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Chapter 3 Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is NOT one of the typical characteristics of contemporary
criminal portraits in the media?
a. the criminal is male
b. the criminal is Caucasian
c. the criminal is of high social status
d. the criminal is African American
2. During the 1970s how much of prime time television programming was dedicated to
crime-and-justice stories?
a. 10%
b. 25%
c. 40%
d. 60%
3. Serial killers in entertainment media are commonly portrayed, despite the fact that serial
killers account for only what percentage of U.S. homicides each year?
a. 0.2-0.3%
b. 2-3%
c. 20-30%
d. 40-60%
4. According to entertainment media, who is usually responsible for predatory criminality?
a. mainstream society
b. the individual
c. both society and the individual
d. no one is responsible
5. Which of the following BEST represents the ideal crime victim from a news perspective?
a. an elderly person
b. a woman
c. a child or pregnant woman
d. all of the above
6. Which of the following is NOT a common victim narrative?
a. Accidental Victim
b. Undeserving Victim
c. Stupid Victim
d. Lazy Victim
7. Overall, the victimization rates of persons in the media correlate more with which of the
following?
a. Fear of crime
b. Actual victimization rates
c. Both A and B
d. None of the above
8. Crime news focuses on which type of crime?
a. Murder
b. Rape
c. Assault
d. All of the above
9. Which of the following is NOT a historically symbolic white collar crime or a media
representation of white collar crime?
a. The Martha Stewart case
b. the Teapot Dome scandal
c. The Rodney King Incident
d. The Jungle
10. Which of the following is a reason for why media attention to white collar crime has been
historically low?
a. Low public interest
b. Crimes provide few striking visual images
c. Crimes are highly complex and boring
d. All of the above
11. Which of the following crime theories is supported by the following scenario: Miranda, a
32-year-old single mother of 4 young children, works as a prostitute 3 nights a week. She
figures that even if she does eventually get caught, the punishment won’t be nearly as bad
as missing out on the hundreds of dollars she makes each night.
a. Rational Choice Theory
b. Psychological Theory
c. Sociological Theory
d. Political
12. Jorge is a 15-year-old Hispanic American living in a Hispanic neighborhood known for
the numerous gangs that have inhabited the area for at least two generations. Before high
school Jorge received straight As in school and he was a star basketball player both in
and out of school. In his freshman year, however, he began hanging out with his older
brother and his brother’s friends who are all involved in one of the local gangs; Jorge
now skips school frequently, has lost interest in basketball, and has been arrested for
vandalism and petty theft 3 times. His mom worries that he’ll eventually wind up dead.
Jorge’s recent behavior can BEST be explained by which of the following crime
theories?
a. Psychological Theory
b. Sociological Theory
c. Political Theory
d. None of the above
13. Which of the following is NOT a media trend that reflects the criminological theory that
was popular at the time?
a. During the 1930s, crime films tended to portray a [sociological] perspective
which painted the urban ethnic inner city as the basic cause of criminality
b. The 1940 and 1950s films were Freudian based [psychological theories] with
deviant personalities the root cause
c. The 1980s saw films indicting drugs and family violence [a mix of theoretical
perspectives]
d. The 1990s brought labeling and critical criminology [political theories] to the fore
14. Robin Hood would BEST be categorized within which of the following criminal narrative
categories?
a. Robin Hood would not be classified as a criminal
b. Psychotic super-male criminal
c. Business and professional criminal
d. Victim and heroic criminal
15. Which of the following is a less popular narrative of criminality due to its complex,
multi-theoretical nature and spreading of the responsibility for crime over both the
criminal and society?
a. Victims and heroic criminals
b. Psychotic super-male criminals
c. Business and professional criminals
d. Calculating and manipulative criminals
True/False
1. Media interest in crime and criminality has appeared only in the past few decades due to
increases in technology and communication.
2. The Great Train Robbery was one of the first narrative films and introduced many of the
violent images still common in today’s media.
3. The “backwards law” is the tendency of the media to portray crime and justice opposite
that of crime-and-justice reality.
4. Crime victims in media match the demographics, such as age and gender, of official
victim statistics.
5. In the real world, the relationship between the crime fighter and the criminal is more
important than the relationships between the victim and criminal.
6. Overall, white-collar criminals are treated by the mass media as infotainment.
7. Psychological theories state that crime is a freewill decision that individuals will make
when the gains from committing a crime outweigh the likely punishment from
committing it.
8. Business and professional criminals are the most common criminality narrative.
9. The media tend to reflect the criminological theories popular at the time.
10. The dominant media message in terms of frequency and popular appeal points to
individually based theories of crime and away from social ones.
