criminal justice flashcards exam 1

What are the three logistical obstacles to measuring crime effectively and efficiently?

Problems of definition, problems of resources, and problems of politics.

What is victim precipitation?

When a victim plays an active role in initiating conflict.

How would an unreported burglary be recorded?

It would not be recorded and becomes part of the dark figure of crime.

Why is it difficult to measure white-collar and corporate crime?

Much investigation and regulation is not done by law enforcement.

Why does the NCVS not account for successfully completed drug transactions?

Buyers do not consider themselves crime victims.

What is the most extensive and useful measure of crime available?

uniform crime reports

What are the two sources of error in the Uniform Crime Reports?

Unintentional and intentional errors.

What is a crime rate?

The number of Crime Index offenses divided by the population of an area.

What is the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)?

A system designed to gather data on each criminal act, even within the same incident.

What type of research interviews victims about crimes they experienced?

A victimization survey.

How many offenses are never reported to police?

About half.

What is a self-report study?

A study in which people report criminal offenses they have committed.

Which is NOT a reason a victim would not report an offense?

The victim may have committed the offense.

What is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)?

An annual FBI publication summarizing the incidence and rate of reported crime.

How does the FBI classify murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault?

As violent crimes.

How does the FBI currently classify arson?

Property Crime

What advantages does NIBRS have over UCR?

It identifies victim/perpetrator characteristics, when and where offenses occur, and the form of offenses.

Who may be included in considerations of victimization?

Victims, victims' families, and victims' communities.

What is the criminal justice process often called for rape and sexual assault victims?

The second victimization.

What is NOT included in the typical definition of elder abuse?

The victim is not dependent on a caregiver.

Which children have the highest percentage of child abuse and neglect victims?

Children from birth to age 3.

What are children who are physically abused at greater risk for?

Mental illness, homelessness, and crime.

What is a victim-impact statement?

A statement describing how a crime affected the victim or the victim's family.

What was Albuquerque's 2015 violent crime rate?

793 violent offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.

What was Yakima's 2015 property crime rate?

3,537 property offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.

What ancient stone tablet contained over 250 laws covering many issues?

The Code of Hammurabi.

What must laws be?

Published in the criminal code, enacted by the legislature, and enforced fairly and evenly.

What major English document contributed to U.S. law?

The Magna Carta.

What is sometimes called case law, judiciary law, or unwritten law?

Common law.

What type of law is enacted by legislatures?

Statutory law.

What is the legal term for the state of a child who has not reached the specified age of adulthood?

infancy

What is common law based on?

Precedent.

What issues guide precedent?

Predictability, efficiency, and reliability.

What legal principle means courts are bound by previous court decisions?

Stare decisis.

What are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution called?

The Bill of Rights.

What writ is issued to bring a party before the court?

Habeas corpus.

Which amendment requires a grand jury indictment for a capital or infamous crime?

The Fifth Amendment.

What are three criteria used to determine what behaviors should be criminal?

The effects of the law, other means of protecting society, and enforceability of the law.

What type of law covers personal wrongs and damages such as libel, slander, assault, trespass, and negligence?

Tort law.

What principle states that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offense?

Double jeopardy.

What type of law defines which behaviors are crimes?

Substantive law.

What type of law prescribes methods for enforcing and using the law?

Procedural law.

What type of law comes from judicial decisions and considers previous similar cases?

Case law.

What type of offense includes murder, rape, assault, larceny, and arson?

Felony.

What type of offense usually has a maximum incarceration of up to one year in jail?

Misdemeanor.

What type of offense includes conspiracy?

Inchoate offense.

What do actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence constitute?

Corpus delicti (the elements of a crime)

What does mens rea mean?

Guilty mind.

This defense attempts to give physical or psychological reasons that a defendant cannot comprehend his or her criminal actions, their harm(s), or their punishment.

insanity defense

This type of offense tends to involve offenses in which the public's welfare is at issue.

strict liability

This is the violation of the laws of a society by a person or a group of people who are subject to the laws of that society.

crime

This kind of crime includes interpersonal violence and property crime.

street crime

C. Wright Mills urges the use of this to examine issues while removed from our social location.

sociological imagination

This consists of the rules, habits, and customs a society uses to enforce conformity to its norms.

social control

This is the administration of a punishment or reward in accordance with morals that a given society considers correct.

justice

This is a state or federal institution that confines people convicted of crime who are serving sentences for longer than a year.

prison

This social institution controls crime by detecting, detaining, adjudicating, and punishing and/or rehabilitating people who break the law.

law enforcement

The suspension of all or part of a sentence subject to certain conditions and supervision in the community.

probation

to administer a legal process of judging and to pronounce a judgment.

adjudicate

Four factors challenge the transition to greater cooperation among law enforcement agencies. Which is not one of these?

Personnel policies focus on developing personnel who are primarily dedicated to the individual agency rather than the community of agencies.

This criminal justice model describes the expectation of an efficient criminal justice system.

crime control model

This criminal justice model describes the expectation of a just and fair criminal justice system.

due process model

According to the wedding-cake model of criminal justice, what does the top layer represent?

celebrated cases

According to the wedding-cake model of criminal justice, what does the second layer represent?

less serious felonies

According to the wedding-cake model of criminal justice, what does the bottom layer represent?

misdemeanors

These offenses are punishable by more than a year in a state prison.

felonies

In society, which of these dictate what is acceptable and what is punished?

rules, laws, folkways

These offenses include drug use, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, prostitution, and some forms of gambling.

public order crime

The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear

burglary, robbery, larceny-theft

This criminal offense is committed during the course of business for financial gain.

white collar crime

Behaviors that are deemed undesirable because they offend community standards rather than directly harm people or property

victimless crime

This minor criminal offense is punishable by a fine and/or jail time for up to one year.

misdemeanor

This is the murder of three or more people in a single incident.

mass murder

This is the use or threat of violence against a state or other political entity in order to coerce.

terrorism

Police officers, prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials use this to decide what to do with individual cases.

discretion