Media And Crime Analysis

Superior Essays
Introduction: In many aspects, television has become a vital aspect of daily life within modern society. It encompasses a variety of genres ranging from soap operas to thrillers, as to meet the uses and gratifications of its audiences. As television continues to become more popular, networks are struggling to come up with new and inventive plots as a means of attempting to outshine other programs in their genre. Nelson Media Research ratings confirm that in 2006, aside from top shows like American Idol, part-time crime dramas have ranked as one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the industry (DeTardo-Bora, pg. 154, 2009). The relationship between the media and the criminal justice system is a delicate balance, as more often than …show more content…
Kort-Butler and Kelley Hartshorn, crime-related programming shapes both personal fear of crime and the social responses to it (Kort-Butler &Hartshorn, pg. 52, 2011). They state that there is a clear relationship between media consumption and the apparent fear of crime, due largely in part by the images presented by the media (Kort-Butler, et. al, pg. 52, 2011). Besides crime dramas’, the way in which crime is presented in the news aids in this relationship as it focuses its attention on violent human acts more so than politics or economics. Similarly, a study done by Kimberly DeDetardo-Bora, proves that not only do prime-time crime television series entice young and impressionable viewers, it also may cultivate views of the real world (DeTardo-Bora, pg. 154, 2009). According to cultivation theory, adolescence that are heavy watchers of the genre are prone to developing a cognitive set of limited images which they base reality off of (DeTardo-Bora, pg. 154, 2009) as that is what they are primarily exposed to. Many explames of this may be found; however, one in particular stands out as it involved a ten year old boy who murdered his father. The boy said he was inspired by a part of criminal minds in which a child killed his abusive father and decided to do the same …show more content…
In the article, “Watching the Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear of Crime, and Attitudes About the Criminal Justice System,” Lisa Kort-Butler and Kelley Sittner Hartshorn explain that nonfictional crime programs are largely influenced by the conservative ideologies supporting justice-based crime control (Kort-Butler et. al, 2011). In shows such as Criminal Minds, there is a certain flair that captivates audiences and leads them to believe that the way in which it is presented on television, is similar to that of reality. In their study, Kort-Butler and Hartshorn, investigate the correlation between crime-related ideological programming and whether or not it supports the current criminal justice system. Their findings showed that there is a complex relationship among viewers and the fear of crime, as well as their attitudes towards the criminal justice system (Kort-Butler et. al, 2011). Ultimately, it was proven that audiences appeared to negatively view the criminal justice system and supported more punitive punishments (Kort-Butler et. al,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Fear Of Crime

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It also stems from victimology; a physiological effect after their experience. After the first victim study was taken by Sparks in 1997. The information that society is given about ‘crime’ is very much contradictory. At the same time what makes us fearful of the world, also fascinates, making us want to know more about ‘crime’. This relates to deHaan’s information paradox, meaning that the more knowledge one holds about crime, the more interested and fascinated they are by the deviance of…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Those who are more likely to become criminally victimised such as the poor do not have access to the media. Viewing TV news appears to generate more fear of crime than watching other types of TV programmes or reading the newspaper, which suggests both media channels and genres are relevant in shaping consumer’s perceptions (O’Keefe and Reid-Nash 1987). Chiricos et al (1997) find that the frequency of watching television news and listening to the news on the radio is significantly related to fear. (Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 2003;01). This is because when you head about crime related stories in the news they invoke a stronger visceral and emotional response than one would get from reading about it.…

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The media has the power to cause moral panics and a fear of crime in the public through its depictions of certain crimes and criminals, particularly based on their age, ethnicity, gender and social class (Han Er, 2014). Another important reason to study media representations of crime is because public perception of crime is dependant almost entirely on media representations of crime (Davis, 1952; Ditton & Duffy, 1983; Jerrin & Fields, 1994). This causes people to form stereotypes of certain criminals and crimes in their society (Han Er, 2014; McCreanor et al., 2014). As a result, people start to believe the myths and distortions created by the media and associate minorities, groups or individuals with certain crimes (Dowler, Fleming & Muzzatti, 2006). The language media uses to represent crime is a crucial feature which can add to the distortion the media intends to paint the story with.…

    • 2072 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Marxism In Criminology

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It would therefore suggest that it is an effective method to induce public fear, answering how the media portrays violent crime, by simply reporting selected facts about violent crime, or repeated exposure to details or information about violent crime, both effective ways used by media. The Labelling Theory and how the concept of self-identity and behaviour are so important to an individual they can become over-represented in the media on how they are classified. This leads to stereotyping and the individual changing their behaviour to fit into the label as supported by discussed research. The media has an effective way in manipulating public opinions through the theory of Marxism. This has been shown using the examples of Arab-Muslim communities and Bankstown case study.…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Modern Serial Killers

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Breland, Alfiee. 1999. “‘The’ True’ Perpetrators Of Violence: The Effects of the Media on Public Perceptions of Youthful Violent Offenders. This paper talks about the perpetrators of school violence and how the media stereotypes the offenders. Even though this topic is different from my topic it still shows the strength of the media on the public showing that the media can suggest stereotypes to the community and be believed.…

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Siegel, Schmalleger, and Worrell (2015), “a number of factors, including the seriousness of the crime, the defendant’s prior record, the defendant’s possible threat to the community and the defendant’s degree of remorse for committing the crime, influence the final sentencing decision” (p. 380). I found that both of these articles reviewed, have some truth about the factors that can influence the sentencing process of an offender. I agree with the authors and researcher’s opinions that the media and how the community perceives the story can influence the impact. I also agree that the victim can influence the case, causing harsher…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Violent crimes have become a constant part of today’s media. As the interest of crimes continues to grow, the question of how crime is portrayed within the media influences on the public begins to rise. Others have pondered this question and searched for answers. Through research and several studies the authors of “Constructing Crime: Media, Crime and Popular Culture”, the authors of “Setting the Public Fear Agenda: A longitudinal Analysis of Network TV Crime reporting, Public Perceptions of Crime, and the FBI Crime Statistics”, as well as the author of “Adolescents, Crime and the Media” have developed their own theories over the relationship between the public and the media and crime. Each discuss how the media impacts the public’s view on crime and criminality.…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In order to create the slight aura of anxiety, the media restricts its stories down to the most dramatic and shocking facts (Newhagen 266). They do this in order to create suspense and fear, and it works extraordinarily well. The restraint of information makes it hard for people to empathize with criminal; a lot of times, the news doesn’t report on motive or underlying reasons for the crime, closing off an essential connection that would allow people to connect and forgive with the offender. This was further supported by a study discussed by Karen Gelb in which two groups of people were given a report of the same case. One group of people, however, were given just a brief description, which Karen says is “similar to a media report,” while the other was given “a more detailed description with information on incident and offender characteristics” (Gelb 288).…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crime Shows

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages

    According to Reed and Shaw (2012), advances in technology has enabled crime and criminal justice portrayal in the media to become widespread over the past few decades. As a result, most of what people know about the criminal justice system is derived from the media especially through entertainment television. From books to daily news reports to crime dramas such as Criminal Minds, Americans are fascinated with “unsubs”, criminals, and the legal process (Parker, 2013). Even at a time in American television history when crime rates were falling, crime stories were the most frequent topic of network news at a rate of 1,137 stories per year (Beale, 2006). Since public knowledge of crime and the criminal system is largely obtained from the…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Human psyche that controls the actions taken by an individual is often strongly influenced by information transmitted in various ways.The strongest way in which the informations are transmitted is the media,which has a great impact in the attitude of people nowadays. In this essay I will highlight to what extent the media influences offending behaviour and our attitudes towards crime and criminal justice. A subject which will always raise the interest of the audience is crime, because human consciousness is always full of curiosity to learn more about things that happen not only around them but also in the world, even though those issues may not directly affect them. A straightforward definition of the crime is:’’ Legally, a crime is…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays