Exam 1 Study Guide

What do we mean when we say race is a social construct?

Race has no biological meaning as its never has a fixed category. It has social meaning in the world related to education, poverty, housing, health, and exposure to violence.

What are the three concerns laid out by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in regard to the use of DNA databases? What do each of them mean?

(1) Infringement on one’s personal space,

(2) Invasion of medical privacy, and

(3) Potential for racial disparity impacts

What was the fundamental issue being contested in Maryland v. King (2013)? What was the Supreme Court’s decision?

The fundamental issue being contested is whether the Fourth Amendment allowed states (police) to collect DNA of an individual prior to conviction. The Supreme court decided that the fourth amendment does allow it.  

What does the term “ethnicity” refer to?

The shared commonalities of a group of people, language, culture, food, religion or ancestral homeland.

What is the largest ethnic group in the United States?

Hispanics/Latinos

What has fueled the growth of the Hispanic/Latino population in the United States?

Access to education and jobs.

How are immigrants diverse (aside from race/ethnicity)?

Socioeconomic status (education, income, work skills)

What two factors fueled the immigrant growth?

1. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 [Prioritized family reunification and skilled immigrants]

2. Changes in border enforcement during the 1990s [Immigration from Mexico and Central America used to be temporary]

What percent of immigrants are estimated to be undocumented?

19-21%

What are some of the problems with criminal justice data?

Some is self-report some isn’t, individuals can change their racial identity, Hispanics have been historically categorized as white, data on race/ethnicity varies across jurisdiction.

What three reasons are often given to explain the overrepresentation of minorities in the CJ system? What do they mean? Note, the third reason is both.

1. Disproportionate involvement in crime [due to differences in offending by race]

2. Disparities in criminal justice processing

3. Differential association [both diff in crime and biases in processing]

What are the three types of biases/discrimination discussed in class?

• Explicit bias - direct or conscious discrimination against specific groups of people (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender)

  • Examples include the use of racist language or historically discriminatory policies (e.g., redlining, Jim Crow segregation)

• Implicit bias - unconscious attitudes or behaviors towards specific groups of people

  • E.g., police officer being more likely to search people of color

• Indirect bias - when a seemingly neutral rule, policy, or
  practice disproportionately affects certain groups of people

  • Examples include the War on Drugs and felon disenfranchisement laws

Which racial/ethnic group encompasses the majority of arrestees?

Which two racial/ethnic groups have the highest rate of violent victimization (Not Hispanics or
African Americans)?

When did the federal government begin collecting data on race and crime? What entity collected
it?

What is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)?

Is law enforcement participation in the UCR required or voluntary?

How do crimes come to the attention of the police (two ways)?

What percentage of law enforcement agencies participate in the UCR?

What eight offenses make up the UCR’s Crime Index? What are the two categories that these
eight offenses are divided into?

What are the Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHR)?

What is the hierarchy rule?

What is the biggest issue in tracking Latino arrests in the UCR, especially over time?

What is National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)? When was it established?

What are some of the advantages of NIBRS over the UCR?

What is the NCVS?

How does the NCVS collect its sample?

In comparison to the UCR, what criminal offense does the NCVS NOT ask about?

How does the NCVS uncover those crimes NOT reported to the police?

What percent of violent victimizations are NOT reported to the police?

According to the NCVS, which crime type is least likely to be reported to the police? Which is
most likely and why?

What is the minimum age of respondents in the NCVS?

What are some limitations to the NCVS discussed during lecture?

Which racial/ethnic group has the lowest rate of crime reporting? Which group has the highest?

How do scholars measure the accuracy of the UCR and NCVS?

What are self-report studies? When did they emerge?

What is the biggest finding from self-report studies?

What is the main issue with self-report studies?

Are males or females more likely to be homicide victims?

Are homicides more likely to be intraracial or interracial?

Do immigrants commit crimes at a higher or lower rate than natives?

Among immigrants, are there differences in offending by race and ethnicity?

What is the main issue with examining crime/victimization among undocumented immigrants?

How has immigration altered how we study race and crime?

Who is Cesare Lombroso?

What is phrenology?

Why is Lombroso regarded as the “father of criminology?”

What are the three constitutional factors that Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) say explain why Blacks are overrepresented in crime?

What is intellectual determinism? What do Herrnstein and Murray (1994) link intellectual
determinism to?

According to Herrnstein and Murray, which racial/ethnic groups have the lowest IQ? Which ones
have the highest?

What are the limitations/critiques of the IQ and crime thesis?

W.E.B. Du Bois conducted his ethnography in what U.S. city?

What is the concentric zone approach?

What does the racial invariance thesis argue? What community characteristic does it emphasize?

What is the immigrant/Latino paradox?

According to Merton, what is the culturally defined goal in U.S. society and the acceptable
means of achieving it?

How does Merton use strain/anomie theory to explain the overrepresentation of Blacks in the
criminal justice system?

What are two limitations of Merton’s strain theory?

What is Unniever and Gaabidon’s theory of African American Offending? What does it focus
on?

What do subcultural theories emphasize or normalize?

Subcultural orientations are more likely to be found in what age group? What part of the city?

According to Elijah Anderson, at the heart of the “Code of the Street” is what?

What contributes to the “Code of the Street?”

What does Anderson mean by “decent” families? “Street” families?

What is code switching?

What are the critiques of the “Code of the Street?”

According to Levitt and Dubner (2001), abortion can account for what percentage of the violent
crime drop?

What are the two premises to the abortion, race, and crime relationship?

What do we mean when we say the police are the “gatekeepers” of the criminal justice system?

What are slave patrols?

What are three major eras of riots related to police abuse?

Do African Americans experience more contact with the police than other racial/ethnic groups?

What are the reasons for this disproportionate contact?

What are the main challenges facing Hispanic communities when it comes to interactions with
the police?

What is the contrast thesis?

What is the significance of the McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) decision?

Which racial/ethnic group experiences the least amount of contact with the police?

What factors are associated with public opinion of the police?

What is procedural justice in regard to policing? What is legal cynicism?

What do we mean by “direct” and “indirect” contacts?

What is the primary issue with data on police shootings? Is this data accurate?

Are there disparities in police shootings? Has it improved over time?

What are the implications of Tennessee v. Garner (1983)?

What is the Fleeing Felon rule? How does it compare to the Defense of Life rule?

What are stop-and-frisk policies?

What two entities make up the dual court system?

Who are the three main players in the courtroom?

What do we mean by courtroom workgroup?

What percent of cases result in plea bargains? 90%

How do Native American courts compare to traditional U.S. courts?

Which racial/ethnic group has experienced the most discrimination in the U.S. court system?

What do we mean by the “model minority?”

What is the Scottsboro Boys case?

Is bail guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution?

What are the three types of bail? What do each of them mean?

What is the importance of bail in relation to conviction?

What are legal factors? What are extralegal factors?

What was the ruling in Powell v. Alabama (1932)?

What was the ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)?

What was the ruling in Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)?