CPSS 210 Wk 1 – Concept Check

Complete the Week 1 Concept Check covering chapters 1-4.

This quiz consists of 20 multiple-choice questions. You have unlimited attempts to take the quiz.

Question 1

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Under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may now search private records (financial, medical, library, student—any recorded activity) without a warrant and probable cause and without having to reveal to anyone what it has done. This is referred to as what type of search?

search incident to an arrest

nonconsensual search

plain-view search

sneak-and-peak search

Question 2

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In most American jurisdictions, the upper age limit for juvenile delinquency is ________, and the lower limit is usually ________.

16; 7

16; 12

18; 12

18; 7

Question 3

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American criminal justice consists of three main agencies. Which of the following is NOT one of those three main agencies?

corrections

prisons

police

courts

Question 4

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Which of the following is a reason why victims fail to report crimes?

They may consider the crime insignificant and not worth reporting.

They may hope to avoid embarrassing the offender.

They may be intimidated by (or afraid of) the offender.

All of the answers are correct.

Question 5

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Which of the following is a problem with or criticism of a legal definition of crime?

Some behaviors are prohibited by the criminal law but, arguably, should not be.

Some behaviors are prohibited by the criminal law, but the law is not routinely enforced.

Some behaviors arguably should be prohibited by the criminal law, but they are not.

All of the answers are correct.

Question 6

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The Latin term ________ refers to criminal intent or a guilty state of mind.

mens rea

actus reus

habeas corpus

mala fide

Question 7

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Which of the following terms is defined as a legal defense against criminal responsibility used when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime?

necessity defense

self-defense

entrapment

being underage

Question 8

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As an institution of social control, criminal justice differs from the family, schools, organized religion, the media, and the law in that it

requires society to abide by passive social values.

exists as a single system.

is generally society’s “last line of defense.”

is usually used along with other institutions of social control.

Question 9

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Due process advocates recognize that there can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a person gets, or whether he or she gets a trial at all, depends substantially on

how much money the person has.

the region of the country in which the person lives.

the demands of the court’s caseload.

the personal beliefs of his or her counsel.

Question 10

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What is the meaning of the word “crime”?

harmful behavior

accusation or fault

an offense against the state

an offense against an individual

Question 11

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The due process model is based on the doctrine of

legal guilt.

factual guilt.

presumptive guilt.

legal innocence.

Question 12

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Because there is considerable conflict and confusion between different agencies of criminal justice, an accurate way of defining American criminal justice may be to call it

a system.

a nonsystem.

extremely uniform.

smoothly operating.

Question 13

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Which of the following statements is true about the fear of crime?

Males are more fearful than females.

Nonwhites are more fearful than whites.

Republicans are more fearful than Democrats.

People living in the South are more fearful than people living in the other regions of the United States of America.

Question 14

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State and local governments in the United States share the costs of criminal justice by making ________ primarily a local function and ________ primarily a state function.

defense services; tax collection

tax collection; judicial services

police protection; corrections

corrections; judicial services

Question 15

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The term ________ refers to criminal conduct—specifically, intentional or criminally negligent action or inaction that causes harm.

ex post facto

actus reus

mens rea

concurrence

Question 16

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Which of the following theories assumes that crime is committed by free-willed individuals who are motivated by a hedonistic rationality?

humanistic psychological theory

Chicago School theory

anomie theory

classical theory

Question 17

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Which of the following terms is defined as a collection of crime statistics and other law enforcement information published annually under the title Crime in the United States?

the uniform crime reports (UCR)

the self-report crime surveys

the national crime victimization surveys (NCVS)

the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Question 18

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The criminal law of the United States, for the most part, is derived from the laws of

colonial America.

Israel.

Sumer.

England.

Question 19

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________ is a formal means of social control that involves the use of rules that are interpreted, and are enforceable, by the courts of a political community. The function of the rules is to set limits to the conduct of the citizens, to guide the officials (police and other administrators), and to define conditions of deviance or unacceptable behavior.

Substantive law

Procedural law

Civil law

Criminal law

Question 20

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Which of the following standards of proof is evidence that more likely than not outweighs the opposing evidence, or sufficient evidence to overcome doubt or speculation?

probable cause

reasonable suspicion

preponderance of evidence

mere suspicion