CHAPTER 10
Criminal Victimization
Chapter 1 Multiple Choice
Choose the best answer for each of the following.
1. The dark figure of crime refers to
a. crime that occurs at night.
b. crime that is not reported to the police.
c. crimes committed by the police.
d. bias crimes.
2. A(n) _________ crime is one where even the individual who was victimized is unaware of the
crime.
a. unreported
b. unknown
c. victimless
d. undiscovered
3. If you are looking for national crime statistics and want self-report data, you should use which
of the following sources of data?
a. The Uniform Crime Reports.
b. The National Incident-Based Reporting System
c. The National Crime Victimization Survey
d. None of the above
4. Which of the following crime victims would not be included in the sample of individuals
surveyed for the NCVS?
a. A 10-year old boy who was beaten up and whose bicycle was stolen
b. A 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a neighbor
c. A 20-year-old college student whose car was stolen
d. A 75-year-old man whose computer was stolen during a home burglary
5. If a researcher is attempting to obtain data on crimes reported to the police in Los Angeles, the
most appropriate source of data would be
a. the Uniform Crime Reports.
b. the National Crime Victimization Survey.
c. a local self-report survey of crime in Los Angeles.
d. None of these options would provide the required information
6. For which of the following studies would you definitely want to use NIBRS rather than the
UCR?
a. A study examining changes in the overall crime rate in the U.S. over time
b. A study examining crime patterns in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s
c. A study examining rates of motor vehicle thefts in the U.S. today
d. A study examining co-occurring victimization in a given offense
7. According to the text, which is likely to be the most seriously underreported crime?
a. Murder
b. Assault
c. Larceny
d. Burglary
8. Which of the following crimes is measured by the UCR but not by the NCVS?
a. Homicide
b. Aggravated assault
c. Robbery
d. Motor vehicle theft
9. The NCVS obtains data from
a. prison inmates.
b. federal agencies.
c. households.
d. police agencies.
10. Which factor contributed to a dramatic increase in crime in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s?
a. The baby boom
b. Generation X
c. The Depression
d. President Johnson’s War on Poverty
11. According to the text, what should we expect to see in the near future when we examine
crime statistics?
a. The decline in crime observed since the mid-1990s is expected to continue until at least
2020
b. The decline in crime observed since the mid-1990s is expected to end and criminal
activity will increase
c. The crime rate will continue to decline until it reaches the low crime rates
characteristic of the 1950s
d. Crime rates will level off and remain stable for the foreseeable future
12. Which of the following members of a family is most likely to be the victim of a violent
crime?
a. Grandfather
b. Mother
c. 20-year-old daughter
d. 17-year-old son
13. _____________ refers specifically to a situation in which an individual is subject to multiple
instances of varied victimizations.
a. Chronic victimization
b. Polyvictimization
c. Revictimization
d. Multivictimization
14. Which of the four pathways to polyvictimization identified by the Developmental
Victimization Survey was most prominent for young children under the age of 10?
a. Having family disruption and adversity
b. Living in a dangerous community
c. Having preexisting emotional problems
d. Living in a dangerous family
15. Which of the following is most likely to result in a victim of a violent crime experiencing
high levels of distress?
a. Being victimized while on vacation
b. Being injured during an armed robbery
c. Being injured during an assault
d. Being the victim of workplace violence
16. _______________ includes situations where the criminal justice system processes cause
emotional harm to a crime victim.
a. Secondary victimization
b. Polyvictimization
c. Victim precipitation
d. Victimogenesis
17. A husband and wife are the victims of securities fraud and lose a large sum of money. As a
result, they can no longer afford to pay their child’s tuition at university. The child is a(n)
a. direct victim.
b. secondary victim.
c. survivor
d. primary victim.
18. Victimization appears to be a significant risk factor for future involvement in crime for
a. men.
b. women.
c. both men and women.
d. neither men nor women.
19. Victimogenesis refers to
a. a contribution made by the victim that led to the initiation of the criminal event.
b. an individual’s likelihood of being victimized.
c. the contributory background of a victim that makes him/her prone to victimization.
d. a victim’s failure to take simple precautions against being victimized.
20. Which of the following situations in which a victim contributed to his or her own
victimization is an example of victim provocation?
a. A victim of motor vehicle theft left his keys in his unlocked car
b. A mugging victim was wearing a large amount of expensive jewelry
c. A rape victim walked home alone at night along unlit streets
d. A homicide victim was shot by a security guard while committing a bank robbery
21. According to routine activities theory, an individual who effectively discourages crime is
known as a
a. motivated offender.
b. defensible victim.
c. capable guardian.
d. suitable target.
22. Which theory focuses on the concept of stigmatized neighborhoods to explain variations in
risk of victimization?
a. Deviant places theory
b. Routine activities theory
c. The situational model
d. Lifestyle theory
23. What is the main goal of Vision 21?
a. To change the way victims of crime are treated in the U.S.
b. To ensure the passage of a federal Victims’ Rights Amendment
c. To make certain that every state develops a comprehensive state-wide victim
compensation program
d. To increase funding to victim assistance programs throughout the U.S.
24. Which federal law requires judges to consider victim-impact statements at federal sentencing
hearings?
a. The 2001 USA PATRIOT Act
b. The 2004 Crime Victims’ Rights Act
c. The 1984 Victims of Crime Act
d. The 1982 Victim and Witness Protection Act
25. The accountability element of restorative justice emphasizes
a. that the community can participate in ensuring its own safety.
b. the responsibility of the justice system to protect the public from crime and offenders.
c. the obligations incurred by the offender to the victim and the community.
d. the need to ensure offenders are more capable of successful participation in society
when they leave the justice system than when they entered it
1. Self-report surveys provide information on the dark figure of crime.
a. True
b. False
2. The UCR/NIBRS program collects information on unreported crime.
a. True
b. False
3. The actual occurrence of all crimes reported to NCVS interviewers is verified before the
information is incorporated into the NCVS data.
a. True
b. False
4. NIBRS provides more information about victims of crime than the UCR.
a. True
b. False
5. The NCVS does not include information on crimes against children under the age of 12.
a. True
b. False
6. The dramatic increase in crime that began in the 1960s is linked to the postwar baby boom.
a. True
b. False
7. Victims of violent crime who are from high-income households are more likely to report their
victimization to the police than victims from low-income households.
a. True
b. False
8. Polyvictimization appears to cause more serious and long-lasting harm to victims than
revictimization.
a. True
b. False
9. The dangerous neighborhoods pathway to polyvictimization appears to be mainly associated
with children under the age of 10
a. True
b. False
10. Stranger violence causes more distress for victims than intimate personal violence.
a. True
b. False
11. Victims who are victimized in their own homes tend to suffer more socio-economic problems
than victims who are targeted in other locations.
a. True
b. False
12. Secondary victimization refers to an individual who is not directly affected by a crime but
who suffers unintended consequences as a result of the victimization of a family member or
friend.
a. True
b. False
13. For men, victimization can be a significant contributor to future criminal involvement.
a. True
b. False
14. Victim facilitation may occur when the victim attracts the offender’s attention through visible
displays of wealth.
a. True
b. False
15. Victimization is not evenly distributed across space and time.
a. True
b. False
16. According to routine activities theory, the presence of a capable guardian is a necessary
element for a crime to occur.
a. True
b. False
17. Stigmatized neighborhoods increase the risk of victimization but not criminality.
a. True
b. False
18. The U.S. Constitution includes a victims’ rights amendment.
a. True
b. False
19. VOCA provides federal funding for victim compensation programs.
a. True
b. False
20. Restorative justice emphasizes making the victim whole again.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 10 Fill in the Blank
Fill in the correct answer for each of the following.
1. ________________ crimes are those that are not known to the people who have been
victimized.
2. Although rape is highly underreported, the most seriously underreported crime may be
________________.
3. _________ describe the statistical qualities of a given population.
4. __________________ refers to continued victimization of the same victim by the same
offender committing the same type of crime.
5. Victims of violence who experienced socio-emotional problems are _________ likely to
report their victimization to the police.
6. ___________ involves social injuries that occur as a result of how social institutions and
individuals react to a victim of crime.
7. The child of a victim of homicide is a(n) _________ victim.
8. ____________ refers to the origin or cause of victimization.
9. ____________ victim precipitation occurs when a victim unknowingly encourages an offender
towards criminal action.
10. According to Shafer, the level of _______________ responsibility determined the degree of
victim provocation.
11. ___________ theory is spatially oriented and suggests that victimization occurs most
frequently in socially disorganized areas.
12. The main goal of __________ is to permanently change the way victims of crime are treated.
13. The ____________ Act provides financial support for victim services programs in cases
involving sexual violence or domestic abuse.
14. The ___________ Act has been viewed as a partial statutory alternative to a federal
constitutional victims’ rights amendment.
15. A key element of restorative justice is _____________, in which offenders make financial
payments to reimburse victims.
Chapter 10 Matching
1. Match the crime with the source of crime statistics data
1. Homicide
a. National Crime Victimization Survey
2. Simple assault
b. Uniform Crime Reports
3. Crimes not reported to the police
c. Both the NCVS and the UCR
4. Arson
5. Robbery
6. Crimes against children under 12
7. Motor vehicle theft
8. Attempted robbery
9. Aggravated assault
2. Match the way in which victims contribute to their own victimization with the example
1. A student leaves a laptop unattended in the
library and it is stolen
a. Victim initiation
2. A man wears an expensive watch and is
mugged for it
b. Victim facilitation
3. A woman leaves her apartment door
unlocked while she is at work, and a burglar
enters and steals her electronics
c. Victim provocation
4. A drug dealer who is selling drugs outside
a local elementary school is assaulted by the
parents of a child who died after taking drugs.
5. After a night out clubbing, a woman walks
alone to her car through dark streets and is
raped
3. Match the theory of victimization to the primary theorist(s)
1. Deviant places theory
a. Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo
2. Routine activities theory
b. Rodney Stark
3. Victim precipitation theory
c. Marcus Felson
4. Lifestyle exposure theory
d. Marvin Wolfgang
5. Situational model
e. Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson
4. Match the federal legislation to its main provisions
1. Violence Against Women Act
a. Established statutory rights for victims of
federal crimes and gave them legal authority
to assert those rights in federal court
2. Victims of Crime Act
b. Provides financial support for police,
prosecutors, and victims’ services in cases
involving sexual assault or domestic abuse
3. Victim and Witness Protection Act
c. Authorized federal funding to help states
establish victims’ assistance and victims’
compensation programs
4. Crime Victims’ Rights Act
d. Created the federal right of allocution for
victims of violent and sex crimes
5. Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act
e. Requires judges to consider victim-impact
statements at federal sentencing hearings
Chapter 10 Essay
Answer the following questions.
1. Describe the UCR/NIBRS and NCVS programs. Discuss the problems and criticisms of each
program. Compare and contrast the two programs.
2. Identify the three major shifts in victimization patterns that have been identified since crime
statistics were first gathered. Explain the causes of each. What is expected to occur in the near
future and why?
3. Define victim precipitation, distinguish between active and passive precipitation, and explain
how the concept differs from that of victim blaming. Identify the three ways in which victims
contribute to their own victimization and give an example of each. Discuss Marvin Wolfgang’s
research into victim precipitated homicides.
4. Discuss routine activities theory in detail. Explain each of the elements required for a crime to
occur. How do routine activities affect victimization risk? How does this theory explain the
increase in crime in the 1960s and 1970s?
Chapter 10 Critical Thinking
Answer the following questions.
1. This chapter discusses a number of victimization theories. Which one do you think best
explains criminal victimization, and why? Support your answer?
2. The Crime Victims’ Rights Act grants a number of rights to victims of federal crimes. If these
rights conflict with those provided to suspects, whose rights should take priority? What if the
rights of the victim conflict with those provided to a convicted offender? Explain and support
your response.