Chapter 2: The Nature and Extent of Crime

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Why is it important to discover the root causes of crime?

A. to combat crime, make the criminal justice system more efficient, and reduce victimization

B. to determine adequate punishments

C. to make laws, hire prosecutors, and further criminology

D. to understand oppression and racism

2. How are data collected when measuring crime?

A. surveying law enforcement and citizens

B. obtaining transcripts from news reports

C. surveying law enforcement and obtaining transcripts from news reports

D. attending court hearings

3. Which two organizations collect crime data on a federal Level?

A. Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice

B. Department of Justice and National Security Agency

C. Bureau of Justice Statistics and Federal Bureau of Investigations

D. Department of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics.

4. The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides data for which national report?

A. Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program

B. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

C. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

D. Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR)

5. Which government agency is responsible for maintaining the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)?

A. Federal Bureau of Investigations

B. Bureau of Justice Statistics

C. National Security Agency

D. Homeland Security

6. In 1927, the International Association of Chiefs of Police created the Committee on Uniform Crime Records to ______.

A. develop law enforcement policy on dealing with levels of high crime

B. determine which crimes are being committed more often

C. develop a program to gather crime statistics across the United States

D. allow law enforcement to view reports from different agencies

7. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) programs breaks crimes up into Part 1 and Part 2 crimes. What are Part 1 crimes?

A. Part 1 crimes are serious in nature and require extended time in prison for offenses like murder, fraud, and burglary.

B. Part 1 crimes are common and dangerous crimes like murder, rape, and, robbery

C. Part 1 crime are crimes against a person like murder, battery, and drug abuse.

D. Part 1 crimes are uncommon crimes like white-collar crimes and cybercrimes.

8. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) programs breaks crimes up into Part 1 and Part 2 crimes. What are Part 2 crimes?

A. Part 2 crimes are very common violent crimes like murder, rape, and aggravated assault.

B. Part 2 crimes are uncommon and less serious crimes like gambling, drunkenness, and purchasing prostitution.

C. Part 2 crimes are crimes against property like theft, burglary, and arson.

D. Part 2 crimes are crimes against people like identity theft, brank fraud, and motor vehicle theft.

9. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) does NOT collect information on ______.

A. the number of crimes committed

B. information on crime victims or offenders

C. where the crime was committed

D. the reporting agency

10. The Summary Reporting System (SRS) collects which type of data points for the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)?

A. characteristics of specific crimes like types of cars in motor vehicle theft

B. data on the result of the investigation like if a suspect was convicted or found not guilty at trial

C. victim personal information like where the victim lives and works

D. criminal history of the offender like prior convictions or outstanding warrants

11. When did the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) start archiving data?

A. 1960

B. 1976

C. 1982

D. 1994

12. The innovation of the Supplementary Homicide Repot (SHR) was the ability to collect the ______.

A. victim and offender’s age, sex, and race

B. victim and offender’s name, address, and employment

C. victim and offender’s criminal history and prior relationships

D. victim and offender’s statements given to police

13. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was created to track ______.

A. crimes against property

B. nonfatal crimes against persons

C. crimes against persons

D. crimes against the state

14. What does the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) have in common with the Supplementary Reporting System (SRS)?

A. funding sources

B. relationships with popular news outlets

C. types of crimes recorded

D. data source

15. What are Group A crimes in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (BIBRS)?

A. more serious and frequently occurring offenses

B. felonies and cybercrimes

C. misdemeanors and property crimes

D. less serious and infrequent crimes

16. What are Group B crimes in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (BIBRS)?

A. more serious and frequently occurring offenses

B. felonies and cybercrimes

C. misdemeanors and property crimes

D. less serious and infrequent crimes

17. What is known as the hierarchy rule?

A. The first crime discovered by police at the scene is the crime that is reported to the FBI for purpose of statistics.

B. The most serious crime discovered by police at the scene is the crime that is reported to the FBI for purpose of statistics.

C. The first crime to be solved by police at the scene is the crime that is reported to the FBI for purpose of statistics.

D. All crimes are ranked least to most serious and all crimes are reported to be counted.

18. Which system of reporting uses the hierarchy rule?

A. Supplementary Reporting System (SRS)

B. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NICBRS)

C. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

D. Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program

19. The biggest difference between National Incident-Based Reporting System (NICBRS) and Supplementary Reporting system (SRS) is ______.

A. the use of the Hierarchy Rule

B. NICBRS can distinguish between attempted and completed crimes

C. SRS only counts crimes that were reported to law enforcement

D. SRS can link multiple victims to the same crime

20. The purpose of the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) is ______.

A. for the Bureau of Justice Statistics to make it easier to track statistics in rural areas

B. for the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide more information and data points to measure more crime nationally

C. for law enforcement to have a universal place to send all investigations notes to help solve cold cases

D. for law enforcement to have a universal place to find statistics criminal trends

21. In 1965, the government reviewed the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and the Supplementary Report System (SRS) for major limitations of the UCR SRS. Which is not a limitation of the UCR SRS?

A. dark figure of crime

B. data were more about law enforcement

C. incomplete data on victims, offenders, types of crimes, and locations

D. data were only representative of people of a certain race

22. The National Crime Survey (NCS) collects data on ______.

A. personal and property crime

B. property and white-collar crime

C. street and white-collar crime

D. cybercrime and terrorism

23. In 1991, the National Crime Survey (NCS) changed its name to ______.

A. Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

B. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

C. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

D. National Crime Panel (NCP)

24. Shortly after being founded, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) distinguished between ______.

A. murder and manslaughter

B. assault and battery

C. rape and sexual assault.

D. robbery and burglary

25. The new questioning procedures in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) allowed more crimes to be reported because ______.

A. more questioning lead to more confessions from people on the crimes they committed

B. more thorough research lead to solving more crimes

C. more thorough questioning lead to reporting less serious offenses that occurred in the incident

D. more research lead to a change in how crime was defined

26. The National Crime Victimization Survey only collects information of people ______ and older.

A. 0

B. 8

C. 12

D. 18

27. How does the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collect data?

A. Law enforcement voluntarily gives the data to the National Crime Victimization Survey.

B. Law enforcement is required by law to provide data to National Crime Victimization Survey.

C. Data are collected by the NCVS via survey.

D. The FBI provides data from different collection sites.

28. The National Crime Victimization Survey uses the NCVS-1 to ______.

A. interview potential victims on about the incident to find if there was a crime committed

B. interview convicted offenders about the crime and various reasons it was committed

C. interview law enforcement about data collection techniques

D. interview bystanders and witness about the crime

30. ______ is responsible for collecting data for the National Crime Victimization Survey.

A. Federal Bureau of Investigation

B. Census Bureau

C. Bureau of Justice Statistics

D. Law Enforcement

31. The National Crime Victimization Survey allows assessment of crime that is committed ______.

A. against certain groups of people

B. by certain groups of people

C. in specific locations

D. at specific times

32. A husband is an alcoholic and abuses his wife. He leaves every day to go to work at the hospital where he is a doctor. Before he leaves, he locks his wife in a room with no way out. When he gets home, he assaults her and forces her to make him dinner. According to National Crime Victimization Survey data collection, ______ data points can be collected from this scenario.

A. 0–3

B. 7–12

C. 18–25

D. 35–60

33. An innovation of the National Crime Victimization Survey is that it allows for the collection and analysis of ______.

A. difficult to measure crimes for relatively small groups

B. very serious crimes by racial demographics

C. minor offenses

D. difficult to measure crimes for large groups

34. One of the limitations of National Crime Victimization Survey is that it collects data for national estimates. Which entity cannot use the data effectively?

A. local law enforcement

B. criminologists

C. Congress

D. federal agencies

35. The National Crime Victimization Survey primarily tracks which type of crime?

A. street

B. cyber

C. white-collar

D. terrorism

36. What are some nonsampling errors that occur within the National Crime Victimization Survey?

A. People do not want to share specifics about events or people involved.

B. People lie about what happened.

C. People were not victims of crime.

D. People do not answer the questions on the survey.

37. In 2012, a new standard for series victimization was implemented to allow victims ______.

A. to report up to 10 incidents of the same or similar crime

B. to report all the incidents of the same or similar crime and all incidents are counted as one incident for purposes of reporting statistics

C. to report all incidents of the same or similar crime and all incidents are counted individually for purposes of reporting statistics

D. the choice for police to investigate the incidents before reporting the statistic

38. In 2008, the National Research Council wanted to make the National Crime Victimization Survey more efficient. The National Research Council suggests ______.

A. legislation based upon qualitative case studies on crime

B. more interviews with law enforcement

C. more cost effective and reliable estimates

D. legislation to solidify the rights of victims

39. National Crime Victimization Survey only takes into consideration crimes that have victims. If a person uses illegal drugs, will that crime be counted in the National Crime Victimization Survey?

A. No, drug use is not a Group A or B crime. Therefore, the National Crime Victimization Survey does not report on it.

B. No, victimless crimes are not reported to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Here, a person doing drugs does not have a victim.

C. Yes, drug use is a Group B crime and will be reported to the National Crime Victimization Survey.

D. Yes, the National Crime Victimization Survey uses data points from any crime involving drugs.

40. Since the ______, the overall crime rate has been ______ in the United States.

A. 1970s; decreasing

B. 1980s; increasing

C. 1990s; decreasing

D. 2000s; increasing

41. Patterns and concentrations of crime tend to be found in ______.

A. specific locations

B. specific populations

C. religious organizations

D. violent personalities

42. Which statement is true regarding race and the murder rate?

A. Murder is committed interracially more than intraracially.

B. Race has no impact on murder.

C. Murder is committed more intraracially than interracially.

D. The statistics on race and murder are too small to accurately report.

43. Simple assault is defined as ______.

A. no injury with physical contact

B. no or minor injuries and no weapons used in the assault

C. no injury with use of a weapon

D. minor injury with the use of a weapon

44. What is the least common nonfatal violent crime according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?

A. assault

B. battery

C. rape/sexual assault

D. robbery

45. How many aggravated assaults were recorded in 2016?

A. 200,000

B. 500,000

C. 800,000

D. more than 1 million

46. In 2015, ______ of nonfatal violent victims were boys/men.

A. 22.8%

B. 36.4%

C. 42.9%

D. 55.1%

47. Women and girls are more likely to be victimized by a ______.

A. stranger

B. friend

C. law enforcement agent

D. teacher

48. Currently, cybercrime is connected to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and Supplementary Research System (SRS) via ______.

A. Part I crimes

B. Part II crimes.

C. Group A crimes

D. Group B crimes

49. Which Part II crimes are connected with cybercrimes in Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program and Supplementary Research System (SRS)?

A. terrorism

B. corporate fraud

C. bank fraud

D. sex trafficking

50. The Federal Bureau of Investigation started publishing statistics on terrorism in ______.

A. 1994

B.1996

C. 2001

D. 2006

51. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism records ______.

A. the statistics of all reported terrorist attacks since 1996

B. the current investigations for all the terrorist attacks since 9/11

C. information on all known domestic terrorists

D. statistics on terrorist attacks in foreign countries

52. Where can a law enforcement agent find information and statistics on failed terrorist attacks?

A. Pinkerton Global Intelligence

B. Worldwide Incident Tracking System

C. Global Terrorism Database

D. Internet Crime Complaint Center

53. Why do white-collar crimes usually fail to make it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics report?

A. White-collar crime is a victimless crime, therefore the crime stats are not reported.

B. The Federal Bureau of Investigations has limited resource to allocate to white-collar crime, and white-collar crime is such a low percentage of crime the FBI directs resources elsewhere.

C. White-collar crime is usually handled by a regulatory agency or professional groups that handle the investigation.

D. White-collar crime usually doesn’t require an investigation. The local district attorney handles the case and the investigation.

54. Which demographic has the greatest fear of victimization?

A. young men

B. old men

C. young women

D. old women

55. ______ was the first scholar to demonstrate the differences between fear and risk of victimization.

A. Jennifer Schuett

B. Joshua Paul Benjamin

C. Kenneth Ferraro

D. Chris Farias

56. After the 9/11 attacks, individual fear of crime ______.

A. decreased

B. increased

C. stopped

D. began

57. What is the general public perception of crime rates?

A. Crime has stayed the same and people need to be smarter about how they do things.

B. Crime is down and people feel safer.

C. Crime has gotten worse and people feel less safe than 20 years ago.

D. Crime is the same, but police are understaffed and no longer trusted to enforce the law.

58. Which statement is true regarding the crime multiplier effect?

A. Criminals who watch the news and see that people did not get caught for a crime. This gives the criminal the thought that they can commit a similar crime and get away with it.

B. For every crime that is reported, three crimes go unreported.

C. The effect is that fear is exacerbated when a person watches the news and believes more crime is being committed than actually is.

D. The effect is a way to predict crime in an area based on the crime that has been previously committed.

59. Why is the media a key factor in fear of victimization?

A. The media tend to exaggerate stories that lead people to believe they are going to be victims of crime.

B. The media downplays actual crime to lure people into a false sense of safety.

C. The media truthfully reports crime to give people an accurate account of what is going on in their community.

D. The media provides entertainment; therefore, it skews the news to fit the advertisers’ need.

60. What is the central assumption of classical crime theory?

A. Crime occurs out of necessity.

B. Crime occurs when the benefit of committing the crime out weights the potential punishment.

C. Crime occurs because a person has a general distain for society.

D. Crime occurs because human nature requires it.

61. What is the main concern of anomie criminal theory?

A. the idea that the benefit of the crime outweighs the punishment if caught

B. the sociological traits that cause crime

C. the gap between economic success and opportunities to get economic success

D. the biological traits that cause crime

62. What is the base assumption of routine activity theory?

A. A daily routine is the best time to commit a crime.

B. People in their normal course of their day will encounter an opportunity to be victimized.

C. The daily routine stops someone from committing a crime because a person will not change from the routine.

D. The daily routine will allow for police to identify a person who committed a crime faster.

63. ______ theory examines the link between social roles, stereotypes, and the self-fulfilling prophecy to explain criminality.

A. Labeling/shaming

B. Critical/Marxist

C. Peacemaking

D. Individual trait

64. Sociological approaches to crime emphasize ______.

A. inherited traits

B. impulse control

C. environment and opportunity

D. the offender

65. Which statement accurately describes the relationship between theory and data?

A. Data tests theories and gathering data can lead to new theories.

B. Criminology uses data, but not theories.

C. Theory is more accurate than data.

D. Criminology uses theories, and criminal justice uses data.

1. The Department of Justice compiles data from all over the country for law enforcement to use in dictating policy on policing.

2. The Department of Justice was founded in1790 by Congress.

3. The Summary Reporting System only counts each crime committed.

4. The National Incident-Based Reporting System was founded after the 1992 LA riots to create better policies to stop future riots.

5. The Uniform Crime Report is the most prestigious data set because it captures all offenses.

6. The National Crime Victimization Survey records instances of arson and vagrancy.

7. The Hierarchy Rule requires that the first crime committed is the crime reported for statistical purposes.

8. The Supplemental Research System will sunset in 2012.

9. President Johnson ushered in a new area of data collection for criminal justice in 1965.

10. With all the different surveys and databases, some crimes are not catalogued or traced.

11. President Trump has not released the crime statistics for 2016.

12. You are more likely to be robbed than raped according to the National Crime Victimization Survey in 2016.

13. Motor vehicle theft is the most common form of property crime.

14. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center was hacked in 2018 and all complaints required people to put in personal information that was used to hack them later.

15. The Global Terrorism Database is housed at the Pentagon.

16. In 2010, about 50% of households have had some sort of white-collar crime victimization.

17. Research finds that people’s fear of crime has decreased since 9/11.

18. Presenting the worst pictures of society and criminal behavior is how the media keeps viewers.

19. Differential association theory suggests that teachers are to blame for students who commit crime.

20. The Peacemaking Theory of Criminal Justice states that crime is caused by the injustice rooted in inequality.

1. Why should the United States allocate resources to measure crime?

2. Why was it important that the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program creates a system of reporting crime statistics?

3. What was the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program originally designed to do?

4. What does the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) do?

5. Why is the dark figure of crime such a big problem with the Universal Crime Repot (UCR) Program and the Supplemental Report System (SRS)?

6. Why are series victimizations so hard to account for in data?

7. Why would the National Criminal Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program differ on data?

8. What is the White-Collar Crime Research Consortium (WCCRC) and how does it help law enforcement?

9. What influences fear of crime?

10. Why are theories in criminal justice more than an explanation?

1. What are the benefits of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program and Summary Reporting System (SRS) in understanding and measuring crime?

2. Explain some limitations of the Supplemental Reporting System (SRS) and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

3. The National Victims Crime Survey (NCVS) is the primary sources of information about violent victimization of property and people over 12 years of age. Explain what the NCVS report is, how it receives the data, and the pros and cons of the survey.

4. Why is cybercrime so hard to measure?

5. What are most criminological theories based on and why?