Deck 1: An Evidence-Based Approach to Corrections

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of the main decisions points for prosecutors?

A) Deciding whether to arrest a suspect.
B) Initial court screening.
C) Determining whether to charge a suspect.
D) Recommending to the judge a sentence or case disposition for convicted offenders.

Answer 1

Deciding whether to arrest a suspect.

Question 2

Preadjudication diversion

A) is typically offered to persons charged with their second or third felony.
B) occurs after formal sentencing.
C) allows the defendant to be supervised in the community before pleading guilty.
D) is granted by the prosecutor.

Answer 2

allows the defendant to be supervised in the community before pleading guilty.

Question 3

How long does the average criminal trial last?

A) 3 to 6 hours.
B) less than a week.
C) 2-3 weeks.
D) 1 month.

Answer 3

less than a week.

Question 4

Which program type depends on correctional resources available in the community to assist the offender in seeking help and abiding by certain conditions?

A) Community corrections.
B) Institutional corrections.
C) Local jail.
D) Fixed fines.

Question 5

Compared with other countries, the United States incarceration rate is

A) lower than most other countries.
B) lower than most third world countries but higher than most industrialized countries.
C) tied with other Western industrialized countries.
D) significantly higher than that for most other countries.

Question 6

Repeated and cumulative media exposure is thought to contribute to insecurity and fear of crime according to

A) social learning theory.
B) social interaction theory.
C) cultivation theory.
D) crime control theory.

Question 7

Crime policy in the United States are more punitive than crime policies in other Western countries for each of the following reasons EXCEPT

A) U.S. judges and prosecutors are career civil servants who receive special training.
B) crime policy in the United States is more decentralized.
C) crime policy in the United States, even at the state level, is reliant on federal funding.
D) sentencing and release decisions in the United States are micromanaged by legislators.

Question 8

To be considered of high quality, a program should

A) have a sample size between 10 and 30 people.
B) show significant differences between treatment and control groups.
C) be measured as valid but not necessarily reliable.
D) be measured as reliable but not necessarily valid.

Question 9

The more effective treatment interventions are those that

A) are focused on either males or females specifically.
B) designed to help both men and women simultaneously.
C) ignore offender demographics and concentrate instead on offender age.
D) are designed for adult women over age 35.

Question 10

Intensive treatment for lower-risk offenders

A) has the greatest likelihood of success.
B) can be effective as long as long as the offender is joined in the treatment by his/her pro-criminal associates.
C) is appropriate only for lower-risk women offenders.
D) can actually increase the likelihood of recidivism.

Question 11

When considering how staff members such as probation officers or community corrections counselors relate to offenders

A) the use of negative reinforcement must be frequent.
B) being friendly is more important than having any particular training.
C) the quality of the interaction is more important than the quantity.
D) it is important that meetings be held at least three times per week.

Question 12

Since 2011, prison populations in the United States have increased dramatically after having consistently declined for 40 years.

Question 13

The police enforce the law, keep social order, and preserve public safety for their particular jurisdiction.

Question 14

Weak or inadequate evidence is not a good reason for dismissing a case during initial screening since evidence is unimportant until trial.

Question 15

The pretrial release decision is made prior to arrest so that defendants who qualify can be released and supervised in the community before their first court date.

Question 16

If an offender on diversion supervision does not comply with the court-stipulated conditions, he or she is sentenced but there is no formal record of conviction.

Question 17

The continuum of sanctions concept refers to the idea that sentencing is complex and involves trying to meet more than one sentencing goal.

Question 18

The war on drugs has had a pronounced effect on the federal prison system, and greatly reduced the number of incarcerated women.

Question 19

Most research suggests that the more punitive states tend also to have lower rates of poverty, fewer persons who are African-American, and more generous welfare payments for impoverished persons.

Question 20

Crime policies in the United States appear to be more punitive than in other Western countries because the United States relies more on rational decision making.

Question 21

The academic side of evidence-based practice refers to the specific application of the most effective techniques.

Question 22

When a correctional program has two or more independent and rigorous studies showing a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group, the programs is said to "work"
and is judged effective.

Question 23

Because the likelihood of success is increased, a basic principle of evidence-based practice is that treatment interventions should be focused on low-risk clients.

Question 24

A city police department enforces the law within that city's geographic boundaries and those boundaries identify the police department's ________.

Question 25

A prosecutor will likely ________ a case if the evidence is weak or inadequately linked to a defendant for a particular crime.

Question 26

One way to look at the continuum of sanctions is that some of them occur in the ________ and some occur inside a correctional or treatment facility.

Question 27

________ corrections house offenders in an institutional environment, apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 28

The "mean world syndrome" is more correctly called ________ theory, and disputes the suggestion that violence in the media causes individuals to become violent.

Question 29

The ________ side of evidence-based practice is about researchers carefully designing methodologically strong program evaluations to determine what works, what is promising, and what does not work.

Question 30

The question "Does it work?" identifies one part of Evidence-Based Practices and a concern with "Applying the ________" identifies the other part.

Question 31

Applying evidence-based practice techniques in corrections begins with a valid ________ instrument to measure the risk the offender poses and the problem areas that should be emphasized.

Question 32

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Correctional program that is "promising"

A) Two or more independent and rigorous studies show a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group.
B) At least one high-quality or rigorous study shows a program to be effective.
C) Programs depend on correctional resources available in the community.
D) Correctional interventions for which there is consistent and solid scientific evidence showing that they work to meet the intended outcomes.
E) Offenders are housed apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 33

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Correctional program that "works"

A) Two or more independent and rigorous studies show a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group.
B) At least one high-quality or rigorous study shows a program to be effective.
C) Programs depend on correctional resources available in the community.
D) Correctional interventions for which there is consistent and solid scientific evidence showing that they work to meet the intended outcomes.
E) Offenders are housed apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 34

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Evidence-based practice

A) Two or more independent and rigorous studies show a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group.
B) At least one high-quality or rigorous study shows a program to be effective.
C) Programs depend on correctional resources available in the community.
D) Correctional interventions for which there is consistent and solid scientific evidence showing that they work to meet the intended outcomes.
E) Offenders are housed apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 35

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Institutional corrections

A) Two or more independent and rigorous studies show a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group.
B) At least one high-quality or rigorous study shows a program to be effective.
C) Programs depend on correctional resources available in the community.
D) Correctional interventions for which there is consistent and solid scientific evidence showing that they work to meet the intended outcomes.
E) Offenders are housed apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 36

Match the following terms with their meanings.

-Community corrections

A) Two or more independent and rigorous studies show a significant difference between the treatment group and the control group.
B) At least one high-quality or rigorous study shows a program to be effective.
C) Programs depend on correctional resources available in the community.
D) Correctional interventions for which there is consistent and solid scientific evidence showing that they work to meet the intended outcomes.
E) Offenders are housed apart from their community, friends, and family.

Question 37

What explanations have been offered for why Latino and African-American people have a disproportionately high representation in arrest and incarceration rates?

Question 38

Although reducing recidivism is an important goal for correctional programs, Evidence-based Practice allows for other ways to measure whether a program or practice works. What are at least three such measures?

Question 39

The philosophy behind community corrections assumes that most offenders have made poor decisions along the way, but their need to retain responsibility and/or change overrides their threat to public safety and therefore they do not require incarceration. What are the weak points of this assumption? Is community corrections still a good idea even if the assumption is wrong?

Question 40

What are some negative consequences of media coverage of crime and criminal trials? What changes-that don't violate free press protections-are possible to how the media cover crime and criminal trials?