TEST BANK
UNDERSTANDING CRIME IN CANADA: AN
INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY
,TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: Foundations of Canadian Criminology
Chapter 1: What Is Criminology?
Chapter 2: The Media: Shaping Our Understanding of Crime
Chapter 3: Criminal Law in Canada
Chapter 4: Measuring Crime
Chapter 5: Victims of Crime
Chapter 6: Race and Criminalization
Part 2: Theories of Crime
Chapter 7: Theories of Crime: A Brief Introduction
Chapter 8: Biological Approaches
Chapter 9: Psychological Approaches
Chapter 10: Sociological Approaches
Chapter 11: Gender and Crime
Chapter 12: Critical Criminology
Chapter 13: Crime Choice Theory
Part 3: Types of Crime
Chapter 14: Violent Crime
Chapter 15: Sexual Offences and Problematic Sexual Interests
Chapter 16: Property Crime
Chapter 17: Crimes of Morality
Chapter 18: Organized Crime and Gangs
Chapter 19: White-Collar Crime, Cybercrime, and Terrorism
,Chapter 1: What Is Criminology?
Multiple Choice Questions
1. (Easy) What is the primary focus of criminology as an academic discipline?
a) The enforcement of criminal law
b) The study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the criminal justice system
c) The rehabilitation of offenders
d) The psychological treatment of victims
Answer: b
Explanation: Criminology is the scientific study of crime, including its causes, responses
by the legal system, and the behaviour of both offenders and victims. While law
enforcement (a) and rehabilitation (c) are related fields, criminology is broader and more
analytical.
2. (Easy) Which of the following best distinguishes criminology from criminal justice?
a) Criminology focuses only on street crime; criminal justice focuses on corporate crime.
b) Criminology examines why crime occurs; criminal justice studies the system's
response to crime.
c) Criminology is a sub-field of sociology; criminal justice is a sub-field of law.
d) There is no distinction; the terms are interchangeable.
Answer: b
Explanation: Criminology is concerned with the etiology (origins and causes) of crime
and the nature of criminal behaviour. Criminal justice focuses on the institutions (police,
courts, corrections) that respond to crime. The other options contain false limitations or
incorrect disciplinary boundaries.
3. (Medium) According to the consensus perspective in criminology, the criminal law:
a) Reflects the values and beliefs of the most powerful groups in society
b) Is a tool used by the ruling class to control the poor
c) Represents the shared moral boundaries of society as a whole
d) Is arbitrary and has no relationship to social harm
,Answer: c
Explanation: The consensus perspective holds that laws reflect the collective agreement
of most members of society about what is morally wrong and harmful. Options a and b
reflect conflict/radical perspectives; option d is not a serious criminological position.
4. (Medium) A researcher who argues that "crime is a label applied by those in power
to behaviours that threaten their interests" is adopting which theoretical framework?
a) Classical criminology
b) Biological positivism
c) Conflict criminology
d) Routine activities theory
Answer: c
Explanation: Conflict criminology (informed by Marx, Vold, Quinney) sees crime and
criminalization as products of social and economic power struggles. Classical
criminology focuses on rational choice, biological positivism on inherited traits, and
routine activities on opportunity structures.
5. (Hard) Which of the following is an example of the criminalization process, as distinct
from simply identifying harmful acts?
a) A provincial government raises the legal drinking age from 18 to 19.
b) Parliament repeals a law against vagrancy that was rarely enforced.
c) Police focus resources on drug possession in low-income neighbourhoods while
ignoring identical possession in affluent areas.
d) A university expels a student for plagiarism under its academic code.
Answer: c
Explanation: Criminalization refers to the selective application of criminal labels and
sanctions, often reflecting social inequality. Option c shows differential enforcement
based on class/neighbourhood. Option a is legal change, b is decriminalization, d is
non-criminal sanction.
,6. (Easy) The "dark figure of crime" refers to:
a) Crimes that receive media attention
b) Crime that occurs after dark
c) Crime that is not reported to or recorded by police
d) Violent crimes only
Answer: c
Explanation: The dark figure of crime is a standard term for the gap between actual
crime incidents and those that appear in official statistics due to non-reporting or non-
recording. Options a, b, and d are incorrect definitions.
7. (Medium) Which Canadian scholar is most closely associated with the labelling
theory approach to criminology?
a) Neil Boyd
b) John Hagan
c) Anthony Doob
d) The term "moral panic" originates in the work of Stanley Cohen, not a Canadian
criminologist.
Answer: d (Note: Stanley Cohen is British. For a Canadian connection – John
Hagan's power-control theory is not labelling. If a strictly Canadian labelling theorist is
required, a better answer would be none of the above – but the question tests
understanding that major labelling theorists (Becker, Lemert, Cohen) are not Canadian.
However, since the test bank is for a Canadian text, I will adjust.)
Corrected version for Canadian context:
7. (Medium) (Revised) The concept of "moral panic" as applied to crime in Canada
(e.g., fears about youth crime in the 1990s) was developed by:
a) Stanley Cohen (UK) – and applied by Canadian criminologists such as John Hagan
b) Neil Boyd
c) Karl Marx
d) Cesare Lombroso
Answer: a
Explanation: Stanley Cohen coined "moral panic" in Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972).
Canadian researchers (e.g., Hagan, Doob, Sprott) have applied this framework to
Canadian crime policy. Options b, c, d are incorrect.
,8. (Hard) A criminologist who studies how the severity of a legal sanction deters
potential offenders is most directly applying principles from:
a) Positivist criminology
b) Classical criminology
c) Critical criminology
d) Feminist criminology
Answer: b
Explanation: Classical criminology (Beccaria, Bentham) emphasizes rational calculation
of costs and benefits, including deterrence through proportional severity. Positivism
focuses on non-rational, biological/social causes. Critical/feminist perspectives challenge
classical assumptions.
9. (Medium) According to Boyd's text, an important limitation of the legal definition of
crime is that it:
a) Excludes acts that are morally wrong but not prohibited by law
b) Over-includes trivial behaviours as crimes
c) Cannot be measured statistically
d) Applies only to street crime, not white-collar crime
Answer: a
Explanation: The legal definition – crime as act prohibited by criminal law – excludes
harmful but un-criminalized conduct (e.g., some forms of environmental pollution,
workplace hazards). Option b is not a standard limitation; c is false; d is false – the legal
definition includes all prohibited acts.
10. (Hard) Which research method would be most appropriate for understanding how a
specific neighbourhood's residents perceive the risk of gun violence, including
unreported incidents?
a) Analysis of Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
b) A victimization survey with open-ended questions
,c) An experiment manipulating police patrol levels
d) Content analysis of newspaper crime coverage
Answer: b
Explanation: Victimization surveys (e.g., Canadian General Social Survey on
Victimization) capture both reported and unreported crime and can include perceptions
of risk. UCR (a) misses unreported crime. Experiment (c) is unethical/unrealistic here.
Media content (d) measures media, not public perception.
11. (Easy) The "crime funnel" (or "attrition") in the Canadian criminal justice system
refers to:
a) The increasing severity of sentences for repeat offenders
b) The reduction in number of cases as they move from police reporting through to
conviction
c) The disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous peoples
d) The media's focus on violent crime
Answer: b
Explanation: The crime funnel shows that only a fraction of reported crimes result in
arrest, a smaller fraction lead to charges, and fewer still to conviction and imprisonment.
Options a, c, d are distinct phenomena.
12. (Medium) Which statement best reflects the relationship between crime and
deviance?
a) All deviance is criminal, but not all crime is deviant.
b) All crime is deviant, but not all deviance is criminal.
c) Crime and deviance are identical concepts.
d) Deviance refers only to statistical rarity, not norm violation.
Answer: b
Explanation: Crime is a subset of deviance (norm violation). Some deviant acts (e.g.,
eccentric dress) are not against criminal law. Option a is backwards; c is false; d is false –
deviance includes normative violation, not just rarity.
,13. (Hard) A critical criminologist would likely argue that the overrepresentation of
Indigenous peoples in Canadian prisons is primarily a result of:
a) Higher rates of biologically based criminality among Indigenous populations
b) Cultural differences in conflict resolution styles
c) The selective enforcement and creation of criminal law that reflects colonial power
relations
d) Random variation in crime commission
Answer: c
Explanation: Critical criminology (including critical race and post-colonial theory)
focuses on how law and enforcement reflect power structures, including settler-
colonialism. Option a is racist pseudoscience. Option b ignores systemic factors; d is a
null hypothesis not supported.
14. (Medium) What is the primary purpose of a "theory" in criminological research?
a) To prove that a specific policy works
b) To provide a systematic explanation for observed patterns of crime and justice
c) To describe individual criminal events in rich detail
d) To collect data without any preconceived ideas
Answer: b
Explanation: Theories explain patterns and causal mechanisms. Option a is a policy
goal; c is a case study (not theory's primary purpose); d is naive empiricism – all research
has implicit theories.
15. (Hard) Neil Boyd's text emphasizes that Canadian criminology differs from American
criminology in which significant way?
a) Canada has no violent crime problem.
b) Canadian criminology focuses exclusively on official statistics.
c) Canadian criminology more often incorporates attention to structural factors, regional
differences, and comparative policy contexts.
d) Canadian criminologists reject all quantitative methods.
Answer: c
Explanation: Canadian criminology (e.g., Boyd, Hagan, Chan, Comack) typically includes
,analysis of structural factors (class, race, gender), regional differences (e.g., higher
violent crime in North/West), and comparative policy (e.g., gun control vs. US). Options
a, b, d are false generalizations.
Answer Key – Chapter 1
Q# Answer Difficulty
1 b Easy
2 b Easy
3 c Medium
4 c Medium
5 c Hard
6 c Easy
7 a Medium (revised)
8 b Hard
9 a Medium
10 b Hard
11 b Easy
12 b Medium
13 c Hard
, Q# Answer Difficulty
14 b Medium
15 c Hard
UNDERSTANDING CRIME IN CANADA: AN
INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY
,TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: Foundations of Canadian Criminology
Chapter 1: What Is Criminology?
Chapter 2: The Media: Shaping Our Understanding of Crime
Chapter 3: Criminal Law in Canada
Chapter 4: Measuring Crime
Chapter 5: Victims of Crime
Chapter 6: Race and Criminalization
Part 2: Theories of Crime
Chapter 7: Theories of Crime: A Brief Introduction
Chapter 8: Biological Approaches
Chapter 9: Psychological Approaches
Chapter 10: Sociological Approaches
Chapter 11: Gender and Crime
Chapter 12: Critical Criminology
Chapter 13: Crime Choice Theory
Part 3: Types of Crime
Chapter 14: Violent Crime
Chapter 15: Sexual Offences and Problematic Sexual Interests
Chapter 16: Property Crime
Chapter 17: Crimes of Morality
Chapter 18: Organized Crime and Gangs
Chapter 19: White-Collar Crime, Cybercrime, and Terrorism
,Chapter 1: What Is Criminology?
Multiple Choice Questions
1. (Easy) What is the primary focus of criminology as an academic discipline?
a) The enforcement of criminal law
b) The study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the criminal justice system
c) The rehabilitation of offenders
d) The psychological treatment of victims
Answer: b
Explanation: Criminology is the scientific study of crime, including its causes, responses
by the legal system, and the behaviour of both offenders and victims. While law
enforcement (a) and rehabilitation (c) are related fields, criminology is broader and more
analytical.
2. (Easy) Which of the following best distinguishes criminology from criminal justice?
a) Criminology focuses only on street crime; criminal justice focuses on corporate crime.
b) Criminology examines why crime occurs; criminal justice studies the system's
response to crime.
c) Criminology is a sub-field of sociology; criminal justice is a sub-field of law.
d) There is no distinction; the terms are interchangeable.
Answer: b
Explanation: Criminology is concerned with the etiology (origins and causes) of crime
and the nature of criminal behaviour. Criminal justice focuses on the institutions (police,
courts, corrections) that respond to crime. The other options contain false limitations or
incorrect disciplinary boundaries.
3. (Medium) According to the consensus perspective in criminology, the criminal law:
a) Reflects the values and beliefs of the most powerful groups in society
b) Is a tool used by the ruling class to control the poor
c) Represents the shared moral boundaries of society as a whole
d) Is arbitrary and has no relationship to social harm
,Answer: c
Explanation: The consensus perspective holds that laws reflect the collective agreement
of most members of society about what is morally wrong and harmful. Options a and b
reflect conflict/radical perspectives; option d is not a serious criminological position.
4. (Medium) A researcher who argues that "crime is a label applied by those in power
to behaviours that threaten their interests" is adopting which theoretical framework?
a) Classical criminology
b) Biological positivism
c) Conflict criminology
d) Routine activities theory
Answer: c
Explanation: Conflict criminology (informed by Marx, Vold, Quinney) sees crime and
criminalization as products of social and economic power struggles. Classical
criminology focuses on rational choice, biological positivism on inherited traits, and
routine activities on opportunity structures.
5. (Hard) Which of the following is an example of the criminalization process, as distinct
from simply identifying harmful acts?
a) A provincial government raises the legal drinking age from 18 to 19.
b) Parliament repeals a law against vagrancy that was rarely enforced.
c) Police focus resources on drug possession in low-income neighbourhoods while
ignoring identical possession in affluent areas.
d) A university expels a student for plagiarism under its academic code.
Answer: c
Explanation: Criminalization refers to the selective application of criminal labels and
sanctions, often reflecting social inequality. Option c shows differential enforcement
based on class/neighbourhood. Option a is legal change, b is decriminalization, d is
non-criminal sanction.
,6. (Easy) The "dark figure of crime" refers to:
a) Crimes that receive media attention
b) Crime that occurs after dark
c) Crime that is not reported to or recorded by police
d) Violent crimes only
Answer: c
Explanation: The dark figure of crime is a standard term for the gap between actual
crime incidents and those that appear in official statistics due to non-reporting or non-
recording. Options a, b, and d are incorrect definitions.
7. (Medium) Which Canadian scholar is most closely associated with the labelling
theory approach to criminology?
a) Neil Boyd
b) John Hagan
c) Anthony Doob
d) The term "moral panic" originates in the work of Stanley Cohen, not a Canadian
criminologist.
Answer: d (Note: Stanley Cohen is British. For a Canadian connection – John
Hagan's power-control theory is not labelling. If a strictly Canadian labelling theorist is
required, a better answer would be none of the above – but the question tests
understanding that major labelling theorists (Becker, Lemert, Cohen) are not Canadian.
However, since the test bank is for a Canadian text, I will adjust.)
Corrected version for Canadian context:
7. (Medium) (Revised) The concept of "moral panic" as applied to crime in Canada
(e.g., fears about youth crime in the 1990s) was developed by:
a) Stanley Cohen (UK) – and applied by Canadian criminologists such as John Hagan
b) Neil Boyd
c) Karl Marx
d) Cesare Lombroso
Answer: a
Explanation: Stanley Cohen coined "moral panic" in Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972).
Canadian researchers (e.g., Hagan, Doob, Sprott) have applied this framework to
Canadian crime policy. Options b, c, d are incorrect.
,8. (Hard) A criminologist who studies how the severity of a legal sanction deters
potential offenders is most directly applying principles from:
a) Positivist criminology
b) Classical criminology
c) Critical criminology
d) Feminist criminology
Answer: b
Explanation: Classical criminology (Beccaria, Bentham) emphasizes rational calculation
of costs and benefits, including deterrence through proportional severity. Positivism
focuses on non-rational, biological/social causes. Critical/feminist perspectives challenge
classical assumptions.
9. (Medium) According to Boyd's text, an important limitation of the legal definition of
crime is that it:
a) Excludes acts that are morally wrong but not prohibited by law
b) Over-includes trivial behaviours as crimes
c) Cannot be measured statistically
d) Applies only to street crime, not white-collar crime
Answer: a
Explanation: The legal definition – crime as act prohibited by criminal law – excludes
harmful but un-criminalized conduct (e.g., some forms of environmental pollution,
workplace hazards). Option b is not a standard limitation; c is false; d is false – the legal
definition includes all prohibited acts.
10. (Hard) Which research method would be most appropriate for understanding how a
specific neighbourhood's residents perceive the risk of gun violence, including
unreported incidents?
a) Analysis of Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
b) A victimization survey with open-ended questions
,c) An experiment manipulating police patrol levels
d) Content analysis of newspaper crime coverage
Answer: b
Explanation: Victimization surveys (e.g., Canadian General Social Survey on
Victimization) capture both reported and unreported crime and can include perceptions
of risk. UCR (a) misses unreported crime. Experiment (c) is unethical/unrealistic here.
Media content (d) measures media, not public perception.
11. (Easy) The "crime funnel" (or "attrition") in the Canadian criminal justice system
refers to:
a) The increasing severity of sentences for repeat offenders
b) The reduction in number of cases as they move from police reporting through to
conviction
c) The disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous peoples
d) The media's focus on violent crime
Answer: b
Explanation: The crime funnel shows that only a fraction of reported crimes result in
arrest, a smaller fraction lead to charges, and fewer still to conviction and imprisonment.
Options a, c, d are distinct phenomena.
12. (Medium) Which statement best reflects the relationship between crime and
deviance?
a) All deviance is criminal, but not all crime is deviant.
b) All crime is deviant, but not all deviance is criminal.
c) Crime and deviance are identical concepts.
d) Deviance refers only to statistical rarity, not norm violation.
Answer: b
Explanation: Crime is a subset of deviance (norm violation). Some deviant acts (e.g.,
eccentric dress) are not against criminal law. Option a is backwards; c is false; d is false –
deviance includes normative violation, not just rarity.
,13. (Hard) A critical criminologist would likely argue that the overrepresentation of
Indigenous peoples in Canadian prisons is primarily a result of:
a) Higher rates of biologically based criminality among Indigenous populations
b) Cultural differences in conflict resolution styles
c) The selective enforcement and creation of criminal law that reflects colonial power
relations
d) Random variation in crime commission
Answer: c
Explanation: Critical criminology (including critical race and post-colonial theory)
focuses on how law and enforcement reflect power structures, including settler-
colonialism. Option a is racist pseudoscience. Option b ignores systemic factors; d is a
null hypothesis not supported.
14. (Medium) What is the primary purpose of a "theory" in criminological research?
a) To prove that a specific policy works
b) To provide a systematic explanation for observed patterns of crime and justice
c) To describe individual criminal events in rich detail
d) To collect data without any preconceived ideas
Answer: b
Explanation: Theories explain patterns and causal mechanisms. Option a is a policy
goal; c is a case study (not theory's primary purpose); d is naive empiricism – all research
has implicit theories.
15. (Hard) Neil Boyd's text emphasizes that Canadian criminology differs from American
criminology in which significant way?
a) Canada has no violent crime problem.
b) Canadian criminology focuses exclusively on official statistics.
c) Canadian criminology more often incorporates attention to structural factors, regional
differences, and comparative policy contexts.
d) Canadian criminologists reject all quantitative methods.
Answer: c
Explanation: Canadian criminology (e.g., Boyd, Hagan, Chan, Comack) typically includes
,analysis of structural factors (class, race, gender), regional differences (e.g., higher
violent crime in North/West), and comparative policy (e.g., gun control vs. US). Options
a, b, d are false generalizations.
Answer Key – Chapter 1
Q# Answer Difficulty
1 b Easy
2 b Easy
3 c Medium
4 c Medium
5 c Hard
6 c Easy
7 a Medium (revised)
8 b Hard
9 a Medium
10 b Hard
11 b Easy
12 b Medium
13 c Hard
, Q# Answer Difficulty
14 b Medium
15 c Hard
