CRM1300 MIDTERM Test Questions with 100%
Correct Solutions
what is the fear of crime as costly as? - Answer the fear of crime may be as costly as
crime itself
TV program time stats - Answer 1/3 of all tv program time in the us is devoted to crime
or law enforcement shows with a concentration at prime time.
1967-1987- 80% of all tv programs contain violence, 90% of children's cartoons contain
violence
By the time children are 18 yrs old, they will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on tv
including 40,000 murders.
which crimes are the least likely to be reported on tv? - Answer white collar crime
what does mass media channel viewer attention towards? - Answer particular sorts of
immoral behaviour or criminal behaviour which leads to moral panics
conditions conduced to a moral panic - Answer -a diversity of agencies and interest
groups must exist. each should have public prestige and media access so panics can
flourish and escalate when contested.
-story must be comprehensive to agencies and journalists themselves before they
repackage to general public
-issue must be overt and accessible- consumers will have some chance at encountering
-story should tend itself to a visual portrayal
-panic should offer a narrative with characters who are easily understood. heroes and
villains must have identifiable faces.
,what should narratives have to lead to a moral panic? - Answer -narrative must have an
outcome, solutions- plausible or otherwise must be identified.
-narrative will have maximum impact if it meshes with previous expectations and
knowledge, often because earlier movements and controversies have laid foundations
for later explosions
newsmaking criminology - Answer conscious efforts and activities of criminologists to
interpret, influence, or shape the representation of 'newsworthy' items about crime and
justice and to locate the mass-media portrayals of incidences of "serious" crimes in the
context of all illegal and harmful activities
crime - Answer a behaviour which is prohibited by the criminal code
intentional act in violation of criminal law
committed without defence or excuse
penalized by the state as a felony or misdemeanour
a reflection of the society we live in in the time we live in
criminal - Answer a person who has behaved in some way prohibited by criminal law.
basic principle of english common law - Answer "nulled crimen sine lege, nulla poena
sine lege"
no crime without law, no punishment without law
Purpose of Criminal Law - Answer protect members of society from the wrongdoing of
others
Statutory Law - Answer The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to
constitutional law, administrative law, or case law).
,Common Law - Answer judge made decisions, and opinions based on stare decisis
Felonies - Answer serious crimes usually carrying a penalty of death or of incarceration
for more than one year
Misdemeanor - Answer a crime or offense that is less serious than a felony; any minor
misbehavior or misconduct. Punishable by fine or by a term in a local jail of less than
one year.
what does culpability of a crime depend on? - Answer mental state (criminal intent,
mens rea) and its coincidence with the acts reus
Defences of Justification - Answer duress
necessity
duty
what is law considered as? - Answer a social phenomenon created by members of
society under specific historical conditions. law has not always existed, and may not
exist in the future.
State - Answer the central political institution of a given society. major apparatuses-
government (legislative and executive), legal system, military, variety of public
bureaucracies.
rules of law sources - Answer superstition, divine oracles, religion, prophecy, charismatic
leadership, course cases, and legislatures.
is law a state form of social control? - Answer yes, its objective is to manufacture control
and to suppress what the state defines as deviance
, our obsession with crime - Answer -images of violent crime dominate: give us feeling
that these are the only crimes that criminal justice system face
-crime reflects public culture- it is a mirror
-media messages dominate
-crime myths/distorted images of crime shape our understanding of it
-our neighbours to the south are more violent with punishment
Four basic styles of law - Answer penal, compensatory, therapeutic, concilatory.
What do the societies with most laws have? - Answer The societies with the most laws
are those with the most social inequality and simple tribes, chiefdoms, and societies
with developed state institutions.
Criminalization - Answer The process whereby criminal law is selectively applied to
social behaviour.
1) the enactment of legislation that outlaws certain types of behaviour
2) surveillance and policing of that behaviour
3) punishment of that behaviour
Sociologists favoured definitions of crime (5) - Answer 1) crime as a violation of conduct
norms
2) crime as a social harm and analogous social injury
3) crime as a violation of rights
4) crime as a form of deviance
5) crime as a violation of global conduct norms
analogous social injury - Answer legally permissible acts or social conditions that result
in (1) bodily harms such as violent or untimely death, injury, illness, and disease, (2)
Correct Solutions
what is the fear of crime as costly as? - Answer the fear of crime may be as costly as
crime itself
TV program time stats - Answer 1/3 of all tv program time in the us is devoted to crime
or law enforcement shows with a concentration at prime time.
1967-1987- 80% of all tv programs contain violence, 90% of children's cartoons contain
violence
By the time children are 18 yrs old, they will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on tv
including 40,000 murders.
which crimes are the least likely to be reported on tv? - Answer white collar crime
what does mass media channel viewer attention towards? - Answer particular sorts of
immoral behaviour or criminal behaviour which leads to moral panics
conditions conduced to a moral panic - Answer -a diversity of agencies and interest
groups must exist. each should have public prestige and media access so panics can
flourish and escalate when contested.
-story must be comprehensive to agencies and journalists themselves before they
repackage to general public
-issue must be overt and accessible- consumers will have some chance at encountering
-story should tend itself to a visual portrayal
-panic should offer a narrative with characters who are easily understood. heroes and
villains must have identifiable faces.
,what should narratives have to lead to a moral panic? - Answer -narrative must have an
outcome, solutions- plausible or otherwise must be identified.
-narrative will have maximum impact if it meshes with previous expectations and
knowledge, often because earlier movements and controversies have laid foundations
for later explosions
newsmaking criminology - Answer conscious efforts and activities of criminologists to
interpret, influence, or shape the representation of 'newsworthy' items about crime and
justice and to locate the mass-media portrayals of incidences of "serious" crimes in the
context of all illegal and harmful activities
crime - Answer a behaviour which is prohibited by the criminal code
intentional act in violation of criminal law
committed without defence or excuse
penalized by the state as a felony or misdemeanour
a reflection of the society we live in in the time we live in
criminal - Answer a person who has behaved in some way prohibited by criminal law.
basic principle of english common law - Answer "nulled crimen sine lege, nulla poena
sine lege"
no crime without law, no punishment without law
Purpose of Criminal Law - Answer protect members of society from the wrongdoing of
others
Statutory Law - Answer The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to
constitutional law, administrative law, or case law).
,Common Law - Answer judge made decisions, and opinions based on stare decisis
Felonies - Answer serious crimes usually carrying a penalty of death or of incarceration
for more than one year
Misdemeanor - Answer a crime or offense that is less serious than a felony; any minor
misbehavior or misconduct. Punishable by fine or by a term in a local jail of less than
one year.
what does culpability of a crime depend on? - Answer mental state (criminal intent,
mens rea) and its coincidence with the acts reus
Defences of Justification - Answer duress
necessity
duty
what is law considered as? - Answer a social phenomenon created by members of
society under specific historical conditions. law has not always existed, and may not
exist in the future.
State - Answer the central political institution of a given society. major apparatuses-
government (legislative and executive), legal system, military, variety of public
bureaucracies.
rules of law sources - Answer superstition, divine oracles, religion, prophecy, charismatic
leadership, course cases, and legislatures.
is law a state form of social control? - Answer yes, its objective is to manufacture control
and to suppress what the state defines as deviance
, our obsession with crime - Answer -images of violent crime dominate: give us feeling
that these are the only crimes that criminal justice system face
-crime reflects public culture- it is a mirror
-media messages dominate
-crime myths/distorted images of crime shape our understanding of it
-our neighbours to the south are more violent with punishment
Four basic styles of law - Answer penal, compensatory, therapeutic, concilatory.
What do the societies with most laws have? - Answer The societies with the most laws
are those with the most social inequality and simple tribes, chiefdoms, and societies
with developed state institutions.
Criminalization - Answer The process whereby criminal law is selectively applied to
social behaviour.
1) the enactment of legislation that outlaws certain types of behaviour
2) surveillance and policing of that behaviour
3) punishment of that behaviour
Sociologists favoured definitions of crime (5) - Answer 1) crime as a violation of conduct
norms
2) crime as a social harm and analogous social injury
3) crime as a violation of rights
4) crime as a form of deviance
5) crime as a violation of global conduct norms
analogous social injury - Answer legally permissible acts or social conditions that result
in (1) bodily harms such as violent or untimely death, injury, illness, and disease, (2)
