EXAMINATIONS in CJS 101

All examinations in CJS 101 will consist primarily of very very short essays (just a couple of sentences). This includes both quizzes and the final examination. There will never be multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or true-false questions. In every case, there will be a limited amount of space to write your answers and you are required to limit your answers to the amount of space provided (i.e. don't write more lines than you are given and don't go outside the margins). There are penalties for exceeding the space. On quizzes, you get about ten lines for each answer so in effect you are limited to somewhere between two and four sentences. There will be one longer essay question on the final examination. You will be able to write about three pages for that answer. The final examination will be comprehensive covering all material since the beginning of the semester.

Quiz Policies: Quizzes cover material from assigned chapter readings in the text book or any other required reading on the same topic. Quiz questions are quite specific and you will not be able to answer them correctly unless you have read the chapter or other articles carefully, taken detailed notes, and studied those notes carefully. Just a quick reading of the assignment will not suffice. Below are questions that actually appeared on the quizzes last semester.

Students are not permitted to take a quiz for credit unless they stay for the entire class. If they leave early, the quiz will not count.

Any quizzes that you miss can be made up during the final examination, and not at any other time. In addition, students may replace up to four quiz grades by retaking those quizzes during the final examination.

Sample quiz questions:

Sample Question 1.According to Diski, “The Secret Shopper: The History of Shoplifting,” who was Lady Isobel Bennett and what happened to her?  Explain.

Sample Question 2: According to Kappeler and Potter (“Juvenile Superpredators: The Myth of Killer Kids, Dangerous Schools and a Youth Crime Wave”) from 1992 to 1999 legislatures in 48 states rewrote juvenile transfer laws.  What was this about and how did it affect juveniles?

Sample Question 3:According to Kappeler and Potter (“Cons and Country Clubs: The Mythical Utility of Punishment”) does the tendency to build prisons far from urban centers affect male or female prisoners more?  Explain.

Sample mid-term and final exam questions: The final exam questions that correspond to the quizzes will have exactly the same form as the quizzes that were given during the semester. The four sample questions below (which do not correspond to the quizzes) all appeared on the mid-term or final examination last semester and this style of question will appear on both the mid-term and the final exam again this semester. The last is an example of the "long essay" type question which will appear at the end of the final examination.

Sample Question 1. Explain.Do government and the media lie to us about crime and criminals?  Explain.

Sample Question 2.How effective have registration and notification laws for sex offenders been in keeping us safe?  Explain.

Sample Question 3.Explain the concept of incapacitation.  What is it and how does it relate to the criminal justice system?

Sample Question 4.How effective is our criminal justice system at preventing and solving crimes?  Why?  How can it be made more effective?  Explain your evidence and the reasons for your conclusions.  Provide examples including at least three relating to three different myths about crime and the criminal justice system.