CCJS 451 Midterm questions and
answers already passed
What does preventing crime mean? - correct answer ✔✔Crime prevention is the attempt to
reduce and deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments
to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice. It means reducing crime by
looking at the WHOLE problem and attacking it at the primary, secondary, and tertiary level.
**Remember crime prevention doesn't mean crime elimination.
Primary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Concerned with preventing problems before they
actually happen among the GENERAL POPULATION
e.g., increasing minimum wage, making college affordable, free daycare for everyone
Secondary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Focuses on preventing an existing problems from
continuing and getting worse
- Policies targeted to specific groups that aren't targeted yet; AT-RISK POPULATIONS
e.g., programs (like mentoring) aimed at people in lower SES to teach them not to commit
crimes like robbery, bringing incentives for businesses to open in the areas
Tertiary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Focuses on preventing an existing problem from
causing other problems for people who are ALREADY affected by problem
e.g., putting a robber in prison or some other type of correctional/treatment program; stops
them from committing further robberies.
What should the three different forms of prevention not be confused with? - correct answer
✔✔Situational Crime Prevention
CCTV, security guards, defensible space, street lighting (Based on rational choice theory ).
Includes:
,1. capable guardians (i.e., police, security guards),
2. suitable targets (i.e., unguarded homes or cars),
3. motivated offenders (i.e., teenage males, gang members)
*class is about how we turn theory into practice
America's Exceptionalism-How are we exceptional? - correct answer ✔✔The most punitive AND
the most crime-ridden country in the world
*There are 2.2 million people in prison and jail (716 per 1,000)!
*That means, 1 in 100 are incarcerated.
Recent trends and correlates for crime in the U.S. - correct answer ✔✔1. Overall crime has
declined in last 20 years (1990s-present). -In fact, it has been at its lowest levels since the 1970s.
2. UCR 2010- 404 (4.8 is murder rate) per 100,000
3. NCVS 2010- 540, excluding homicide
Good news:
Imprisonment rates HAVE dropped lately:
- Especially for juveniles
-Marriage is a protective factor
Why should we be wary about the apparent drop in crime? (2 reasons) - correct answer ✔✔1.
Nationwide measures "mask" violent crime concentration
Homicide in the city-
Flint, MI:50
Gary, IN: 65
Little Chester, PA: 70
Baltimore: 34.8
New Orleans: 49
, E St. Louis, Missouri: 78
Forest Park, GA: 93
-Point: these rates are much higher than the national average
-Crime flourishes when the conditions of life are sub-par (i.e., unemployment, racial
disadvantages)
-Crime rate is not widespread, it's concentrated in certain disadvantaged neighborhoods
-e.g., Sandtown is 97% AA and has higher poverty (almost 31%), imprisonment, unemployment,
juvenile arrest, teen birth, and infant mortality rates than the national average. Also, life
expectancy rates are low.
2. It's all relative across countries
**Our homicide rate is higher than most westernized, industrial nations
Are we more punitive because we have more crime? - correct answer ✔✔We DO have more
violent crime
• Part of the reason why
- We are tougher with non-serious crime
• More punishments, longer punishments; more returns (recidivism)
Why are incarceration rates higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries? - correct
answer ✔✔If other countries had the same number of crimes happening as the US, they would
have more people in their prisons and jails. We are different based on how we respond to non-
violent crimes.
What are recent imprisonment rates for minorities and women? - correct answer ✔✔There is a
disproportionate amount of minorities (over 60%) in prison
-Black men are 6 times more likely to be imprisoned than white men
-Pace for Latino men is expanding (2 times in comparison to whites)
-Women being incarcerated is also increasing (African American are overrepresented in prison).
answers already passed
What does preventing crime mean? - correct answer ✔✔Crime prevention is the attempt to
reduce and deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments
to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice. It means reducing crime by
looking at the WHOLE problem and attacking it at the primary, secondary, and tertiary level.
**Remember crime prevention doesn't mean crime elimination.
Primary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Concerned with preventing problems before they
actually happen among the GENERAL POPULATION
e.g., increasing minimum wage, making college affordable, free daycare for everyone
Secondary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Focuses on preventing an existing problems from
continuing and getting worse
- Policies targeted to specific groups that aren't targeted yet; AT-RISK POPULATIONS
e.g., programs (like mentoring) aimed at people in lower SES to teach them not to commit
crimes like robbery, bringing incentives for businesses to open in the areas
Tertiary Prevention - correct answer ✔✔Focuses on preventing an existing problem from
causing other problems for people who are ALREADY affected by problem
e.g., putting a robber in prison or some other type of correctional/treatment program; stops
them from committing further robberies.
What should the three different forms of prevention not be confused with? - correct answer
✔✔Situational Crime Prevention
CCTV, security guards, defensible space, street lighting (Based on rational choice theory ).
Includes:
,1. capable guardians (i.e., police, security guards),
2. suitable targets (i.e., unguarded homes or cars),
3. motivated offenders (i.e., teenage males, gang members)
*class is about how we turn theory into practice
America's Exceptionalism-How are we exceptional? - correct answer ✔✔The most punitive AND
the most crime-ridden country in the world
*There are 2.2 million people in prison and jail (716 per 1,000)!
*That means, 1 in 100 are incarcerated.
Recent trends and correlates for crime in the U.S. - correct answer ✔✔1. Overall crime has
declined in last 20 years (1990s-present). -In fact, it has been at its lowest levels since the 1970s.
2. UCR 2010- 404 (4.8 is murder rate) per 100,000
3. NCVS 2010- 540, excluding homicide
Good news:
Imprisonment rates HAVE dropped lately:
- Especially for juveniles
-Marriage is a protective factor
Why should we be wary about the apparent drop in crime? (2 reasons) - correct answer ✔✔1.
Nationwide measures "mask" violent crime concentration
Homicide in the city-
Flint, MI:50
Gary, IN: 65
Little Chester, PA: 70
Baltimore: 34.8
New Orleans: 49
, E St. Louis, Missouri: 78
Forest Park, GA: 93
-Point: these rates are much higher than the national average
-Crime flourishes when the conditions of life are sub-par (i.e., unemployment, racial
disadvantages)
-Crime rate is not widespread, it's concentrated in certain disadvantaged neighborhoods
-e.g., Sandtown is 97% AA and has higher poverty (almost 31%), imprisonment, unemployment,
juvenile arrest, teen birth, and infant mortality rates than the national average. Also, life
expectancy rates are low.
2. It's all relative across countries
**Our homicide rate is higher than most westernized, industrial nations
Are we more punitive because we have more crime? - correct answer ✔✔We DO have more
violent crime
• Part of the reason why
- We are tougher with non-serious crime
• More punishments, longer punishments; more returns (recidivism)
Why are incarceration rates higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries? - correct
answer ✔✔If other countries had the same number of crimes happening as the US, they would
have more people in their prisons and jails. We are different based on how we respond to non-
violent crimes.
What are recent imprisonment rates for minorities and women? - correct answer ✔✔There is a
disproportionate amount of minorities (over 60%) in prison
-Black men are 6 times more likely to be imprisoned than white men
-Pace for Latino men is expanding (2 times in comparison to whites)
-Women being incarcerated is also increasing (African American are overrepresented in prison).
