwest
C) the Midwest
D) the South
E) the Southwest

Question 64

Over time, the murder rate of the South:

A) is increasing
B) is declining
C) has remained the same
D) has fluctuated wildly and randomly from year to year
E) remains unknown and unknowable

Question 65

Which of the following is an example of robbery:

A) burglary
B) pickpocketing
C) larceny-theft
D) corporate crime
E) none of the above

Question 66

Murder tends to be:

A) premeditated
B) inter-racial
C) unrelated to or random with respect to social class or socioeconomic status
D) committed by people who are strangers to their victims
E) none of the above

Question 67

Among the largest cities in the United States, New York City has the

A) highest rate of criminal homicide
B) lowest rate of criminal homicide
C) the median rate of criminal homicide
D) an unknown and unknowable rate of criminal homicide
E) none of the above

Question 68

Which of the following categories or segments of the society is likeliest to hold the most inclusive definition of rape?

A) rapists
B) lesbian separatists
C) sex role and sexual conservatives
D) sex role and sexual liberals
E) All hold an equally inclusive definition of rape.

Question 69

Which of the following categories or segments of the society is likeliest to hold the most exclusive definition of rape?

A) rapists
B) lesbian separatists
C) sex role and sexual conservatives
D) sex role and sexual liberals
E) All hold an equally exclusive definition of rape.

Question 70

In comparison with whites, African-Americans are:

A) more likely to be victims of murder but less likely to be perpetrators of murder.
B) more likely to be perpetrators of murder, but less likely to be victims of murder.
C) more likely both to be victims and perpetrators of murder.
D) less likely both to be victims and perpetrators of murder.
E) none of the above

Question 71

Members of which of the following categories of the population are more likely than the average to be victimized by robbery?

A) the elderly
B) females
C) the affluent and the wealthy
D) African Americans
E) none of the above

Question 72

The rate of which of the following crimes rises fastest as the size of the community rises:

A) rape
B) murder
C) aggravated assault
D) robbery
E) All of the above crimes rise at the same rate as the size of the community rises.

Question 73

With respect to criminal homicide, when:

A) men kill, they tend to kill a man; when women kill, they tend to kill a woman.
B) men kill, they tend to kill a woman; when women kill, they tend to kill a man.
C) men kill, they tend to kill a man; when women kill, they tend to kill a man.
D) men kill, they tend to kill a woman; when women kill, they tend to kill a woman.
E) none of the above

Question 74

With respect to criminal homicide, when:

A) men are killed, they tend to have been killed by a man; when women are killed, they tend to have been killed by a woman.
B) men are killed, they tend to have been killed by a woman; when women are killed, they tend to have been killed by a man.
C) men are killed, they tend to have been killed by a man; when women are killed, they tend to have been killed by a man.
D) men are killed, they tend to have been killed by a woman; when women are killed, they tend to have been killed by a woman.
E) none of the above

Question 75

With respect to criminal homicide, when:

A) African Americans kill, they tend to kill an African American; when whites kill, they tend to kill a white person.
B) African Americans kill, they tend to kill a white person; when whites kill, they tend to kill a white person.
C) African Americans kill, they tend to kill an African American; when whites kill, they tend to kill an African American.
D) African Americans kill, they tend to kill a white person; when whites kill, kill, they tend to kill an African American.
E) none of the above

Question 76

With respect to criminal homicide, when:

A) African Americans are killed, they tend to have been killed by an African American; when whites are killed, they tend to have been killed by a white
person.
B) African Americans are killed, they tend to have been killed by a white person; when whites are killed, they tend to have been killed by a white person.
C) African Americans are killed, they tend to have been killed by an African American; when whites are killed, they tend to have been killed by an African
American.
D) African Americans are killed, they tend to have been killed by a white person; when whites are killed, they tend to have been killed by an African American.
E) none of the above

Question 77

Rape is:

A) only "about" sex; it isn't "about" violence at all.
B) only "about" violence"; it isn't "about" sex at all.
C) always "about" violence-it is by definition a violent act-but it may be "about" sex as well.
D) "about" neither sex nor violence, but something else altogether.
E) none of the above

Question 78

In the United States in the past 5 to 10 years, the number of people cercerally confined (that is, in prisons and jails) has:

A) has doubled
B) has remained about the same
C) has declined by half
D) remains unknown and unknowable
E) none of the above

Question 79

CompStat is:

A) a methodology that tabulates crime as well as a strategy to combat crime
B) an explanation of the cause of criminal behavior
C) not used in New York City
D) employed only in the nation's rural police jurisdictions
E) none of the above

Question 80

In the United States, relative to their numbers in the population, African Americans are, proportionally speaking:

A) one-tenth as likely to be arrested as whites
B) about as likely to be arrested as whites
C) two to three times as likely to be arrested as whites
D) ten times as likely to be arrested as whites
E) arrested at a rate than is unknown and unknowable