Description

SELF-CONTROL, CRIME, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Exam 1

Overview:

Your exam is worth a total of 25 points, and it has two parts: an essay worth 15 points and 10 multiple choice or true-false questions (each worth 1 point). These two parts are described below.

Deadline:

Both portions of the exam must be submitted/completed by 11:59 p.m. ET, Sunday. (As always, submitting earlier is perfectly fine—there is no need to wait until the deadline.)

Rule on using course materials:

Both parts of the exam are entirely “open book” and “open note”—I place no restrictions on your use of notes or the course readings. You cannot, however, gain assistance from or provide assistance to another student. Your exam must reflect your independent effort.

Essay portion of the exam

Below is an essay question worth 15 points. You should directly address the question in a clear, well organized, elaborate discussion that demonstrates good knowledge of the material by correctly drawing from the assigned reading. To better demonstrate the connection between your arguments and the reading material, you should show where your information is coming from with citations and page numbers.

A few specific points to make regarding logistics and formatting:

• Your answer will be submitted as a PDF file that is named with [your last name]_Exam1.pdf. Creating this PDF will involve crafting your answer in a normal word processing program (e.g., MS Word) and then converting it to a PDF file when you are done.
• Your document should be single-spaced with an extra line between paragraphs.
• Although length may vary, answers should in most instances be about 7-8 paragraphs long and should not exceed 3-4 pages.
• In drawing from the reading material, do not rely too heavily on lengthy direct quotes or use of the exact (or nearly exact) language used by the authors. You should develop good habits in the area of paraphrasing and putting ideas into your own words.
• Your PDF will be submitted through Canvas. Under “Assignments,” you’ll see the entry for “Exam 1 instructions (submit essay here).”

Here is the essay question:

Much research has documented the harmful consequences of low self-control—those with low self-control fare worse on a wide range of outcomes. Describe the important research and findings from this area. In doing so, you do NOT need to cover each and every outcome described by Hay and Meldrum (2016) in Ch. 3 of the book. However, be sure that at least one of the outcomes that you cover includes criminal victimization, which was studied by Schreck (1999).

[see the next page]

Multiple choice and true-false portion of the exam

This portion of the exam is completed in the Canvas website. It will be available sometime early this week. It also must be completed by 11:59 p.m. ET.

Here are various logistics to emphasize:

• The exam will be available under “Assignments” on the Canvas site. We have created an assignment entry for “Exam 1 MCTF.”
• The exam consists of 10 multiple choice or true/false questions that draw from any of the course materials.
• Once the exam is started, you have 20 minutes to complete it. There is no ability to review the exam and take it later—any attempt to exit the exam will lead it to submit.
• The questions are given one at a time, and there is no ability to backtrack through completed questions.
• Your scores will not be available until after the exam period is over and I’ve reviewed the results (this likely will be the Monday-Tuesday after exam weeks).

Also, in terms of preparation:

• This exam covers all the material in this unit.
• I strongly discourage you from waiting until the last minute/last hour to take the exam because submitting it late is not an option. I know that unexpected events sometimes occur, so the 3-4 day window for the exam protects against uncertainties.
• The 20-minute time limit and not being able to circle back to questions requires that you have significantly prepared. Any attempt to learn the material as the exam is being taken will make it difficult to do well.