Deck 3: The Nature and Extent of Crime

Question 1

What can happen when media-sensitive crimes are publicized?

A) a "feedback loop"
B) a cycle of violence
C) unfounded or false reporting
D) percentage of change

Answer 1

a "feedback loop"

Question 2

Who constructs the UCR?

A) Canadian Security Intelligence Service
B) RCMP
C) Solicitor General
D) Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

Answer 2

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

Question 3

What is the most invaluable source of aggregate criminal statistics?

A) UCR
B) NCVS
C) ICR
D) BJS

Answer 3

UCR

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT reported in the UCR?

A) arrestee's age
B) arrestee's drug use
C) arrestee's gender
D) arrestee's social economic class

Question 5

What does it mean to say that crimes are "unfounded"?

A) The area where the crime was committed is unknown.
B) The offender is unknown to the police.
C) It is eliminated from the UCR reports.
D) It is included in the UCR reports.

Question 6

Why is percentage change an important calculation of crime rates over time?

A) It's a hard indicator of the true incidence of crime.
B) It's a soft indicator of whether society is becoming more dangerous.
C) It's a computational formula and the rest of crime statistics are not.
D) It's a good indicator of what kinds of crimes are being committed.

Question 7

Which statement best describes the current crime rate?

A) It is at its lowest in decades.
B) It is lower than expected.
C) It has remained stable for about a decade.
D) It has very slowly increased over the last decade.

Question 8

How is the crime rate calculated?

A) by dividing the number of violent offences by the total number of crimes
B) by adding all crimes reported
C) by dividing the total number of crimes by the population
D) by subtracting the number of crimes from the population

Question 9

Which type of crime has the highest incidence in Canada?

A) murder
B) assault
C) fraud
D) property crime

Question 10

How are offences weighted in the Crime Severity Index?

A) by frequency
B) by impact on victims
C) by cost to society
D) by sentence for each offence

Question 11

What does a murder rate of 8.2 mean?

A) about 8,200 people are murdered each year
B) about 8 percent of all murders are solved
C) about 8 in 100,000 citizens were murdered
D) about 8 in 100 citizens were murdered

Question 12

When a person is arrested, charged, and turned over to the court for prosecution, what is the case considered to be?

A) cleared
B) solved
C) resolved
D) settled

Question 13

What terms refers to the situation when the number of cases drop as they move through the system?

A) attritional influence
B) crime whirl
C) system dropout
D) crime funnel

Question 14

Which type of crime is more likely to be solved or cleared?

A) property
B) violent
C) index
D) traffic

Question 15

According to the 1999 General Social Survey, what percentage of sexual assaults goes unreported?

A) 7.9
B) 25
C) 53
D) 78

Question 16

What did both the 2006 British Crime Survey and 2003 Scottish Crime Survey reveal?

A) Crime rates were lower than of the rates in Canada.
B) People in these countries feel safer and have more confidence in police.
C) People report crimes less often than in Canada, as compared to actual crime rates.
D) People report crimes more often than in Canada, as compared to actual crime rates.

Question 17

What type of research tool are the British Crime Survey, Scottish Crime Survey, and General Social Survey?

A) uniform crime reports
B) aggregate crime surveys
C) victimization surveys
D) self-report surveys

Question 18

What would be the effect on crime of boosting police efficiency and professionalism by hiring better-educated police officers and using more computer-aided software?

A) It may actually decrease crime.
B) It will not have any effect on crime.
C) It may actually increase crime.
D) It may decrease street crime.

Question 19

Why are crimes like drug possession and gambling sensitive to changes to law enforcement practices and priorities?

A) Those type of criminals have a difficult time adapting to new policing practices.
B) Criminals are easily scared away from engaging in those types of crime.
C) People may stop reporting those types of crime to police if the police take a heavy-handed approach to stopping those types of crime.
D) Those are consensual crimes, and as such they are not found unless the police are actively targeting such crimes.

Question 20

What is a legitimate concern regarding the validity of the UCR?

A) Victims die and are no longer available for incident information.
B) Offenders are not interviewed.
C) Witnesses are not interviewed.
D) The definitions of crimes may vary among police departments.

Question 21

In 2003, what did the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics accredit the Toronto police's improved data quality to?

A) newer records management systems
B) more police patrolling Toronto's streets
C) decreases in crime rates
D) better police practices in interrogation situations

Question 22

Why is arson a difficult crime to investigate?

A) The fires are set in non-residential zones and there are no witnesses.
B) There is a high public tolerance for the crime.
C) The evidence is very technical.
D) The firefighters don't think the police should have jurisdiction over fires.

Question 23

Before 1983, what crime against his wife could a man could NOT be charged?

A) sexual assault
B) assault level I
C) theft
D) indecent exposure

Question 24

Before the 1985 passage of the Dangerous and Impaired Operation Act, what action were police not allowed to engage in?

A) using radar guns to measure a vehicle's speed
B) testing a person's blood to check for alcohol
C) impounding a vehicle used the commission of a crime
D) requiring snow tires during winter driving

Question 25

What is a contributing factor in the increase of youth crime rates cleared in 2003?

A) Youth crimes are getting much more serious than a decade ago.
B) Technology affords youth more opportunities to commit crime.
C) Media coverage of youth offenders exaggerates crime rates.
D) Police are reporting youth not formally charged, due to provisions in the new Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Question 26

What percentage change in youth crime rates have we seen in Canada since 1991?

A) 10
B) -10
C) -25
D) -33

Question 27

Which statement reflects crime coverage in the media?

A) Media coverage of crime accurately depicts violent crime rate statistics.
B) Media most often portrays all sides of crime stories.
C) Media causes fear of crime, which in turn causes increased police enforcement and/or legislative changes.
D) The media always takes the rights of victims into account when reporting crimes.

Question 28

Which factor is NOT included in the "Crime as a Topic" model?

A) Police over patrol problem areas of crime when needed.
B) Politicians feel pressure to do something.
C) The press selectively reports crime.
D) The public learns about crime through the news.

Question 29

What is a methodological problem with the Uniform Crime Report?

A) Each act is listed as a single offence.
B) The notation "cleared by charge" may not be made in the month that the offence was committed.
C) It relies heavily on the honesty of the victims.
D) Nonviolent crimes are over reported.

Question 30

If multiple crimes are committed by an offender, what does the UCR record?

A) all of them
B) only the first two crimes
C) only crimes that have happened within the last 12 months
D) only the most serious crime

Question 31

What measurement method is a criminologist most likely to use to chart the extent of substance abuse in the Canadian population?

A) official statistics
B) self-report surveys
C) victim surveys
D) interviews and observational studies

Question 32

Who are most often the subjects of a self-report survey?

A) prison inmates
B) victims of crime
C) arrestees
D) students

Question 33

What issues does the Canadian Campus Survey seek to explore?

A) drug and alcohol use
B) sexual assaults
C) cheating and plagiarism
D) crime rates of college and university students

Question 34

What are self-reports used to uncover?

A) victimization rates
B) the dark figure of crime
C) police misconduct
D) incarceration rates

Question 35

Why are school-based surveys considered a reliable indicator of delinquent behaviour?

A) Students are a cohort.
B) Students are a cross-section.
C) Students are a panel.
D) Students are a wave.

Question 36

A criminologist wants to research the nature and extent of substance abuse. Which of the following would she use?

A) Uniform Crime Reports
B) National Crime Victimization surveys
C) self-report surveys
D) RCMP surveys

Question 37

What was the name of the first national survey of alcohol and other drug use conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Montreal?

A) General Social Survey (GSS)
B) Drug and Substances Survey (DSS)
C) Canadian Campus Survey (CCS)
D) Survey for Youth at Risk (SYR)

Question 38

Which method tests the validity of self-report instruments by comparing incarcerated youth answers with a "normal" sample to see if there are differences in their answers?

A) test-retest method
B) static group comparison
C) missing case test
D) known group method

Question 39

Which statement best represents the conclusions reached in attempts to verify the data in self-report surveys?

A) The problems of accuracy in self-reports are insurmountable.
B) Self-reports are actually fairly accurate.
C) Self-reports and official statistics are quite incompatible
D) Self-reports become too costly to conduct if verification measures are used

Question 40

The missing case issue concerns the failure of self-reports to measure a specific type of offender. What type of offender is overlooked?

A) female offenders
B) underage offenders
C) chronic offenders
D) illiterate offenders

Question 41

Which population's behaviour can only be measured with limited accuracy using self-reports?

A) persistent drug users
B) poor students
C) incarcerated young people
D) shoplifters

Question 42

When was the first study of violence against women in Canada conducted?

A) 1979
B) 1989
C) 1993
D) 2001

Question 43

What did the U.S. National Crime Victimization Survey indicate?

A) The rate of crime was higher than previously believed.
B) Policing was rife with corruption.
C) Most people reported crime that happened to them.
D) Much crime is consensual.

Question 44

What is a problem with victimization surveys?

A) misinterpretation of events
B) over reporting of certain crimes
C) lying to the police
D) sampling contamination

Question 45

What does it mean to have a sampling error?

A) The calculations of survey data are incorrect.
B) Victims of crime may not accurately recall when or how many crimes took place.
C) Interviewers may ask research questions in such a way that they receive inaccurate answers from the respondents.
D) The people interviewed for a survey are not representative of the wider population.

Question 46

In 1993 the General Social Survey was redesigned. What does the redesigned GSS gather better information about?

A) the rate of violent crime
B) the rate of sexual assault
C) the rate of drug crime
D) the rate of property crime

Question 47

One common problem with the UCR is "telescoping." What does telescoping mean?

A) Events are exaggerated.
B) The victim doesn't want to be involved but instead wishes to distance themselves from the crime.
C) Victims can't recall past events, and use reconstructive memory to report the crime.
D) Victims think events happened more recently than they really did.

Question 48

What do the three major sources of crime data generally agree on?

A) the number of crimes committed in this country every year
B) the social class of criminals
C) where and when crime occurs
D) the characteristics of crime victims

Question 49

Which of the following are appointed by the government, and are judicative or quasi-judicial?

A) commissions of inquiry
B) investigative follow-ups
C) justice indexes
D) judicial evaluations

Question 50

Which crime statistics resource is unparalleled in its richness as a resource because of its abilities to reveal broader mandates than a court trial, and to uncover something not investigated by the police?

A) UCR
B) General Social Survey
C) Commission of Inquiry
D) Instrumental Crime Index

Question 51

What single factor is usually considered to have the greatest impact on the general crime rate?

A) age distribution of the population
B) drug abuse rate
C) unemployment rates
D) size of the lower-class population

Question 52

Why did the overall crime rate stabilize between 1990 and 1995?

A) new police efforts emphasizing community policing
B) the "greying" of society and a decline in the birth rate in the 1980s
C) the media stopped sensationalizing violent crimes and fear went down, in turn, causing a reduction in crime
D) a commission of inquiry investigated the causes of crime

Question 53

What major event led to the establishment of the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System (1995)?

A) Black youths rioted when police killed a young black man.
B) Canadian Aboriginals protested against government action in fishery debates.
C) The United States issued a similar Commission investigation.
D) The Ontario Government convicted approximately 150 Asian people for gang crimes they didn't commit.

Question 54

What is punitive parenting linked to later in life?

A) well-behaved teenagers
B) high rates of drug abuse
C) high grades but low self-esteem
D) abusive behaviour

Question 55

Which statement describes the current situation of Aboriginals in Canada?

A) They are the perpetrators of more crime than black people.
B) Death from violence occurs at a rate three times higher than that of non-Aboriginals and suicide among males is four times higher than non-Aboriginals.
C) They are less likely to have contact with police that involves an arrest.
D) They are more likely to rate police as approachable and friendly than non-Aboriginals.

Question 56

Which statement would a criminologist who believes that a poor economy actually helps lower crime rates agree with?

A) A poor economy helps lower crime rates because there are more "have-nots" and therefore less relative deprivation in neighbourhoods.
B) A poor economy lowers crime rates because the poor do not have cars and therefore are less mobile than middle-class or rich people.
C) During hardships, people don't have money to spend on bars and drinking, resulting in less going out at night and, therefore, less crime.
D) Unemployed parents are at home to supervise children and protect their homes, reducing the chance of stealing.

Question 57

Why were initial efforts to include racial variables in the updated UCR dropped after a short period?

A) The evidence that emerged was politically incorrect.
B) There were not enough categories to capture all racial variations.
C) It was feared police were assigning criminals to ethnic groups already perceived to be criminogenic.
D) No patters regarding race and crime emerged from the data.

Question 58

Which statement best describes the relationship between race and crime?

A) The relationship is simple and straightforward.
B) There is no relationship.
C) The relationship is complex and the product of many factors.
D) The relationship is not yet established due to a lack of data.

Question 59

What percentage of federal offenders in Canada are Aboriginals?

A) 3
B) 17
C) 54
D) 76

Question 60

According to cross-national studies, where are child homicides rates the greatest?

A) those nations that have high rates of so-called illegitimacy and teenage mothers
B) China, where girls are unwanted when they are born
C) nations where children are considered of most use when they are "seen and not heard"
D) underdeveloped countries

Question 61

What cultural emotion serves to deter crime in Japanese society?

A) honour and an avoidance of embarrassment for family
B) a stress on individualism
C) a definition of success based on the possession of material goods
D) a willingness to engage in confrontation

Question 62

What are reductions in inequality and increases in growth and education associated with?

A) an increase in the crime rate
B) a decrease in the crime rate
C) an increase in violent crime
D) a decrease in reported crime, but no actual decrease in self-reported crime rates

Question 63

Most people who live in Frank's community have not lived there for very long, and there aren't many formal community organizations operating in the area. What statement would best describe Frank's community?

A) There is a lack of social capital.
B) It is an emerging community.
C) It is a racially segregated community
D) There is a low crime rate.

Question 64

Who used a racial typology of criminals as part of his explanation for criminality?

A) Karl Marx
B) Robert Wilson
C) Robert Pollack
D) Cesare Beccaria

Question 65

What is the name of a large organized crime group in Japan that is responsible for a significant amount of crime?

A) Bosozoku
B) Yakuza
C) Kobans
D) Kawasiki

Question 66

Arming themselves for protection, drug-dealing kids present a menace to the neighbourhood. What is a likely result of this situation?

A) protests against guns
B) an "arms race" that produces an increasing spiral of violence
C) antiviolent advocate groups forming to create peace
D) a decrease in drug dealing

Question 67

How often are guns used in violent crimes?

A) very rarely
B) less than half the time
C) greater than half the time
D) in the vast majority of cases

Question 68

Which statement describes the cause of the high amount of violence associated with the crack epidemic in major US cities between 1980 and 1990?

A) Crack addicts become violent after smoking crack.
B) Crack addicts committed robberies to pay for crack.
C) Drug-trafficking gangs fought over territory to distribute drugs.
D) Alcohol use also rose during this time, inflating the amount of violent crime.

Question 69

Possessing cocaine is a drug-defined offence. Which of the following is a drug-related offence?

A) possessing cannabis
B) living in an area where drug dealers operate openly
C) selling drugs as part of a criminal organisation
D) robbing a pedestrian to have money to purchase drugs

Question 70

What type of offence does a drug's pharmacological effects contribute to?

A) drug-related offence
B) drug-defined offence
C) drug-caused offence
D) drug-using lifestyle

Question 71

The violent crime rate increased between 1980 and 1990. What did many experts credit for the increase?

A) increased government spending on welfare programs
B) decreased numbers of police on the street
C) the crack cocaine epidemic
D) liberal parole reform

Question 72

What term refers to aggressive police practices that target the "quality of life" in neighbourhoods?

A) life coaches
B) broken windows approach
C) apple pie approach
D) incivilities reduction approach

Question 73

Officer Nair spends most of her foot-patrol targeting "quality of life" crimes in her neighbourhood. She notes where there is graffiti and abandoned vehicles, and has those removed. What term best describes the approach she is taking?

A) broken windows policing
B) community policing
C) hyper policing
D) situational policing

Question 74

Which of the following is the best example of selective incapacitation?

A) only imprisoning violent criminals
B) imprisoning a significant number of potentially high-rate criminals
C) avoiding giving youth custodial sentences
D) targeting criminals based on a specific factor such as type of crime or age

Question 75

In 2002, what did the Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs claim?

A) The youth gang problem is growing.
B) The youth gang problem has decreased.
C) The youth gang problem has remained the same.
D) There is no longer a youth gang problem in Canada.

Question 76

When is a crime most likely to occur?

A) January
B) August
C) November
D) December

Question 77

Why are there more crimes committed on the first day of every month?

A) Because potential criminals believe social assistance cheques arrive at this time, and this increases activities like breaking into mailboxes, etc.
B) The moon is usually full on the first day of every month, causing imbalances in brain chemicals.
C) The first of every month usually falls on a weekend, making it more likely that people will consume alcohol, thus increasing crime rates.
D) Rent is usually due that day and the stress of paying it causes people to commit more crime.

Question 78

What is the relationship between temperature and crime?

A) Crime rates increase with temperature, no matter how hot it gets.
B) Crime rates decrease as temperature increases, because the hotter it gets, the less energy people have.
C) Crime rates increase with a rise in temperature and then begin to decline at some point when it gets too hot for physical exertion.
D) Crime rates have no relation to temperature.

Question 79

Which type of weather is related to increased homicide rates?

A) a long stretch of hot, highly uncomfortable weather
B) cold, snowy weather
C) cloudy, rainy weather
D) temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius

Question 80

What type of area is most associated with high crime rates?

A) rural
B) suburban
C) high-density urban
D) interurban