Deck 3: An Introduction to Measuring Crime and Crime Patterns

Question 1

According to experts, which strategy for measuring crime best reveals local indicators of crime?

A) the UCR
B) the NCVS
C) the OJJDP
D) the NIBRS

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Concerns about retaliation and prior negative experiences with the justice system are two reasons that may explain the

A) lack of police response to violent crimes.
B) dark figure of crime
C) high crime rate on college campuses.
D) Hawthorne effect.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In order to explain crime, we first must know the

A) socioeconomic status of a neighborhood or community
B) cause of crime
C) perceived quality of life of a particular culture
D) extent of crime

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which crime-measuring strategy is associated with the crime clock?

A) The UCR
B) the NIBRS
C) the OJJDP
D) the NCVS

Question 5

The UCR labels Part I offenses as

A) index offenses
B) misdemeanors
C) status offenses
D) felonies

Question 6

Chen is concerned about the growing crime rate in his city and is considering organizing a neighborhood watch in the gated community where he lives. What is the first step Chen should take?

A) ensure that the security guards at the gate are well trained and armed
B) collect accurate crime data about his neighborhood
C) remove the gates at the community's entrance
D) gather the neighborhood juveniles together and educate them about the consequences of delinquent behavior

Question 7

The UCR's Part I and Part II offense dichotomy most accurately captures

A) the seriousness of offenses
B) the dark figure of crime
C) perceptions of seriousness
D) prior experiences with the justice system

Question 8

All of the following are reasons we measure the extent of crime except:

A) to understand minority and mentally disordered populations
B) to identify crime trends
C) to understand cultures and subcultures
D) to measure quality of life

Question 9

Which statement is true of changes in crime over time?

A) The crime rate has steadily increased since the mid-1960s.
B) The crime rate has significantly decreased since 1980.
C) Crime increased significantly between 1960 and the early 1990s and has dropped precipitously since then.
D) Crime decreased between 1970 and 2000 but has steadily increased since 2001.

Question 10

What is one reason that the NIBRS has such a low agency participation rate?

A) It is considered an unreliable measure
B) It is dependent upon a changing political climate
C) It is administered by the FBI
D) It is detailed and cumbersome

Question 11

Which statement most accurately represents the relationship between crime and quality of life?

A) Quality of life is higher in neighborhoods where the majority of homes have home security systems.
B) Research suggests that perpetrators have a higher quality of life than victims of crime
C) Crime data suggest that there is no relationship between crime and quality of life.
D) The more crime a particular area has, the lower the quality of life.

Question 12

According to the UCR, __________ would be a more serious offense than __________.

A) an index offense, a Part I offense
B) embezzling $250,000.00 from your employer, stealing your classmate's iPad
C) a Part I offense, an index offense
D) stealing your classmate's iPad, embezzling $250,000.00 from your employer

Question 13

Which offense was the last to be added to the UCR's Part I category of offenses?

A) motor vehicle theft
B) arson
C) aggravated assault
D) prostitution

Question 14

Which of the following is a criticism of the UCR?

A) The database does not include crimes that are not reported to the police.
B) The database does not distinguish between Part I and Part II offenses.
C) The database doesn't allow law enforcement agencies to be part of the reporting process.
D) The database does not include arrest rates.

Question 15

Which type of theft is excluded from the UCR's larceny-theft category of offenses?

A) shoplifting
B) attempted theft of a bicycle
C) embezzlement
D) attempted theft of motor vehicle parts

Question 16

The UCR gathers data from __________, whereas the NCVS gathers data from __________.

A) victims, police reports
B) court data, incarcerated individuals
C) police reports, victims
D) incarcerated individuals, court data

Question 17

Which crime would be categorized as justifiable homicide under the UCR?

A) a suicide
B) the killing of another person through gross negligence
C) a traffic fatality
D) the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty

Question 18

Last week, Damien's brother was murdered in a restaurant parking lot. Yesterday, Damien's home was burglarized. Which case will most likely be cleared and why?

A) the burglary, because it occurred more recently than the murder
B) the murder, because violent crimes typically have a higher clearance rate than property crimes
C) the burglary, because property crimes are more common and thus easier to solve
D) the murder, because violent offenders are typically mentally disordered and thus already in law enforcement databases

Question 19

Which of the following is a significant finding from the UCR?

A) The most recent UCR shows that crime dropped between 2012 and 2013.
B) Violent crime rates are consistently higher than property crime rates.
C) Arrest rates have decreased over the past two decades.
D) The majority of crimes are committed by males between the ages of 35 and 45.

Question 20

Which strategy for measuring crime was initially described as one of the most important events in the history of U.S. criminal statistics?

A) The National Incident Based Reporting System
B) The Federal Correctional Database
C) The Uniform Crime Reports
D) The Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey

Question 21

Tony hit his playmates at age 3, shoplifted at age 10, committed burglary at age 19, and was convicted of rape at age 24. Tony is an example of a(n) __________ offender.

A) adolescent-limited
B) life-course-persistent
C) cohort
D) psychopathic

Question 22

Which strategy for measuring the extent of crime would be most useful for understanding societal trends?

A) campus reports
B) local police reports
C) police blotter in hometown, USA
D) Uniform Crime Reports

Question 23

The theory that southerners are socialized to accept and use violence in certain types of situations is best used to potentially explain the

A) high poverty rate in the South
B) higher rates of violence in the South
C) high levels of school truancy in the South
D) higher rates of property crime in the South

Question 24

Which type of crime is more likely to occur in rural communities than in other locales?

A) drunk driving
B) animal cruelty
C) marital rape
D) grand larceny

Question 25

Which researcher conducted the classic study Delinquency in a Birth Cohort and found that 6% of the juveniles accounted for more than half of the crimes in their cohort?

A) Marvin Wolfgang
B) Terrie Moffitt
C) Robert Sampson
D) Eleanor Glueck

Question 26

Inequality, differential parenting, and systemic discrimination are possible explanations for

A) racial disparities in offending and victimization
B) the dark figure of crime
C) different offending patterns observed between males and females
D) the adolescent limited offender

Question 27

The term career criminal refers to

A) the small group of offenders who appear to commit the vast majority of offenses.
B) offenders who age out of crime following adolescence.
C) individuals who commit white-collar crimes throughout adulthood.
D) situations where offenders engage in offending over a specified period of time.

Question 28

Which statement best supports the chivalry hypothesis?

A) Females become more violent later in life because they are repressed throughout childhood and adolescence.
B) Males are more likely to be violent offenders because they are socialized to use power and violence in certain situations.
C) Males are more likely to be the leaders of criminal groups and often initiate women into crime.
D) Female delinquents are treated more leniently by the police, which may insulate them from future offending

Question 29

Which crime would likely be included in both the UCR and the NIBRS?

A) rape of a male that occurred in 2008 and was reported to police
B) rape of a male in 2010 that wasn't reported to police
C) rape of a male student in 2008
D) rape of a male that occurred in 2015 and was cleared

Question 30

Which two authors attempted to explain racial offending patterns by associating them with different types of parenting and child-rearing strategies among different races?

A) Sampson and Wilson
B) Gottfredson and Hirschi
C) Glueck and Glueck
D) Chappell and Maggard

Question 31

Nancy is interviewed every six months for three years and asked whether or not she has experienced specific types of victimization. Nancy is participating in the

A) Uniform Crime Reports
B) Birth Cohort Analysis
C) National Incident-Based Reporting System
D) National Crime Victimization Survey

Question 32

If you were the supervisor of a large metropolitan police department, when would you increase patrol officers on the city streets?

A) during winter weekdays
B) during the holidays
C) during a full moon in winter
D) during summer weekend evening hours

Question 33

Which phrase is strongly associated with systemic inequality in the criminal justice system?

A) low parental self-control
B) urban renewal
C) driving while Black
D) structurally disadvantaged slum communities

Question 34

Which statement about race/ethnicity and crime is correct?

A) According to UCR data, Whites and Asians had the highest violent victimization rates, while Whites had the lowest offending rates.
B) Data from the Uniform Crime Reports show Blacks/African Americans are over represented in each offense type.
C) Asians had the highest violent crime arrest rates and violent victimization rates.
D) Data from the Uniform Crime Reports show Whites are overrepresented for violent offenses and underrepresented for property offenses.

Question 35

Which statement illustrates a difference between rural and urban crime?

A) Rural communities are safer than urban communities.
B) Crimes involving alcohol are more common in urban communities.
C) Crime victims may be more stigmatized in rural communities.
D) Violent crimes are more acceptable in urban communities, whereas property crimes are more acceptable in rural communities.

Question 36

All of the following are dimensions of crime patterns except:

A) age
B) religion
C) race
D) gender

Question 37

Which statement about temporal patterns of crime is correct?

A) Burglaries of homes occur more frequently in the daytime.
B) Financial crimes increase on weekends and holidays.
C) Murders more frequently occur on weekday afternoons.
D) Juvenile offending peaks between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm on non-school days.

Question 38

Which crime would most likely occur around a major holiday?

A) robbery
B) burglary
C) theft
D) interpersonal violence

Question 39

Which example best illustrates the parenting hypothesis?

A) Jim and Liz are siblings, both of whom committed crimes. Liz was treated leniently by the judge and sentenced to probation, while Jim went to state prison.
B) Jim and Liz are siblings who grew up in different homes. Liz enjoyed playing with guns and weapons, while Jim enjoyed playing with dolls.
C) Jim and Liz are siblings who went on a crime spree; however, Liz was considered a follower, and Jim was labeled as a leader.
D) Jim and Liz are siblings who grew up in an abusive home environment. Jim had several arrests for misdemeanors, while Liz developed an eating disorder and severe anxiety.

Question 40

Which phenomenon has been used to explain the crime drop in the 1990s?

A) the cohort effect
B) The Hawthorne effect
C) the aging out phenomenon
D) the maturation phenomenon

Question 41

Burglary is synonymous with breaking and entering.

Question 42

Trends over time show female arrests __________ between 2003 and 2013, while male arrests __________.

A) decreased, increased
B) increased, decreased
C) stabilized, increased
D) decreased, stabilized

Question 43

Research suggests that happiness is tied more to physical disorder than social disorder.

Question 44

Terrie Moffitt's research indicates that adolescence-limited offenders essentially age out of crime.

Question 45

Rick is arrested for vandalism and motor vehicle theft after vandalizing several cars in a dealership and then stealing one of the cars. Which crime(s) would be counted in the NIBRS?

A) vandalism
B) motor vehicle theft
C) neither crime
D) both crimes

Question 46

The UCR practice of asking about victimization within a specific amount of time is known as telescoping.

Question 47

The NCVS is funded by the FBI.

Question 48

Interpersonal violence is classified as an __________ crime.

A) emotional
B) expressive
C) instrumental
D) active

Question 49

Which is an example of social disorder in a community?

A) graffiti
B) litter
C) gang culture
D) burglar bars

Question 50

Research suggests that the majority of young offenders age out of crime.

Question 51

According to UCR data, the South has the highest rates of both violent and property crime.

Question 52

According to the UCR, the least frequent Part I offense is murder.

Question 53

A study of more than 10,000 traffic stops on a college campus found that Black drivers were more likely than White drivers to be searched, but they were less likely to receive a legal sanction.

Question 54

The bulk of crimes are committed by individuals between the ages of 15 and 24.

Question 55

The Uniform Crime Reports are administered by the International Association for Chiefs of Police.

Question 56

Research suggests that when negative parenting practices are employed, boys and girls react by externalizing their feelings through aggressive and criminal behavior.

Question 57

The UCR has a higher participation rate than the NIBRS.

Question 58

The NCVS has changed significantly since it was first created in 1972.

Question 59

Which crime would be included in the larceny-theft category of the UCR?

A) shoplifting
B) burglary
C) arson
D) forgery

Question 60

Researchers have noted that arrest data and self-report data yield different conclusions about the presence and strength of a relationship between social class and crime.

Question 61

Higher rates of __________ families in minority communities can be partly attributed to strict sentencing laws in the United States.

Question 62

Part II offenses are technically __________ than Part I offenses.

Question 63

Data from the Uniform Crime Reports show that __________ Americans are over represented in each offense type

Question 64

Identify five Part I offenses.

Question 65

The crimes in the UCR that are not reported to police are called the __________ of crime.

Question 66

According to the UCR, the most frequently reported crime is

Question 67

Research by Baumer and Lauritsen found that changes in decisions to report crime to the police account for much of the difference in the way crime trends are portrayed over time. Identify two factors that may affect one's decision to report a crime to police.

Question 68

Biological explanations for gender differences in offending suggest a difference in __________ development between males and females.

Question 69

Chris is a criminal justice major who watches a campaign ad that states, "A violent crime occurs every 25 seconds in the U.S." Why should this statement concern Chris?

Question 70

Briefly explain how the depiction of females in videogames relates to gender differences and crime.

Question 71

The accomplice hypothesis is one explanation for __________ differences in the commitment of crimes.

Question 72

Some researchers contend that the factors attributed to the southern subculture of violence are actually __________ values.

Question 73

The UCR crime rates refer to the number of Part I offenses that occur per __________ residents.

Question 74

Why is the amount of crime reported in the NIBRS about one fourth of the amount reported in the UCR?

Question 75

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is considering changing the NCVS to a 12-month __________ period, which would reduce costs.

Question 76

Clearance rates refer to crimes that can be solved by either __________ or exceptional means.

Question 77

Research on crime suggests that the majority of crimes are committed by __________ male individuals.

Question 78

Participants in the National Crime Victimization Survey are interviewed every __________ months.

Question 79

The __________ perspective suggests that Blacks and Whites are treated differently by criminal justice professionals, and this differential treatment may result in higher arrest and incarceration rates for Blacks.

Question 80

When making assumptions about crime and subcultures, it is important that assumptions are based on __________ data.