The role of popular culture in academic criminology has largely been ignored. Cultural representations of crime and criminals and the study of criminology have too often been recognized as two separate entities. The irony of such a distinction is that an analysis of the two concepts demonstrates their interconnectedness. While academic criminology is useful in identifying information and knowledge that is more objective in nature, such as the prevalence of specific crimes and reasons an individual may be reluctant to report offenses to law enforcement, representations of crime in popular culture should not be overlooked. Popular culture and crime are influenced by social values, norms, and expectations within a given culture, all of which are
