CRM 100 TEST QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
Why measure crime? - Answer- - to measure the moral health of regions
- to evaluate the effectiveness of social control mechanisms (policies, legislation)
- to estimate the risk of becoming a victim
- to develop and test criminological theories
Why would someone not report a crime? - Answer- - fearful of offender
- lack of trust in the police
- worried about self-culpability
Why are not all reported offences recorded? - Answer- - victim not wanting to press
charges
- insufficient evidence
- police may record an incident with multiple victims as a single incident
Police data limitations - Answer- - they are not victim-focused
- not all crime is detected by the police
- not all crime is recorded
- jurisdictional differences in recording practices
Bentham critical of these punishments - Answer- - where there is no ground for the
punishment (e.g. where there has been consent to the act)
- where the punishment is limited in its effect (e.g. where the offender is mentally ill)
- where the punishment is unprofitable, because its evil outweighs that of the offence
- where it is unnecessary
- capital punishment (you can't deter an offender who is dead)
- transportation (has little deterrent effect; there is no way to scale the punishment
(determine how they would be treated at new prison))
Beccaria - Answer- - crime offends society because it breaks the social contract
- punishment is only justified to the extent that the offender has infringed the rights of
others
- it is better to prevent crimes than to punish people for them
- the seriousness of the punishment should be determined by the harm it inflicts
- should be proportionate
, Beccaria's three approaches to punishment - Answer- - certainty (how likely the
punishment is to occur)
- celerity (how quickly the punishment is inflicted)
- severity (how much pain is inflicted)
positivism - Answer- focuses on factors within an individual to explain criminal behaviour
(scientific explanations - e.g. phrenology)
what is criminology? - Answer- the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws and
society's reaction to the breaking of laws: Edwin Sutherland
criticisms of criminology - Answer- - crime has no ontological reality
- criminology perpetuates the myth of crime
- crime consists of many petty events
- crime excludes many serious harms
four frameworks for defining crime - Answer- - legalistic
- crime as a social and political construct
- human rights
- crime as defined by religion
pros of legalistic approach - Answer- - clear and precise
- helps to identify crime
- has clear consequences
cons of legalistic approach - Answer- - some actions which are harmful are not criminal
- does not consider harm committed by govt.'s and transnational organisations
dark figure - Answer- the gap between the volume of crime that is actually committed
and that which is recorded by the police
attrition - Answer- the number of crimes that are being committed and the number that
end with the perpetrator of the offence being convicted
pros of police data - Answer- - voluminous data with lots of detail
- can give useful insight into relative trends over time
pros of CVS - Answer- - typically avoids legalese
- victim-focused
- independent of policing organisations
- captures incidents that are not reported
cons of CVS - Answer- - variations in survey methodology can influence the results
- 'creative' reports about victimisation
- memory decay
CORRECT ANSWERS
Why measure crime? - Answer- - to measure the moral health of regions
- to evaluate the effectiveness of social control mechanisms (policies, legislation)
- to estimate the risk of becoming a victim
- to develop and test criminological theories
Why would someone not report a crime? - Answer- - fearful of offender
- lack of trust in the police
- worried about self-culpability
Why are not all reported offences recorded? - Answer- - victim not wanting to press
charges
- insufficient evidence
- police may record an incident with multiple victims as a single incident
Police data limitations - Answer- - they are not victim-focused
- not all crime is detected by the police
- not all crime is recorded
- jurisdictional differences in recording practices
Bentham critical of these punishments - Answer- - where there is no ground for the
punishment (e.g. where there has been consent to the act)
- where the punishment is limited in its effect (e.g. where the offender is mentally ill)
- where the punishment is unprofitable, because its evil outweighs that of the offence
- where it is unnecessary
- capital punishment (you can't deter an offender who is dead)
- transportation (has little deterrent effect; there is no way to scale the punishment
(determine how they would be treated at new prison))
Beccaria - Answer- - crime offends society because it breaks the social contract
- punishment is only justified to the extent that the offender has infringed the rights of
others
- it is better to prevent crimes than to punish people for them
- the seriousness of the punishment should be determined by the harm it inflicts
- should be proportionate
, Beccaria's three approaches to punishment - Answer- - certainty (how likely the
punishment is to occur)
- celerity (how quickly the punishment is inflicted)
- severity (how much pain is inflicted)
positivism - Answer- focuses on factors within an individual to explain criminal behaviour
(scientific explanations - e.g. phrenology)
what is criminology? - Answer- the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws and
society's reaction to the breaking of laws: Edwin Sutherland
criticisms of criminology - Answer- - crime has no ontological reality
- criminology perpetuates the myth of crime
- crime consists of many petty events
- crime excludes many serious harms
four frameworks for defining crime - Answer- - legalistic
- crime as a social and political construct
- human rights
- crime as defined by religion
pros of legalistic approach - Answer- - clear and precise
- helps to identify crime
- has clear consequences
cons of legalistic approach - Answer- - some actions which are harmful are not criminal
- does not consider harm committed by govt.'s and transnational organisations
dark figure - Answer- the gap between the volume of crime that is actually committed
and that which is recorded by the police
attrition - Answer- the number of crimes that are being committed and the number that
end with the perpetrator of the offence being convicted
pros of police data - Answer- - voluminous data with lots of detail
- can give useful insight into relative trends over time
pros of CVS - Answer- - typically avoids legalese
- victim-focused
- independent of policing organisations
- captures incidents that are not reported
cons of CVS - Answer- - variations in survey methodology can influence the results
- 'creative' reports about victimisation
- memory decay
