1. A crime that is considered “an act which is not inherently immoral, but becomes so because its commission is expressly forbidden by positive law” is called ______.
a. mala in se
b. mala prohibita
c. illegal
d. civil wrongs
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. A crime that is considered “an act inherently and essentially evil, that is immoral in its nature and injurious in its consequence, without any regard to the fact of its being noticed or punished by the law of the state” is called ______.
a. mala in se
b. mala prohibita
c. illegal
d. civil wrongs
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Prostitution is illegal in most jurisdictions in the United States. However, prostitution is legal, and licensed, in most counties of Nevada. This type of crime would be considered ______.
a. mala in se
b. mala prohibita
c. illegal
d. civil wrongs
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. ______ are not necessarily against the law but are considered atypical and may be deemed immoral rather than illegal.
a. mala in se
b. mala prohibita
c. Deviant acts
d. Civil wrongs
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. ______ defined criminology as the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon, which includes the process of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting toward the breaking of laws.
a. Hirschi
b. Gottfredson
c. Durkheim
d. Sutherland
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Easy
6.______ often refers to the various criminal justice agencies and institutions, such as police, courts, and corrections, that are interrelated and work together toward common goals.
a. Victimology
b. Restorative justice
c. Criminal justice
d. Jurisprudence
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. A ______ of crime views the formal system of laws, as well as the enforcement of those laws, as incorporating societal norms for which there is a broad normative consensus.
a. conflict perspective
b. symbolic interactionism
c. consensus perspective
d. traditionalism perspective
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. The ______ maintains that there is conflict between various societal groups with different interests, and it is often resolved when the group in power achieves control.
a. conflict perspective
b. symbolic interactionism
c. consensus perspective
d. rational choice theory
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. The structure of the criminal justice system is often presented as ______.
a. police and corrections
b. police and courts
c. police, courts, and corrections
d. police, victims, and courts
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Criminal Justice System
Difficulty Level: Easy
10.______ are designated as lower courts, and they do not have power that extends to the overall administration of justice; thus, they do not try felony cases and do not have appellate authority.
a. Courts of limited jurisdiction
b. Courts of general jurisdiction
c. Courts of appellate jurisdiction
d. The Supreme Court
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. ______ are designated as major trial courts. They have the power and authority to try and decide any case, including appeals from a lower court.
a. Courts of limited jurisdiction
b. Courts of general jurisdiction
c. Courts of appellate jurisdiction
d. The Supreme Court
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
12. ______ are designated as appeals courts. They are limited in their jurisdiction decisions on matters of appeal from lower courts and trial courts.
a. Courts of limited jurisdiction
b. Courts of general jurisdiction
c. Courts of appellate jurisdiction
d. The Supreme Court
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. According to conflict perspective, conflict is often resolved when the group in power achieves ______.
a. control
b. a truce
c. defeat
d. values
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. The general purpose of the criminal justice system includes all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. control crime
b. prevent crime
c. community support
d. provide and maintain justice
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Criminal Justice System
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. The term criminal justicegenerally refers to all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. corrections
b. military
c. police
d. courts
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Criminal Justice System
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. The term criminology was first coined by ______.
a. Raffaele Garafalo
b. Paul Topinard
c. Edwin Sutherland
d. Joanne Belknap
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Medium
17. The federal court system is a three-tiered model including all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. U.S. Small Claims Court
b. U.S. Supreme Court
c. U.S. District Courts
d. U.S. Courts of Appeals
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
18. In 2002, President George W. Bush created the ______ in an effort to protect and defend the United States from terrorist threats.
a. Drug Enforcement Administration
b. Department of Homeland Security
c. Federal Bureau of Investigation
d. U.S. Secret Service
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Easy
19. Historically, the primary objective of processing juveniles was to determine ______.
a. guilt
b. innocence
c. what was in the best interest of the child
d. if their parents had any responsibility
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
20.______ is generally reserved for those convicted of more serious crimes with longer sentences who may be housed in a supermax, maximum, medium, or minimum security prison, based on security concerns.
a. Jail
b. Probation
c. Parole
d. Prison
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
21. ______ is a criterion of causality that requires a change in a predictor variable (X) to be consistently associated with some change in the explanatory variable (Y).
a. Causation
b. Spuriousness
c. Validity
d. Correlation
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Requirements for Determining Causality
Difficulty Level: Medium
22. ______ is a relatively new area of criminology.
a. Policing
b. Victimology
c. Research methods
d. Statistical analysis
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Victimology
Difficulty Level: Easy
23.______ is given by the state/government, and restitution is given by the offender, typically as part of the sentence given.
a. Compensation
b. Restorative justice
c. Victim impact statements
d. Jurisdiction
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Compensation and Restitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
24.In 1983, the ______ was established by the U.S. Department of Justice to implement recommendations from the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime.
a. Department of Victimology and Statistics
b. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
c. Department of Justice and Measurements
d. Office of Compensation and Restitution
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Child Abuse and Neglect
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. The ______ task force program assists state and local enforcement in preventing and investigating technology-based sexual exploitation.
a. Central Intelligence Agency
b. Department of Homeland Security
c. Internet Crimes Against Children
d. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Child Abuse and Neglect
Difficulty Level: Medium
26. The American colonists followed the common law doctrine from England, which held that juveniles ______ years or older could be treated the same as adult offenders.
a. 7
b. 12
c. 14
d. 18
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
27. The U.S. corrections systems include several residential sanctions, such as ______, work release programs, and study release programs.
a. prisons
b. halfway houses
c. jails
d. house arrest
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Medium
28. The United States has a three-tiered federal court system. The middle tier includes ______ circuit courts of appeal.
a. 3
b. 13
c. 50
d. 94
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
29. The U.S. corrections systems include several non-residential sanctions, such as ______, electronic monitoring, and day reporting centers.
a. jails
b. prisons
c. halfway houses
d. house arrest
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
30. The concept of parens patriae led the juvenile justice system to focus on determining what was in the best interests of the child. As a result, juvenile offenders in the United States ______.
a. have always enjoyed the same due process rights as adults
b. did not obtain due process rights until after the Civil War
c. did not obtain due process rights until the 1960s.
d. still have no recognized due process rights according to the Supreme Court
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
31. In the 1967 case In re Gault, the Supreme Court determined that juvenile defendants were entitled to certain due process guarantees, such as the right to be notified of charges, the right to counsel, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and the right ______.
a. against self-incrimination
b. to guaranteed bail after arraignment
c. to formally protest excessive fines
d. to free speech during court hearings
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
32. In the juvenile justice system, a trial is called a/an ______.
a. commitment
b. adjudication hearing
c. delinquent act
d. detention
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
33. Juveniles are usually confined to facilities called ______ on a short-term basis while awaiting trial.
a. prisons
b. jails
c. detention centers
d. work camps
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
34. Certain state statutes exclude certain juvenile offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction, such as when a juvenile has been tried and convicted as an adult on a previous occasion. These provisions are called ______.
a. statutory exclusions
b. concurrent jurisdictions
c. detention hearings
d. waiver provisions
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
35. A ______ is the authority to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and transfer the case to criminal court.
a. disposition hearing
b. temporal ordering
c. judicial waiver
d. jurisdiction
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Easy
36. ______ is attained by explaining a phenomenon, such as criminal activity, in the simplest way possible.
a. Temporality
b. Parsimony
c. Criminology
d. Exclusivity
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Five Characteristics of Good Theories
Difficulty Level: Easy
37. What is the trait that indicates how much of a given phenomenon a theory attempts to explain?
a. testability
b. correlation
c. causation
d. scope
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Five Characteristics of Good Theories
Difficulty Level: Easy
38. ______ is the extent to which a theory can be empirically and scientifically evaluated for accuracy.
a. Testability
b. Correlation
c. Causation
d. Scope
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Five Characteristics of Good Theories
Difficulty Level: Easy
39. ______ is the extent to which a theoretical model is supported by scientific research.
a. Parsimony
b. Scope
c. Testability
d. Empirical validity
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Five Characteristics of Good Theories
Difficulty Level: Easy
40. The extent to which concepts and propositions of a theory make sense in terms of face value, consistency, and existing knowledge is called ______.
a. logical consistency
b. parsimony
c. causality
d. testability
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Five Characteristics of Good Theories
Difficulty Level: Easy
True/False
1. Some acts are moving from being deemed deviant to being declared illegal, such as using a cell phone while driving or smoking cigarettes in public.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. There is one definition of what crime is, and it is the same in all countries.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. While most mala in se activities are also considered highly deviant, this is not necessarily the case for mala prohibita acts.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. Criminology is the scientific study of crime.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Joanne Belknap states she prefers to use the terms crime processing, criminal processing,and criminal legal system, instead of the term criminal justice, given that “the processing of victims and offenders [is] anything but ‘just.’”
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. Criminologists, such as Richard Quinney, William Chambliss, and Austin Turk, maintain that criminological theory has not placed enough emphasis on explaining criminal behavior.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. The main goals of the criminal justice system are to control crime, to prevent crime, and to provide and maintain justice.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Criminal Justice System
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. Unlike the court system, law enforcement doesn’t include various organizational levels at the federal, state, and local levels.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. An offender can be placed on probation, incarcerated, or transferred to some type of community-based corrections facility.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. An offender may have to comply with both general and specific conditions of probation.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. The Postal Service and the Forest Service have no police power.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Hard
12. According to the text, journalists play a key role in examining crime by exploring what is happening in criminal justice and revealing injustices as well as new forms of crime.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. The question “Why are some behaviors defined as criminal while others are not?” is considered part of the conflict perspective.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. The United States has one judicial system.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. The U.S. Supreme Court has unlimited jurisdiction.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
16. Studies show that victim impact statements in death penalty cases have virtually no impact on sentencing when the case involves a victim of low socio-economic status.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Victim Impact Statements
Difficulty Level: Medium
17. In the field of criminology, it is fairly easy to establish causality.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Requirements for Determining Causality
Difficulty Level: Easy
18. Deviant acts are always considered atypical, and are universally illegal.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Easy
19. The term criminology was first coined by the Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo in 1885.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Easy
20. The consensus perspective of crime is currently the prevailing explanation of criminal behavior that is accepted by most social scientists.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectivesof Crime
Difficulty Level: Easy
21. The FBI and the DEA are both examples of federal law enforcement agencies.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Easy
22. Agencies at the state level are divided into counties and municipalities.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Medium
23. Judges can sentence offenders to a combination of probation and incarceration.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
24. Shock incarceration is a term that is interchangeable with life sentence.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. Prisons are designated for offenders serving shorter terms, such as for those awaiting trial.
Ans: F
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Easy
Essay
1. Give an example of a mala in se act and a mala prohibita act.
Ans: Murder; prostitution. Various examples.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Hard
2. Besides the study of crime, what else does the field of encompass?
Ans: Answers will vary, but generally speaking, it focuses on reasons why people engage or don't engage in criminal behavior.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: What Are Criminology and Criminal Justice?
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. What are the two models of state police departments?
Ans: State police and highway patrol.
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Law Enforcement
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. What is a judicial waiver in the context of the juvenile justice system?
Ans: The authority to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and transfer the case to criminal court.
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. Give an example of a deviant act that is not illegal.
Ans: Belching in public, coughing without covering your mouth, putting your elbows on the table at a meal, etc. Various examples.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Hard
6. Give one example of a general condition that could be imposed upon an individual on probation.
Ans: Offenders regularly reporting to their supervising officer, obeying the laws, submitting to searches, and not being in possession of firearms or using drugs.
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Corrections
Difficulty Level: Hard
7. Why is the U.S. judicial system referred to as a dual court system?
Ans: Separate but interrelated systems of federal and state courts.
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Courts
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. Explain how some mala prohibita acts are not necessarily viewed as highly deviant.
Ans: Even though these acts may be considered illegal, they may not be deviant, as in the case with speeding or minor traffic violations. This is the case because many people engage in these acts and do not see them as necessarily wrong or deviant.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. Studies show that victim impact statements have little impact on how judges sentence offenders. Why is this so?
Ans: These statements are only heard after the verdict is reached, so only the judge is evaluating the victim impact statement. Judges have been trained to set aside their emotions and only consider objective criteria when making rulings on evidence, motions, and even sentencing. These statements are highly emotional in nature, so judges may subconsciously negate the emotional aspects of them.
Learning Objective: 1.4: Identify key concepts and issues associated with victimology.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Victim Impact Statements
Difficulty Level: Medium
10. According to several criminologists, we should shift focus from explaining criminal behavior to explaining criminal law. Do you believe this to be true? Why or why not?
Ans: Students should give original answers as to why we should focus on explaining criminal law. This may be along the lines of understanding processes by which certain behaviors and individuals are designated as criminal.
Learning Objective: 1.3: Identify and characterize a good theory.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. Why is defining crime a difficult task? Give your definition of crime, and give two examples to illustrate your definition.
Ans: Scholars disagree on what should be considered a crime; it could be anything that violates a law or that causes harm. Students will give their definition of crime and two examples to illustrate their point.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Medium
12. Explain the difference between consensus and conflict perspectives and how they relate to the formation of laws. How would each of these perspectives view the formation of a new law, such as a “no texting while driving” law?
Ans: Consensus perspective assumes virtually everyone is in agreement on the laws and therefore assumes no conflict in attitudes regarding the laws and rules of society. This perspective would view the formation of this new law as incorporating societal norms and that everyone agrees with the new law. Conflict perspective assumes most people disagree on what the law should be and that law is used as a tool by those in power to keep down other groups. This perspective would view the new law as a way to keep a group of the population down and that not everyone agrees with the new law.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Consensus and Conflict Perspectives of Crime
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. How is the concept of parens patriae related to the juvenile justice system? Ans: Why do we, as a nation, treat juveniles differently in the United States and many other countries? The criminal justice system treats juveniles differently because they are different not only physically but also psychologically as well. The term parens patriae means the parent of the country, recognizing the state has both the right and obligation to intervene on behalf of and to protect its citizens who are impaired, have an impediment, or who are not as emotionally developed as an adult. Because juveniles lack psychological maturity, they fall within these boundaries.
Learning Objective: 1.2: Summarize the general structure and organization of the criminal justice system.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Juvenile Justice System
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. Using the termsmala in se and mala prohibita, explain why marijuana is now legalized in many jurisdictions, while other “hard drugs” like heroin and cocaine are not.
Ans: Marijuana is now considered relatively harmless by a large number of citizens and those who make the laws. Conversely, drugs like heroin and cocaine are considered harmful (mala in se). There are scientific studies to back up these perspectives. Back in the 1950s, citizens and lawmakers alike would never consider legalizing marijuana, even though there was scant evidence of it being physically addictive (mala prohibita). This example is the converse of how seatbelts used to be considered optional but are mandatory in many states.
Learning Objective: 1.1: Identify key concepts in understanding criminology.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is a Crime?
Difficulty Level: Medium
