Deck 3: Defining and Measuring Crime

Question 1

In the early years of the 2000s, the nation's crime rate __________ for a time before
Resuming its downward slope

A) flattened
B) increased
C) decreased
D) fluctuated wildly

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT an argument in support of the National Crime Victimization Survey's?

A) It measures both reported and unreported crime.
B) It does not rely on victims directly reporting a crime to the police.
C) It is unaffected by police bias and distortions in reporting crime to the FBI.
D) It is compiled by the FBI as a supplement to the Uniform Crime Reports.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In what type of date collection are individuals asked directly, either through personal interviews, questionnaires, or telephone interviews, about specific criminal activity to which they may have been a party?

A) National Incident-Based Reporting System
B) National Crime Victimization Survey
C) Self-report surveys
D) Uniform Crime Reports

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A homicide committed without malice towards the victim is known as:

A) capital murder
B) criminal homicide
C) manslaughter
D) murder

Question 5

A gross misdemeanor is punishable by which of the following in most states?

A) Fewer than thirty days in jail
B) Thirty days to a year in jail
C) Fewer than thirty days in prison
D) Thirty days to a year in prison

Question 6

Which of the following is the branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement
Of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters.

A) civil law
B) criminal law
C) constitutional law
D) statutory law

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of ways the FBI presents the data compiled in the Uniform Crime Reports?

A) As a rate per 100,000 people
B) As an average per metropolitan statistical area
C) As a percentage change from the previous year or other time periods
D) As an aggregate, or a total number of crimes

Question 8

The majority of Part I offenses in the Uniform Crime Reports fall into which category?

A) murder
B) motor vehicle theft
C) robbery
D) larceny/theft

Question 9

Murder in the first degree occurs under which of the following circumstances?

A) When the murder committed is deliberate and not premeditated
B) When the murder committed is not premeditated but negligent
C) When the murder committed is negligent and accidental
D) When the murder committed is premeditated and deliberate

Question 10

Which type of crime would be considered a mala prohibita crime?

A) theft
B) homicide
C) bigamy
D) rape

Question 11

Which of the following is an untrue statement regarding the Uniform Crime Reports?

A) it is generally considered the official record of crime in the U.S.
B) it has a high response rate from law enforcement agencies
C) it is able to measure reported crimes
D) it is able to measure unreported crime

Question 12

Which misdemeanors are punishable by fewer than thirty days in jail?

A) involuntary
B) negligent
C) civil
D) petty

Question 13

Mala in se crimes are those acts that:

A) are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are prohibited by law
B) are made illegal by criminal statute and are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves
C) are wrong because they have been prohibited
D) typically change across cultures

Question 14

The crimes of murder and rape are examples of which of the following?

A) Part II offense
B) Misdemeanors
C) Mala prohibita crimes
D) Mala in se crimes

Question 15

A serious crime, usually punishable by death or imprisonment for a year or longer, is a(n):

A) misdemeanor
B) felony
C) deviance
D) infraction

Question 16

In a civil court, the legal responsibility for one's own or another's actions is called:

A) liability
B) responsibility
C) defense
D) prosecution

Question 17

An example of a crime that would be considered mala prohibita in the U.S. is:

A) murder
B) bigamy
C) rape
D) theft

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT one of the three factors most often used by criminologists to explain increases and declines in the nation's crime rate?

A) imprisonment
B) youth populations
C) gang activity
D) the economy

Question 19

In what age group are the majority of people who are arrested for violent
Crimes?

A) under 18
B) 18-24
C) 25-34
D) 35-50

Question 20

The Uniform Crime Reports were created by the FBI in what year?

A) 1930
B) 1950
C) 1960
D) 1972

Question 21

The degree of proof required to find the defendant in a civil trial guilty of committing a crime is called __________ __________ _________ _________________________.

Question 22

Mala in se is a descriptive term for acts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are prohibited by law.

Question 23

The "dark figure of crime" in the United States is:

A) much smaller than the UCR and NCVS would suggest.
B) about that same as the UCR and NCVS suggest.
C) much larger than the UCR and NCVS suggest.
D) really has no relevance to the figures found in the UCR or NCVS.

Question 24

In some jurisdictions, the terms infraction and petty offense are used interchangeably.

Question 25

What is one of the difficulties in defining the natural laws that mala in se crimes violate?

A) it is not inherently wrong
B) it may only reflect the morals of society at a given time
C) "natural" law may be culturally specific
D) very greatly from country to country and state to state

Question 26

The dark figure of crime is a term used to describe the actual amount of crime that takes place, including those crimes that go unreported.

Question 27

Involuntary manslaughter is a negligent homicide in which the offender had no intent to kill his or her victim.

Question 28

Which of the following was the most likely culprit for the increase in correctional populations in the 1970s and 1980s?

A) gang-crime relationship
B) alcohol-crime relationship
C) drug-crime relationship
D) juvenile-crime relationship

Question 29

A black man _____ times more likely than a white man to be sent to prison for a drug-related crime?

A) 2
B) 5
C) 10
D) 12

Question 30

The _________ __________ _______________ is a general guide for criminal law that explains the various different degrees of criminal activity.

Question 31

The FBI divides the criminal offenses it measures into seven major categories.

Question 32

Mala prohibita is a descriptive term for acts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are prohibited by law

Question 33

In a civil court, the person or institution against whom an action is brought is called the defendant.

Question 34

Young black males have failed to benefit from the positive crime trends of the last fifteen years.

Question 35

The __________ is a person or institution that initiates a lawsuit in civil court proceedings by filing a complaint.

Question 36

The National Crime Victimization Surveys are compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Question 37

In a civil court, the __________ is a person or institution against whom an action is brought. In a criminal court, the person or entity who has been formally accused of violating a criminal law.

Question 38

A felony is usually punishable by a fine and/or jail term of less than a year.

Question 39

The main difference between the NCVS and self-report surveys is:

A) That self-report surveys focus on offenders and the NCVS focuses on victims
B) The NCVS measures unreported crime and self-report surveys do not capture unreported crime.
C) Self-report surveys rely solely on the truthfulness of the surveyed person, where the NCVS uses other corroborating data.
D) In the NCVS respondents may be more forthcoming in their responses since there is no penalty for responding in a certain way, where there is a potential penalty with self-report surveys.

Question 40

In most jurisdictions, an infraction is a noncriminal offense for which the penalty is a __________ rather than incarceration.

Question 41

The __________ is an annual report compiled by the FBI to give an indication of criminal activity in the United States

Question 42

The __________ party in a court case proceeding is called the plaintiff.

Question 43

Explain the two circumstances in which murder in the first degree occurs.

Question 44

The degree of proof required to find the defendant in a criminal trial guilty of committing the crime is called __________ __________ __________ __________.

Question 45

First degree felonies, punishable by a maximum penalty of _______ ________.

Question 46

Explain the National Crime Victimization Surveys and why they may be useful in understanding crime.

Question 47

When the crime is __________ it means that it was planned and decided on after a
process of decision making.

Question 48

Explain the differences between crimes mala in se and mala prohibita and give an
example of each type of crime.

Question 49

Identify the publication in which the FBI reports crime data and list the three ways in which the data is reported.

Question 50

Explain the four degrees of felonies found in the Model Penal Code?
-capital offenses, for which the maximum penalty is death
-first degree felonies, punishable by a maximum penalty of life imprisonment
-second degree felonies, punishable by a maximum of ten years' imprisonment
-third degree felonies, punishable by a maximum of five years' imprisonment