Chapter 35: Exercises

Comprehension Check

1. What did Snook et al. (2007) find about profiling accuracy? 2. Why is most crime "situational, not dispositional"? 3. What percentage of incarcerated people have psychopathy? What does this mean for the "criminal mind" narrative? 4. Why is the "serial killer as genius" myth inaccurate? 5. How does true crime media distort public understanding of crime?

Application

6. Listen to a true crime podcast episode. Note: how much time is spent on the offender's psychology vs. situational/structural factors? 7. Apply the toolkit to: "Criminal profiling can identify serial killers from crime scene evidence." 8. Research crime statistics in your area. What types of crime are most common? How does this compare to what true crime media emphasizes? 9. Find a media profile of a criminal (news article or documentary). Is the framing dispositional ("he was evil") or situational ("he grew up in poverty, experienced addiction, had access to weapons")? 10. Apply the toolkit to: "Psychopaths are born, not made."

Critical Thinking

11. If profiling doesn't work better than chance, why do law enforcement agencies continue to use it? 12. True crime's focus on serial killers distorts the public's perception of crime. What would happen if true crime content focused on the most common crimes (property crime, domestic violence)? 13. The "criminal mind" narrative implies individual pathology. How does this distract from policy solutions (poverty reduction, addiction treatment, gun policy)? 14. Should true crime content include disclaimers about the situational nature of most crime? 15. If most crime is situational, what are the most effective crime prevention strategies?

Fact-Check Portfolio

16. If any of your 10 claims involve criminal psychology, update your evidence rating.