Self-study
P1
Determining the most effective way to deter deliberate crimes, such as fraud, as opposed to impulsive crimes, such as .
Problem ·
Most effective way to deter deliberate crimes
One side's position ·
Crimes a product of societal norms and institutions
That side's solution ·
Change attitudes, improve economic opportunity, rehabilitate
Other side's position ·
Crimes a product of individual choice
Other side's solution ·
More penalties
Author's solution ·
The two positions above are complementary, not opposed
P2
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Explain author's solution ·
Principle of utility maximization
Decision to commit a crime is an economic decision that weighs the likely benefits ("utilities") of different actions
P3
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Application of principle ·
to problem of crime deterrence
A person commits a crime when that person believes the benefits outweigh the risks
Elaborate on author's solution ·
Combine penalties with improved economic opportunity
More penalties increase the risks of committing a crime. Improved economic opportunity decreases the benefits of committing a crime (as compared to law-abiding activities).
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
1.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
Question Type
Main point
In this Problem-Analysis passage, the author takes a problem at the center of a debate (”Which is the more effective way to deter crime?”) and offers a solution: the principle of utility maximization (UM) suggests that they’re both effective and, in fact, complementary. So the main point is that the principle of utility maximization shows how two seemingly opposed approaches to crime deterrence are actually complementary.
a
The principle of ███████ ████████████ ████████ ██ ████████ █████████ ████ ██████ █████ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ██ ██████ █ █████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ██████ ████ █████████ ████ ████████████ ████████ ████████
This is the point of P2, but not of the passage as a whole. It ignores the problem that the author’s addressing. The author goes on in P3 to explain how, by using the principle of UM, both seemingly opposed sides of the debate can be seen as complementary to each other. That’s the main point.
b
Legal scholars have █████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ███████ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ █ ██████
Descriptively inaccurate. These findings aren’t presented in the passage. The author says that some scholars believe deliberate criminal acts are motivated by external influences, while other scholars believe they’re motivated by individual choice.
c
The utility maximization █████████ ███ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███████ ██████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ██ █████ ████ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ █ ██████████ ██████
Two problems. First, this is descriptively inaccurate. The author doesn’t quite suggest that the principle of UM can be used to quantify anything. Rather, the principle requires “determining the utilities” of possible outcomes. But how do we determine those utilities? Can we quantify them? The author doesn’t say. Second, even if (C) were descriptively accurate, it wouldn’t be the main point. The idea that the principle of UM can be used to evaluate different deterrence methods is just setup for a bigger point, which is that applying the principle solves a problem: it shows that two deterrence methods are complementary.
d
Introduction of the ███████ ████████████ █████████ ████ ███ ███████ █████ ██████████ ██████ █████████ ████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ █████ ██████ ███████████████ ████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ██████
This is a good description of the author’s proposed solution for crime deterrence. According to the author, the principle of UM suggests that the approaches of both sides of the debate are actually complementary to each other.
e
The utility maximization █████████ ████████████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ █████████████
Descriptively inaccurate. The principle doesn’t demonstrate that one cause of crime is true and another is false. Rather, it demonstrates that whatever the cause of crime, crime can be deterred by making lawful activity more appealing and accessible, and by making unlawful activity less appealing.