Chapter 35: Quiz

1. Professional criminal profilers are: - A) Significantly more accurate than non-profilers - B) Not significantly more accurate than non-profilers at predicting offender characteristics - C) 90% accurate - D) Only used in fiction

Answer: B. Snook et al. (2007) meta-analysis found profilers were not significantly better than non-profilers.

2. Most crime is: - A) Committed by psychopaths - B) Situational — committed by psychologically normal people under specific circumstances (economic need, addiction, conflict, opportunity) - C) Random - D) Committed by serial killers

Answer: B. The "criminal mind" is largely a fiction. Circumstances, not personality disorders, explain most crime.

3. Psychopathy (PCL-R) prevalence among incarcerated individuals is approximately: - A) 75–85% - B) 50% - C) 15–25%, meaning 75–85% of incarcerated people do NOT have psychopathy - D) 100%

Answer: C. Psychopathy explains only a minority of criminal behavior.

4. Serial killing accounts for approximately what percentage of homicides? - A) 30% - B) 15% - C) Less than 1% - D) 50%

Answer: C. True crime's obsession with serial murder gives a vastly distorted picture of actual crime.

5. The chapter's key message is: - A) Crime is entirely caused by psychology - B) Crime is better explained by situational, economic, and systemic factors than by individual psychology — and the "criminal mind" narrative distracts from structural causes - C) Psychology has nothing to say about crime - D) Only psychopaths commit crimes

Answer: B. Individual psychology plays a role in some crime, but most crime is situational and structural.