Return to Jim Thomas's homepage
Because there is so much material in the class, here are some SOME SAMPLE
multiple choice questions from a pool of questions I will use for the
midterm. They cover chapters 1-12.
I will take about 20 from this pool, and will include a few more
from the last weeks of class. Most have been covered in lecture and
text, and many have been re-emphasized on WebBoard discussions. Some
you might have to google.
*. If I say that religion in prison helps long-term prisoners cope
with their environment, re-enter society easier, and reduce disciplinary
problems when they are stressed, the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE is:
a) Long-term prisoners
b) Religion in prison
c) Re-entering society
d) Prison stress
e) Reduction of disciplinary problems
*. The "hands-off" doctrine refers to:
a) Supreme court decisions prohibiting the physical beating of prisoners
b) The prohibition/zero-tolerance policy against prisoners hugging
c) The belief that courts should not have oversight of prisons
d) A rule prohibing male officers from touching female prisoners
e) The prohibition in Illinois against shackling pregnant women
*. Capital punishment is most closely viewed as an example of:
a) Special deterrence
b) General deterrence
c) Myopic deterrence
d) Indeterminate deterrence
e) Unique deterrence
*. Which of the following WAS NOT a characteristic of the Auburn prison model?
a) Fixed sentences
b) Total isolation
c) Redemption through hard work
d) Designed to break the spirit
e) Prisoners couldn't talk to each other
*. Currently, drug offenders constitute roughly what percent of
Illinois prisons?
a) 15 percent
b) 25 percent
c) 33 percent
d) 43 percent
e) About half
*. According to lecture, what percentage of prisoners enter the prison
system illiterate (reading, writing, and math less thatn 6th grade level):
a) About 10 percent
b) About 25 percent
c) About one-third
d) About 48 percent
e) Roughly two-thirds
*. The "Panopticon" (roundhouse) style of cell house in Illinois is located in:
a) Sheridan
b) Dwight
c) Pontiac
d) Stateville
e) Menard
*. Currently, drug offenders constitute roughly what percent of
Illinois prisoners?
a) 15 percent
b) 25 percent
c) 33 percent
d) 43 percent
e) About half
*. According to lecture and text, of 1,000 crimes committed tonight,
roughly how many offenders will wind up in jail or prison?
a) About half
b) About one-third
c) About 25 percent
d) About 15 percent
d) Under 5 percent
*. In English Common Law, the practice of reducing a prisoner's sentence
if he/she could read a given passage from the Bible was called:
a) Faith-based mercy
b) Benefit of clergy
c) Communion Forgiveness
d) Christian Repreive
e) King's perogative
*. The "father" of probation is:
a) John Augustus
b) James Jacobs
c) George Cole
d) Jane Austin
e) Emile Durkheim
*. According to text and lecture notes, the history of jails begins in about
the:
a) 12th century
b) 14th century
c) 16th century
d) 18th century
e) Nobody knows for sure, usually thought to be about 1756
*. Robin Hood lived about:
a) 1195
b) 1455
c) 1566
d) 1644
e) 1785
*. The major US Supreme Court case expanding civil rights of prisoners
and others in the 1960s was:
a) Monroe v. Pape
b) Roe v. Wade
c) Bush v. Gore
d) Dredd v. Scott
e) Motley Crue v. Guns 'N Roses
*. If a prisoner wants to get out of prison, the best way to challenge
a conviction is with:
a) Title 42 USC 1983
b) A writ of Habeas Corpus
c) A letter to the victims' family and judge
d) Appealing to a writ of Restorative Justice
e) With a hacksaw
*. If you are 25 years old and convicted of murder, a Class M offense with
a 60 year sentence, the soonest you can be out of prison is when you are
about:
a) 76
b) 60
c) 48
d) Whenever the parole board lets you out
e) Never. You're in for life.
*. According to WebBoard, the NEW (latest revised) cost of keeping an adult
in prison in Illinois is roughly:
a) $17,500
b) $21,500
**c) $25,000
d) $31,300
e) $37,700
*. Which of the following IS NOT true of an IDEOLOGY?
a) They are pre-conscious
b) They are emotionally charged
c) They are individual attitudes or opinions
d) They provide non-coercive forms of social control
e) All of the above are true of an ideology
*. Which of the following IS NOT true of the liberal ideology?
a) Tends to be "humanitarian"
b) Belief in "piecemeal" social reform
c) Stresses rehabiliation over punishment
d) Rejects the "treatment model" of corrections
e) All of the above are true
*. Which of the following IS NOT an example of a conservative ideology?
a) Emphasizes social order over individual rights
b) Preserve existing institutions
**c) "Natural order of things" is conflict, not consensus
d) Use of prisons should be expanded
e) All of the above are true
*. The view that we should be more concerned with protecting society than with
protecting the rights of alleged offenders is closest to:
a) Liberals
b) Conservatives
c) Radicals
d) Libertarians
e) All of the above about equally
*. According to Chapter 3, the prison style (or model) in which prisoners were
kept totally silent and isolated in their cells was:
a) Auburn (Auburn Model)
b) Pennsylvania (Eastern Model)
c) San Quentin (California model)
d) OZ (Cable model)
e) Leavenworth (Federal model)
*. John Howard was:
a) The fellow who led the federal league in triples in 1913
b) The formulator of the panopticon prison
c) An early prison reformer in the later 1700s
d) A utilitarian who thought punishments should be humane
e) The first warden of a U.S. prison
*. Which of the following IS NOT a feature of the Classical School?
a) Punishments should be base on utilitarianism
b) Crime should be considered an injury to society
c) Punishment must be humane
d) Punishments should be swift, certain, and calculated
e) Punishments should not deter, so they should be harsh
*. According to lecture and text, The so called "discipline model" of prisons in the US was in what years?
a) 1790 1830
b) 1830 1870
c) 1870 1900
d) 1900 1940
e) 1940 1980
*. The belief that we can't reform prisons or reduce the crime rate
without fundamental changes in the social structure is closest to:
a) Radicals
b) Liberals
c) Conservatives
d) Libertarians
e) Republicans
*. According to lecture, Thomson correctional center, a maximum security
prison, has the lowest annual cost per prisoner in the country. Completed
about seven years ago, the average annual cost per inmate is about:
a) $26,500
b) $21,600
c) $18,700
d) $9,300
e) $0
*. The goal of all Illinois prisons is public safety. According to
lecture, this is:
a) Good in principle, but doesn't work in practice
b) The prime directive!
c) Secondary to punishment
d) An example of "false ideology"
e) A political ploy to make us feel safer
*. Which example of Illinois prison architecture is the only one of it's
kind in the country, perhaps the world, and is round?
a) The radial model
b) The X house
c) The Panopticon
d) The K house
e) The Telephone pole model
*. According to lecture, the "tune-in/tune-out" thesis holds that
students listen to the professor about:
a) 15 percent of the time
b) About 1/3 of the time
c) About 40 percent of the time
d) About 2/3s of the time
e) About 80 percent of the time
*. According to lecture, the architectural prison style that has become
increasingly, probably most, popular because it is inexpensive, "modular,"
and versatile, is:
a) The Panopticon
b) The X-House
c) The K style
d) The "long-house"
e) The dormitory style
*. According to lecture, webboard, and other sources, which of the following
IS NOT a maximum security prison in Illinois?
a) Stateville
b) Tamms
c) Menard
d) Pontiac
e) Dixon
*. The trends in crime rates in the U.S. in recent years show
that crime is:
a) Going up
b) Going down
c) Staying about the same
d) Increasing far faster than expected
e) We don't know for sure because so much is not reported
*. According to lecture (and IDOC), the average prison stay of a prisoner in
Illinois is about:
a) 13 months
b) 21 months
c) 30 months
d) 3.5 years
e) 5 years
*. A short period of incarceration followed by a sentence reduction is
called:
a) An indeterminate sentence
b) Shock incaraceration
c) Boot camp
d) FARE probation
e) Intermediate incarceration
*. According to lecture and text, which of the following IS NOT a feature
of the PLRA:
a) "Three strikes, you're out"
b) Limiting the amount of damages attorneys can collect
c) Requiring prisoners to exhaust all remedies before filing
d) Payment of full filing fees, even if filing in forma pauperis
**e) Barring prisoners in jails from civil rights suits
*. According to the text, which of the following is not a test to resolve
prisoner civil rights litigation:
a) Least restrictive methods
b) Compelling state interest
c) Clear and present danger
d) rational basis test
**e) Limited income test
*. In Forma Pauperis refers to:
a) Over-representation of poor people in prisons
b) The right of people to file legal petitions/suits without
paying court filing fees all at once (old quiz)
c) The form that prisoners sign on release
d) A type of legal suit that challenges prison conditions
e) Another name for "let me out of here"
*. Which of the following IS NOT an example of an intermediate sanction?
a) Probation
b) Fines
c) Indeterminate sentences
d) Pretrial diversion
e) Forfeiture
*. Somebody says: "I am imposing this sentence because you deserve to be
punished for lying to federal investigators. Your criminal behavior in this
case is the basis for your punishments. Justice requires me to impose a
sanction that reflects the value the community places on right conduct."
This is an example of:
>>a) Retribution
b) Deterrence
c) Incapacitation
d) Rehabilitation
e) Restorative justice
*. The recidivism rate for sex offenders for another sex offense is
roughly:
a) 5 percent
b) 18 percent
c) 34 percent
d) 54 percent
e) 69 percent
*. Which of the following IS NOT a problem in running jails (according to
the text and instructor?)
a) Sexual inequality (lecture and notes)
b) Local politics
c) Short term populations
d) Prisoners there for many different reasons
e) Limited resources
*. The AUBURN MODEL was based on the philosophy of
a) The Work Ethic (old quiz)
b) Redemption through Reflection (on ones crime)
c) Punishment/torture
d) Militarism
e) Banishment
*. The doctrine that no person acting under color of law can deprive a person
in the US of their civil rights comes from:
a) The 14th Amendment
b) The Declaration of Independence
c) Title 42 USC Section 1983 (old quiz)
d) Brown v. Board of Education
e) The U.S. Constitution
*.
Which of the following IS NOT a reason for the failure of the
EASTERN MODEL:
a) Lack of professional staff
b) Didn't "rehabilitate" prisoners
c) Prisoners were "going nuts"
d) Too expensive
e) Too many assaults on staff by prisoners
*. According to the text, a range of correctional management strategies
based on the
degree of intrusiveness and cotnrol over the offender, along which an
offender is moved based on his or her response to correctional programs,
is called:
a) The Equivalency Thesis concept
b) The Continuum of Sanctions concept (think/application question)
c) The Just Desserts concept
d) The Direct Intervention concept
e) The Carrot and Stick concept
*. According to lecture, how many years are there in a generation?
a) 50
b) 33
c) 25
d) 13.3
e) It depends on the century because life expectancy varies.
*. The goal of all Illinois prisons is public safety. According to
lecture, this is:
a) Good in principle, but doesn't work in practice
b) The prime directive!
c) Secondary to punishment
d) An example of "false ideology"
e) A political ploy to make us feel safer
*. Which of the following IS NOT true of jails, according to lecture?
a) Over half of the people in them are innocent
b) They are usually run by the individual states
c) Most people sentence there serve time for less than one year
d) Most inmates have usually committed misdemeanors
e) Jails hold people before trial
*. If you go into Illinois prison at age 25 and serve a Class 3 sentence of
six years, you should be out when:
a) You're 26
b) You're 28
c) When you're 29.6
d) When you're 31
e) When the parole board thinks you've been rehabilitated
*. According to the text, which of the following is not a test to resolve
prisoner civil rights litigation:
a) Least restrictive methods
b) Compelling state interest
c) Clear and present danger
d) rational basis test
>> e) Limited income test
*. According to the text, which group of prisoners is called "the
forgotten offender?"
a) Sex offenders
b) Women prisoners
c) Juvenile offenders
d) White collar criminals
e) Geriatric (old) prisoners
*. The view that prisons are nasty because it contains bad guys from the
street who continue to act badly in prison is called:
a) The deprivation model
b) The functional model
c) The importation model
d) The pathology model
e) The situated deviance model
*. Which of the following IS NOT an example of Syke's "Pains of imprisonment?"
a) Deprivation of social acceptance
b) Deprivation of healthy sexual relationships
c) Deprivation of personal autonomy
d) Deprivation of psychological stability
e) Deprviation of personal security
*. The view that prisons are nasty because it contains bad guys from the
street who continue to act badly in prison is called:
a) The deprivation model
b) The functional model
c) The importation model
d) The pathology model
e) The situated deviance model
*. A set of rules of conduct that reflect the values and norms of the
prison social system and help to define for
inmates the image of the model prisoner is called:
a) Prisonization
b) The inmate Code
c) The deprivation model
d) "Rules of the game"
e) Normative Codification
*. Which of the following IS NOT a feature of the inmate code?
a) Don't interfer with inmate interests
b) Don't quarrel with fellow inmates
c) Don't trust correctional officers
d) Maintain yourself
e) Watch your back and always remember where you are
*. According to lecture and other sources, which offense has the LEAST
probability of recidivism for the original crime?
a) Drug offenders
b) Sex offenders
c) Property offenders
d) Violent offenders
e) All recidivate about equally
*. According to IDOC stats and all we've said in class/WebBoard,
the recidivism rate in Illinois is about:
a) 73 percent
b) 61 percent
c) 52 percent
d) 43 percent
e) 37 percent
*. Compared with male prisoner cultures, which of the following IS NOT true
of female prisoners?
a) Less violent men
b) Less predatory than men
c) Less likely to segregate by race than men
d) More likely to become intimate with staff than men
e) Less likely to respond to prison programs
*. According to the text, what percentage of women in the U.S.
are arrested for murder?
a) About 87 percent
b) About 61 percent
c) About 47 percent
d) About 23 percent
*e) About 11 percent
*. Compared with male prisoner cultures, which of the following IS NOT true
of female prisoners?
a) Less violent men
b) Less predatory than men
c) Less likely to segregate by race than men
d) More likely to become intimate with staff than men
e) Less likely to respond to prison programs
*. Currently, women constitute about what percent of prisoners in Illinois?
a) 18 percent
b) 13 percent
c) 9 percent
d) 6 percent
e) 3 percent
Return to Jim Thomas's homepage
Page maintained by: Jim Thomas - jthomas@math.niu.edu