Erin and Joe are having a disagreement over the causes of crime.

Erin and Joe are having a disagreement over the causes of crime. Erin, a sociological criminologist, says that the condition of one's neighbourhood is a major factor that predicts whether a person will commit crime. Joe, a forensic psychologist, disagrees and says that antisocial attitudes are way more likely to predict whether a person will commit crime. Based on what you learned in this course, neighbourhood condition is best thought of as a ___________________, whereas antisocial attitudes are best thought of as ___________________.

Select one:

A. A sociological variable, a criminological variable

B. A high level variable, a low level variable

C. A social system/structure variable, an individual variable

D. A criminogenic variable, a non-criminogenic variable

E. A social system variable, a social structure variable

Little Jimmy used his slingshot (again) to break the windows of his neighbour's house. When asked by his parents, who consistently punish him for this behaviour, why he keeps doing this, Jimmy responds that "it's fun...he gets a kick out of hearing the glass smash, and he doesn't care if his neighbours or his parents are upset". As a psychodynamic theorist, what might you say about Jimmy?

Select one:

A. His ego seems to be overpowering his id

B. His behaviour is governed by the reality principle rather than the pleasure principle

C. His id seems to be overpowering his superego

D. His superego seems to be overpowering his id

E. His superego seems to be overpowering his ego

A psychologist explains that the key reasons why Sam "Hard as Nails" Roberts keeps getting into fights in prison are because (a) the gang he belongs to in prison keeps encouraging him to take on rival gang members and (b) Sam keeps getting reinforced for the behaviour because he gets promoted into more senior ranks in the gang based on the fights he's having. According to the Personal, Interpersonal, and Community-Reinforcement theory of crime that you read about in your textbook, this explanation of Sam's behaviour emphasizes the importance of:

Select one:

A. Personally mediated events and interpersonally mediated events

B. Self control and social learning

C. Individual factors and structural factors

D. Criminogenic variables and non-criminogenic variables

E. Antecedent and consequent events

You walk up to the developer of a risk assessment tool and ask, "What is the theoretical rationale for including risk factor X in your risk scale and why does the presence of risk factor X actually decrease (rather than increase) the offender's risk score on your scale?" The developer of the tool tells you that your question is silly. He doesn't care about any theoretical rationale for including risk factor X in his scale, and the risk factor is coded that way because empirical studies have demonstrated that coding the factor in that way improves the accuracy of the scale. According to Dr. Paul Gendreau, this is an example of what?

Select one:

A. Dustbowl empiricism

B. Correctional quackery

C. Lack of scale integrity

D. Disciplinary arrogance

E. Ethnocentrism

According to the interview with Dr. Paul Gendreau, some theorists display a high degree of ethnocentrism. According to Gendreau, ethnocentrism refers to:

Select one:

A. The idea that ethnographic research (i.e., the study of people in their own environment) is required to investigate the validity of psychological theories of crime

B. The idea that theories have to be specific to characteristics such as gender and race (i.e., general theories of crime are not possible)

C. The idea that one's knowledge of their own culture or discipline is all that is required to develop useful theories

D. The idea that relying on observable physical characteristics can be a useful way of thinking about who becomes criminal

E. The idea that psychological theories will be more powerful than criminological theories

According to Dr. Paul Gendreau, what should researchers rely on first and foremost when determining whether a theory of criminal behaviour has merit?

Select one:

A. The degree to which the theory is consistent with other theories

B. What discipline the theory comes from

C. The degree to which the theory is consistent with empirical evidence

D. Who proposed the theory

E. The degree to which the theory focuses on "criminogenic" needs

Sutherland's differential association theory postulates that four factors of association strongly impact the likelihood of being involved in antisocial behaviour. The four factors are:

Select one:

A. Frequency, duration, previous violations, and age of subject

B. Frequency, duration, priority, and intensity of contact

C. Frequency, attitude, timing, and intensity of contact

D. Age of subject, age of contact, status of group members, and intensity of contact

E. Age of subject, age of contact, status of group members, and duration of contact 

In Eysenck's biosocial theory of crime, the degree to which people learn from environmental stimuli, such as parental discipline, is determined by differences in:

Select one:

A. Intellectual capacity

B. Their ability to learn from siblings

C. Parenting style

D. Functioning of the nervous system

E. Bonds to society

Which of the following is false about the "Big 4" risk factors?

Select one:

A. The "Big 4" have been proposed as major risk factors

B. All of the "Big 4" factors are dynamic

C. The "Big 4" factors appear to generalize across different types of crimes

D. Pro-criminal personality is one of the "Big 4" factors

E. Pro-criminal associates is one of the "Big 4" factors

Two risk assessment tools (Tool A and Tool B) are available for predicting sexual re-offending. The predictive accuracy of the two tools is assessed using ROC analysis. Under what circumstances would you recommend to a clinician (who is interested in predicting sexual re-offending) that she use Tool A instead of Tool B?

Select one:

A. If Tool A has an AUC of .64 and Tool B has an AUC of .82

B. If Tool A results in more false positives than Tool B

C. If Tool A has an AUC of .82 and Tool B has an AUC of .64

D. If Tool A assesses acute dynamic factors, but Tool B assess stable dynamic factors

E. If Tool A results in more false negatives than Tool B

According to Dr. Paul Gendreau, why are dynamic factors (criminogenic needs) so important for risk assessment?

Select one:

A. Because they can be changed through intervention to manage behaviour

B. Because they are easier to measure than static factors

C. Because they are easier to define than static factors

D. Because they are the only reliable predictors of recidivism

E. Because nearly all risk assessment tools rely on dynamic risk factors

A key difference between stable dynamic risk factors and acute dynamic risk factors is:

Select one:

A. Stable dynamic risk factors are unique to sex offenders; acute dynamic risk factors apply to all types of offenders 

B. Acute dynamic risk factors change slowly; stable dynamic risk factors change rapidly

C. Acute dynamic risk factors can be targeted in treatment; stable dynamic risk factors cannot be targeted in treatment

D. Stable dynamic risk factors change slowly; acute dynamic risk factors change rapidly

E. Stable dynamic risk factors do not change; acute dynamic risk factors do change

According to the lecture on risk assessment, comparisons (with respect to predictive accuracy) between unstructured clinical judgment and actuarial tools in the area of risk assessment have found:

Select one:

A. On average, clinical predictions are superior

B. Differences between the two approaches are only apparent with violent recidivism

C. On average, actuarial tools are superior

D. Differences between the two approaches are only apparent with sexual recidivism

E. Clinical predictions, which incorporate base rate probabilities, are superior