CRJU 2200 1st EditionFinal Exam Criminal Justice Study GuideJan. 21, 23: Crime in the U.S., Trends, and International Comparisons · Alvarez & Bachman, Chapter 2: “A Murderous Society.” · Walker, Chapter 3: “The Going Rate”Reading/discussion questions: 1. Is our current society more violent than ever before? Why or why not? Explain. Our current society is not more violent than ever before but often tends to fluctuate being little to no violence and being an overly violent nation.2. How does our murder rate compare to that of other nations? The murder rate of the United States is high compared to that of other nations due to the promotion of violence in many different scenarios. Also the laws of fire arms in America are more lenient than in many nations.3. Is the U.S. more, or less, punitive than other advanced nations? Explain. The US seems to be more punitive on certain crimes than other advanced nation especially when such punishments such as the electric chair are considered as well as serving life in prison and many other forms of punishment.4. What is the law of “criminal justice thermodynamics”? If a criminal gets enough punishment it will eventually cause them to change their criminal ways.Questions you should be able to answer following the class sessions: 1. How do public perceptions of the crime problem (including youth violence) compare with actual trends in crime? The actual trends in crime are significantly lower than they are perceived to be in the media especiallywhen it comes to youth violence.2. What is the “super predator” myth? The super predator myth is a prediction of a new brand of youth criminals who will be more violent and ruthless than in the past.3. How can we explain, in further detail, the crime drop? Many factors have likely played a role in the declining crime rate such as policing strategies, mass incarceration, decline in drug use, and stabilization of the economy.4. What is the “criminal justice funnel”? What do we learn about the percentage of crimes that come to the attention of officials, and that are cleared in arrest? How do offenders view the c.j. system, especially their chances of being apprehended? How do their views affect their behavior? The criminal justice funnel is the total crime rate to the number of reported crimes to the number of arrest that occur to the number of the convicted. Many crimes are never reported so there is no chance of them being cleared by arrest. Experienced offenders understand this better than most that the chances of being caught for any given crime are low therefore they continue to commit crimes with no regards to the criminal justice system.5. What are the 3 major strategies for measuring crime? What are the major strengths and limitations of each strategy?1. Official statistics: uniform crime reports; annual report of crimes known to law enforcement agencies thus misses unreported crimes (which are most crimes). 2. Victimization surveys: sample of Americans asked if they had ever been victimized in the past year, whether reported or not; only 40% of victims reported the crime. 3. Self-reported surveys: sample of people are asked about the crimes they have committed; if respondents are assured anonymity or confidentiality, results tend to be fairly reliable; captures crimes that only the offenders are aware of; most individuals have engaged in some form of crime; only 25% of serious violent juveniles have had contact with the criminal justice system.6. Is the “Scared Straight” program an example of an evidence-based approach to crime control? Why or why not? How have researchers measured the effectiveness of the program? What were the results, and how can we explain these results?The Scared Straight Program is not an evidence based program because it is a documentary of inmates talking to juvenile offenders in order to scare them straight. In many instances the juveniles still committed crimes after attending the program rendering it to be ineffective. Such results can be explained by the juveniles returning back into the same environments that potentially were problematic in the first case.Feb. 25, 27 Guns, Gangs, and Crime Alvarez & Bachman, Chapter 7: “Tools of Death: Firearms, Drugs, & Alcohol” Brezina & Wright, “Guns in the School Zone” (online reading) Walker, Chapter 10: “Control Gun Crimes” Reading/discussion questions: 6. According to Walker, where do offenders usually obtain their guns? What is their motivation for carrying firearms? Most of our attempts to control their behavior have failed, but why? (see Walker, Chapter 10). Most offenders obtain their guns through the black market. Their motivation to carry firearms is to protect themselves in a way that parents or even the police would not be able to provide protection. Most attempts to controlgun behavior has failed because illegal purchases of guns are still occurring. 7. What are the specific limitations of gun bans and bullet bans? Likewise, what are the limitations of gun buy-back programs? Why don't they work as well as intended? (see Walker, Chapter 10). A federal ban would create a situation resembling the Prohibition in the 1920s, when tens of millions of people still drank alcohol after the ban had been implemented. A way to reduce the availability of handguns in the U.S is to outlaw their manufacture and importation.The limitations of the buyback guns is that the demand for guns is so highthat it is impossible to significantly reduce the number of any community. These programs or limitations did not work as plan because all of the illegal ways to obtains guns. There is no way to ban all transactions that are occurring. 8. To deal with the problem of youth gun violence, what approach do some criminologists recommend? (see "Guns in the School Zone"). Criminologists recommend a more proactive approach to youth gun violence, preventing gun usuage before a crime occurs rather than after something has happened. By implementing a plan before the violence occurs can stop the action altogether. Analyzing the threat assessment of a potential youth shooter can eliminate the chances of injuries as well as deaths. Questions you should be able to answer following the class sessions: 9. Does the widespread availability of firearms automatically lead to high crime rates? What do international comparisons suggest? How can we explain the patterns we observe