Deck 2: Correctional Theory in Crisis: Americas Changing Context

Question 1

Correctional theories that are implemented are most affected by which of the following?

A) existing policies
B) the prevailing social context
C) the number of incarcerated criminals
D) the efficiency of the theory

Answer 1

the prevailing social context

Question 2

Which of the following statements about the limitations of correctional biases is true?

A) only empirically-based theories are implemented
B) the theories we currently have will never be improved
C) our observations will never be fully free of who we are and the times in which we live
D) once a theory is no longer popular society forgets about it

Answer 2

our observations will never be fully free of who we are and the times in which we live

Question 3

Which of the following statements is not true about the concept of rehabilitation?

A) assumes that criminal behavior is caused by some factor
B) the decision to commit crime is heavily influenced by social surroundings, psychological development, or biological makeup
C) asserts that the choice to break the law is not a matter of "free will" but does not deny that people make choices
D) completely denies the role of choice when offenders break the law

Answer 3

completely denies the role of choice when offenders break the law

Question 4

Which of the following statements is an example of a criminogenic risk factor?

A) hanging out with friends who do drugs and participate in shenanigans
B) playing sports in school
C) quietly doing your homework in your room
D) participating in family game night instead of going out on the weekend

Question 5

Rehabilitation embraces which of the following models?

A) emotional
B) psychological
C) medical
D) behavioral

Question 6

Which of the following theories is not fundamentally different from rehabilitation?

A) retribution
B) early intervention
C) deterrence
D) incapacitation

Question 7

The word penitentiary is important because it represents which of the following?

A) the view that prisons might be used to morally reform offenders
B) the view that prisons should have maximum security measures in place
C) the view that prisons are needed to hold offenders in a confined area to protect society
D) the view that prisons are not necessary to protect society and should be minimally used

Question 8

The Cincinnati Congress of 1870 met for which of the following purposes:

A) to determine a set of determinate sentencing guidelines
B) to create a blueprint for renovating American corrections to reform criminals
C) to create punishments that would cause suffering to criminals
D) to review relevant research in the field

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of indeterminate sentencing?

A) offenders know how much time they will serve behind bars at the time of sentencing
B) offenders are given a range of sentencing possibilities and serve their time in prison within that timeframe
C) offenders are retained in prison until they are reformed
D) offenders are not initially sent to prison but will be if they commit another offense

Question 10

Individualized treatment or rehabilitation advocates believed the correctional system should include all of the following except:

A) determinate sentencing
B) discretion for criminal justice officials
C) indeterminate sentencing
D) a parole board

Question 11

Which era was known as the "age of reform" because of the diverse social and governmental reforms undertaken:

A) Colonial Era
B) Modern Era
C) Gilded Age Era
D) Progressive Era

Question 12

During the reforms between the 1950s to the late 1960s, which of the following was not made to the correctional system?

A) a range of treatment programs were introduced to institutions
B) prisons were relabeled correctional institutions
C) offenders received the same treatments and were not classified by their treatment needs
D) community corrections emerged to reintegrate inmates into society

Question 13

Beginning in the mid-1970s, what change occurred to the correctional system?

A) states began to see that rehabilitation was successful and called for increased interventions
B) states began to question indeterminate sentencing and to call for sentencing in which judicial and parole board discretion was eliminated or curtailed
C) states ran out of money and rehabilitation was no longer a viable option
D) states allowed criminal justice officials to have more discretion in their treatment and punishment decisions

Question 14

According to Robert Martinson's published essay in 1974:

A) he concluded that rehabilitation had no effect on recidivism
B) he concluded that rehabilitation was somewhat effective at reducing recidivism, but needed more evidence
C) he concluded that rehabilitation was effective at reducing recidivism
D) he concluded that there was not enough research to determine the effects of rehabilitation on recidivism

Question 15

Which of the following statements is a criticism of Robert Martinson's work:

A) he was looking for evidence that rehabilitation worked
B) he did not use modern statistical techniques
C) he reviewed too many studies to have accurate results
D) about half of the studies he reviewed showed that interventions actually reduced recidivism

Question 16

Martinson's results and conclusions received widespread support because which of the following:

A) there was little research available aside from Martinson's work
B) the results provided overwhelming support
C) given the prevailing social context people were ready to hear what they already "knew to be true"
D) the high quality study ensured that the results were true

Question 17

According to Taxman, Perdoni, and Harrison (2007), why are correctional treatment programs not always effective?

A) rehabilitation does not work
B) only a small percentage of inmates are enrolled in them
C) there are not enough programs available in correctional institutions
D) treatment is too inconsistent to meet each offender's needs

Question 18

Today, American correctional policy has moved in which direction?

A) punitive
B) rehabilitative
C) restorative justice
D) reentry

Question 19

Which of the following is not a consequence of mass incarceration?

A) it is no longer sustainable to incarcerate so many people
B) many Americans are concerned about the number of people locked up
C) a disproportionate number of minorities are incarcerated
D) states have collectively determined how to effectively incarcerate a large number of people

Question 20

What are the two major limitations and biases of correctional policies? How do they affect the effectiveness and implementation of policies today?

Question 21

Describe what rehabilitation is and how it proposes to reduce recidivism. What are the underlying assumptions of this perspective?

Question 22

Briefly describe the history of American correctional theory. How did rehabilitation become a possibility in corrections and why was it later attacked?

Question 23

Compare and contrast conservative and liberal views on why rehabilitation does not reduce recidivism. Do they share similarities? What are the differences?

Question 24

Explain why Martinson's (1974) work was so widely accepted. How did this work affect correctional policy and what are its limitations?