Sociology of Crime Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
Sociology of Crime explores the social dimensions and implications of crime within contemporary society. The course examines theoretical perspectives on the origins and functions of criminal behavior, the social construction of crime, and the roles of class, race, gender, and culture in shaping criminality. Students will analyze patterns of crime, the development and impact of criminal laws, the workings of the criminal justice system, and the interplay between social institutions and criminal behavior. Throughout, the course encourages critical analysis of societal responses to crime, including policies, prevention strategies, and issues of social justice.
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Criminology Today An Integrative Introduction 8th Edition by Frank J. Schmalleger
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Chapter 1: What is Criminology?
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Q1) Which of the following recent developments in national crime control policy was not substantially influenced by the social responsibility perspective?
A) The increase in the number of federal capital crimes
B) The enactment of a federal three-strikes law
C) The abolition of federal parole
D) The creation of the Job Corps to reduce unemployment by encouraging the development of job skills
Answer: D
Q2) A situation in which someone starts a fight but ends up being severely beaten is an example of victim ___________.
Answer: precipitation
Q3) Which one of the following is not one of the definitional perspectives found in contemporary criminology?
A) political
B) sociological
C) environmental
D) legalistic
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Where Do Theories Come From
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Q1) A(n) __________ is a series of interrelated propositions which attempt to describe, explain, predict, and ultimately control some class of events.
A) hypothesis
B) theory
C) variable
D) experiment
Answer: B
Q2) Most refereed professional journals discourage simultaneous submissions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Which of the following sections is not always included in a research report?
A) Appendixes
B) Findings and results
C) Analysis and discussion
D) References
Answer: A
Q4) A case study focusing on a single subject is known as a __________.
Answer: life history
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Chapter 3: Classical and Neoclassical Thought
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Q1) The present-day debate over abortion is an example of a current use of A) natural law
B) common law.
C) natural rights.
D) hedonistic calculus.
Answer: A
Q2) The Classical School of criminology attributes crime to A) spiritual shortcomings.
B) the exercise of free will.
C) hard determinism.
D) positivist outlooks.
Answer: B
Q3) Classical criminology holds that humans are fundamentally rational. A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) _________ law forms the basis for much of modern statutory law.
Answer: Common
Q5) The Enlightenment emphasized ________ as the basic determinant of behavior
Answer: free will
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Chapter 4: Early Biological Perspectives on Criminal Behavior
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Q1) Contemporary biosocial theorists see the interaction between an organism and the _________ as a key determining factor in behavior.
Q2) Endomorphs are most likely to engage in delinquent or criminal behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Sociobiology
A)Genetic determism,
B)Atavism, born criminals, criminaloids
C)Altruism, tribalism, survival of the gene pool
D)Phrenology
E)Somatotyping, mesomorph, endomorph, ectomorph
Q4) Positivism rejects free will and emphasizes social ________.
Q5) List the six main categories of early biological theories and their key elements.
Q6) Criminal Anthropology
A)Genetic determism,
B)Atavism, born criminals, criminaloids
C)Altruism, tribalism, survival of the gene pool
D)Phrenology
E)Somatotyping, mesomorph, endomorph, ectomorph
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Chapter 5: Biosocial and Other Contemporary Perspectives
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Q1) The level of exposure to lead appears to be a reliable predictor of all but which of the following?
A) The number of juvenile offenses
B) The seriousness of juvenile offenses
C) The number of adult offenses
D) The seriousness of adult offenses
Q2) Competitive/victimizing behavior is largely fueled by androgens.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The relationship between _________ and assault is strongest at night.
Q4) Which of the following factors probably does not activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression?
A) Stress
B) Diet
C) Toxins
D) Economic conditions
Q5) Prefrontal cortex problems may predispose someone to criminality.
A)True
B)False
Q6) ----------- are bundles of genes.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior
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Q1) Reducing the length of a prison sentence by granting parole to inmates who behave in socially approved ways is an example of a positive punishment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Taking away an offender's freedom by incarcerating him is an example of a A) positive reward.
B) negative reward.
C) positive punishment.
D) negative punishment.
Q3) Stress may lead to aggression toward oneself as well as toward others.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain the early concept of a psychopath and identify some of the defining characteristics. What is the relationship of sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder? What are some possible causes of antisocial personality disorder?
Q5) A(n) _________ of aversive treatment is one form of reward from aggression.
Q6) Dangerousness is an ascribed quality.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 7: Social Structure Theories
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Q1) Which type of theory has been criticized for being racist?
A) Social disorganization theory
B) Strain theory
C) The subcultural approach
D) The ecological approach
Q2) Co-offending reduces the likelihood that offenders will commit violent crimes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following was not a result of the broken windows thesis?
A) An increase in order maintenance policing
B) A crackdown on quality-of-life offenses
C) A focus on serious crime
D) A focus on targeting crimes such as jaywalking, public urination, graffiti, and public drinking
Q4) Messner and Rosenfeld's relative deprivation theory blames the __________ for most criminal activity.
Q5) Countercultures generally conform to the parameters of the surrounding culture. A)True B)False
Page 9
Q6) Discuss some of the policy implications of social structure theories.
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Chapter 8: Theories of Social Process and Social Development
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Q1) Positive turning points can reform chronic offenders.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Adolescence-limited offenders tend to fail in school and become involved in delinquency at an early age.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is a criticism of differential association theory?
A) It has little to say about secret deviants
B) It does little to explain the origin of crime and deviance
C) It does not offer suggestions for institutional change
D) It accounts only for the communication of criminal values, not their emergence
Q4) Social process theories suggest crime prevention programs should emphasize prosocial bonds.
A)True
B)False
Q5) According to Erving Goffman, __________ individuals differ from normals in the way that society responds to them.
Q6) Social development theories have been criticized for ________ issues.
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Chapter 9: Social Conflict Theories
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Q1) Donald Black sees the fundamental cause of conflict as the movement of social time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Instrumental Marxism sees the criminal law and the criminal justice system as tools used to keep the poor disenfranchised.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to Karl Marx, the __________ are the exploited working class who are without power.
A) proletariat
B) bourgeoisie
C) petit bourgeoisie
D) materialists
Q4) Radical feminists would suggest that the elimination of male domination would reduce rates of female crime and male violence against women.
A)True
B)False
Q5) __________criminology is a body of writings by convicted felons.
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Chapter 10: Criminal Victimization
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Q1) Which of the following crime victims would not be included in the sample of individuals surveyed for the NCVS?
A) A 10-year old boy who was beaten up and whose bicycle was stolen
B) A 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a neighbor
C) A 20-year-old college student whose car was stolen
D) A 75-year-old man whose computer was stolen during a home burglary
Q2) For which of the following studies would you definitely want to use NIBRS rather than the UCR?
A) A study examining changes in the overall crime rate in the U.S. over time
B) A study examining crime patterns in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s
C) A study examining rates of motor vehicle thefts in the U.S. today
D) A study examining co-occurring victimization in a given offense
Q3) Which theory focuses on the concept of stigmatized neighborhoods to explain variations in risk of victimization?
A) Deviant places theory
B) Routine activities theory
C) The situational model
D) Lifestyle theory
Q4) The child of a victim of homicide is a(n) _________ victim.
Q5) _________ describe the statistical qualities of a given population.
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Chapter 11: Crimes Against Persons
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Q1) Which of the following is not one of the types of behaviors encompassed in child sexual abuse?
A) An adult engages in sexual activity with a minor
B) An adult engages in nonsexual activity with a minor
C) An adult exploits a minor sexually for purposes of profit
D) An adult exploits a minor for purposes of sexual gratification
Q2) Among homicides occurring during the commission of another felony, __________ is the most likely felony to result in a homicide.
Q3) Premeditated murder is
A) first degree murder.
B) second degree murder.
C) third degree murder.
D) negligent homicide.
Q4) The female serial killers who killed on the orders of Charles Manson were examples of __________ killers.
A) thrill motivated
B) mission oriented
C) expedience
D) disciple
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Chapter 12: Crimes Against Property
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Q1) Cafeteria-style offending describes offending among gang members.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to Neil Shover, ___________ criminals commit crime with some degree of skill and earn reasonably well from their crimes.
A) professional
B) persistent
C) avocational
D) occasional
Q3) According to Neil Shover, __________ criminals commit crime with some degree of skill, earn reasonably well from their crimes, and spend rather little time incarcerated.
Q4) Malcolm Kline used the term __________ to refer to the heterogeneous and unplanned nature of offending found among gang members.
A) professional criminal activity
B) offense specialization
C) cafeteria-style offending
D) persistent offending
Q5) According to Mike Maguire's typology, ________ burglars are professionals.
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Chapter 13: White-Collar and Organized Crime
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Q1) Victim of ___________ are contacted regarding substantial sums of money held in foreign accounts that are supposedly owed to them, or are asked to act as U.S. agents to secure the release of funds to the U.S.
Q2) One result of Prohibition was police corruption.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why do Hirschi and Gottfredson conclude that white-collar criminality is less common as the types of criminality found among the lower classes?
A) People who have the opportunity to commit white-collar crimes rarely have the motivation
B) People who are in a position to commit white-collar crimes rarely have the necessary opportunity
C) People working at the white-collar level generally do not have the characteristics associated with crime commission
D) People at the white-collar level generally do not have the skills to commit crimes of any type
Q4) What was the Teapot Dome Scandal of 1929 and how did it end?
Q5) ___________fraud is any fraud connected with communications media.
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Chapter 14: Drug and Sex Crimes
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Q1) Decriminalization of prostitution would allow women beyond a certain age to offer paid sexual services with few restrictions.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How do feminist perspectives address prostitution?
Q3) Psychoactive substances affect emotions and mental processes.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following statements regarding the relationship between drug use and crime is not supported by scientific evidence?
A) As drug use increases, the number of crimes increases
B) Drug users report greater involvement in crime than nonusers
C) Increased drug use in society cases an increase in reported crime
D) People with criminal records are more likely than others to report being drug users
Q5) Male clients of female prostitutes are known as _______.
Q6) __________involves escort services that advertise via the Internet.
Q7) __________would significantly reduce the criminal penalties associated with prostitution.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Technology and Crime
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Q1) How might similarities between hacking and playing computer games blur the lines between entertainment and crime?
Q2) Technology and crime have always been closely linked. A)True
B)False
Q3) ________ is the violation of a federal or state computer-crime statue
Q4) The lifeblood of the cyberworld is ________.
Q5) The primary motivation of the average hacker is financial profit. A)True
B)False
Q6) The Electronic Frontier Foundation focuses on protecting the individual rights found in the Constitution and Bill of Rights as new communications technologies emerge. A)True
B)False
Q7) The greatest threat to reliable results in DNA profiling is __________ error.
Q8) Discovery of cybercrime is often by accident. A)True
B)False
Q9) Compare and contrast phone phreaking with phishing.
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Chapter 16: Globalization and Terrorism
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Q1) Define human smuggling and trafficking and explain the differences between them.
Q2) ____________terrorists want to replace economies based on free enterprise with socialist or communist economic systems.
A) Left-wing
B) Right-wing
C) State-sponsored
D) Nationalist
Q3) Which of the following statements about terrorism is true?
A) Terrorism is usually an impulsive act of rage
B) Terrorism is perpetrated for criminal gain
C) Terrorism is aimed at military targets
D) Terrorism is politically motivated
Q4) The State Department has the authority to designate selected foreign governments as __________ of international terrorism
Q5) The majority of people who are assisted in illegally entering the U.S. each year are trafficked rather than smuggled.
A)True
B)False
Q6) ____________ targets the virtual world.
Page 18
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