Deck 3: Images of Crime and Criminality

Question 1

Crime victims in media match the demographics, such as age and gender, of official victim statistics.

Answer 1

False

Question 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.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

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

Answer 3

B

Question 4

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

Question 5

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%

Question 6

In the real world, the relationship between the crime fighter and the criminal is more important than the relationships between the victim and criminal.

Question 7

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

Question 8

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%

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

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

Question 15

The "backwards law" is the tendency of the media to portray crime and justice opposite that of crime-and-justice reality.

Question 16

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

Question 17

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

Question 18

Crime news focuses on which type of crime?

A) Murder
B) Rape
C) Assault
D) All of the above

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a common victim narrative?

A) Accidental Victim
B) Undeserving Victim
C) Stupid Victim
D) Lazy Victim

Question 20

Media interest in crime and criminality has appeared only in the past few decades due to increases in technology and communication.

Question 21

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.

Question 22

Overall, white-collar criminals are treated by the mass media as infotainment.

Question 23

Business and professional criminals are the most common criminality narrative.

Question 24

The media tend to reflect the criminological theories popular at the time.

Question 25

The dominant media message in terms of frequency and popular appeal points to individually based theories of crime and away from social ones.