Study Guide
CRJ 120
Mid Term Exam
What do Clear and Cole suggest about the complexities and constraints of
bureaucracies. Do they serve as a check on the abuse of state power? Or not?
Lipsky talks about the bureaucratic model of organization. What does he believe
bureaucracies can do? Do they guarantee that services are delivered only up to a
point and that goals are not typically achieved?
When we are thinking about society and how it is defined, are the actions it does
or does not tolerate and the steps it will take to enforce behavioral norms part of
this definition?
What kind of relationship does corrections have with its environment? Hostile?
Competitive? Reciprocal?
What did the expression of capitalism bring about with regard to considerations
about punishment?
Be familiar with the concept of lex talionis.
What were the major reasons England/Europe began to ship offenders to the new
world?
Know about the progressives and the positivist school.
Know the seven exclusive psychiatric groupings for inmates under the medical
model.
How do we develop rationales for punishment? What factors are considered (e.g.,
philosophical, political, economic, social)?
Be able to define the philosophy of “deserved punishment” or “just deserts.” What
conceptual framework does it fall under? Egalitarian? Communitarian?
Utilitarian?
Think about the number of suits brought by state prisoners over the past twenty
years. Has this number increased or declined?
Have a clear understanding of the meaning of procedural due process and what it
protects against.
Know the characteristics of the situational offender. Do they stand out and are
they easily identified?
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What does Brownmiller say about the relationship between women and those who
murder them?
When thinking about jails in this country, what are some of the conclusions that
Clear and Cole reveal. Are they staffed with well-trained personnel? Do the staff
have the requisite knowledge to deal with offenders with mental problems? Do
jails frequently promote rehabilitation programs? If not, what might be some of the
reasons for this?
Think about the population that is in jail. Who are they? Are they the affluent in
the community or are jails populated with citizens from the lower tier of the
socioeconomic pyramid?
When a person is denied bail, or they simply cannot afford it, what does this period
of pretrial detention do to them? Are they likely to go to court and exuberantly
defend their innocence? Or, conversely, are they more likely to plea bargain even
if they did not commit the crime?
What is the primary function of the presentence investigation and who does it?
Where did the idea of presentence investigations, supervisions conditions, social
casework, reports to the court, and revocation of probation come from?
What does it mean when one is sentenced to “community service”?
According to the text, is there strong evidence that traditional probation is
ineffective with serious offenders?
With all the changes that have occurred in American prisons over the last decade,
would it be safe to say that there has been a dramatic shift from the treatment
model of corrections?
Almost half of today’s prison population have either been incarcerated or on
probation at least twice. Is this a true statement?
Read about Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts.
The essential business of corrections is to what? Rehabilitate? Deter? Enable
retribution? Punish offenders?
Which state has the largest prison population?
Clear and Cole describe some of the controversies, issues, and themes that arise in the
study of corrections. These are divided into two main areas. What are they?
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The actions and practices of individuals and institutions designed to induce conformity
with the norms and rules of society is known as what?
In the past, removal from society was sometimes used as punishment for breaking the
rules. What term is used to describe this form of punishment?
What effects did the Enlightenment have on society?
Know which religious group was responsible for implementing humanistic ideas in
America while at the same time, influencing correctional reform.
With the rise of the medical model, the emphasis of corrections shifts to what?
What was the aim of the Pennsylvania System?
What was the aim of the New York System was to:
Know what term is used to describe when a sentence is given with a specific number of
years rather than a range of years.
People who feel that we should ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key’ are promoting
which correctional goal?
What do we call punishment that is designed to repair damage to both victim and
community?
In the case Bounds v. Smith, what did the court say inmates must have free access to?
According to Clear and Cole, what were the overall results of the turbulent inmate rights
period?
Which Court decision held that the basic elements of procedural due process must be
present when decisions are made concerning the disciplining of an inmate?
Prior to the 1960s, which approach did the courts use with regard to inmate rights?
In recent years, what can we say about America’s prison population? Has it become
less violent? More diverse? Older? Younger? Fatter? Thinner? Blacker? Whiter? In
other words, know the demographics of contemporary prisons.
What term do we use to describe an offender whose limited mental development
prevents adjustment to the rules of society?
What is the average stay between arrest and trial in our jails?
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What do we know about the majority of defendants who appear in court? Know the
specific demographics of the contemporary defendant.
There are many different types of “alternative sanctions.” Know what they, the type of
offender each is used for, and whether or not the public trusts them to be appropriate
forms of punishment. You can use the CD-ROM that came with your book to find this
answer.
Know the difference between the situational offender, the career criminal, the mentally ill
offender, the mentally handicapped offender, the sex offender. etc.
What is the most commonly used sanction in the U.S.?
Which model of incarceration is based on the assumption that the period of confinement
should be for the purpose of incapacitation, deterrence, or retribution.
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