Critically analyse the media(TM)s role in shaping public perceptions of crime(TM)

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‘Critically analyse the media’s role in shaping public perceptions of crime’

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Criminology and Criminal Justice

The media’s role in society is to inform people about everyday life through communications such as Television and newspapers.   The information in which these communications display can be very diverse in their opinions about society, such as crime.   This assignment will look in detail about the way in which media can influence public perceptions on crime and whether the information given is actually accurate in relation to official statistics specified by the government.   This will include the analysis of crime stories from two different newspapers to learn the extent in which these newspapers portray different information about crime.    

There have been many cases in history in which the media has controlled people’s views on society.   For example Hitler was aware of the significance of good propaganda through media, in which he was able to take over power with the mass support of the people.   The present day is the same.   What people read in newspapers contributes to their views, such as crime, but realistically may not be true.   For example the British Crime Survey asked respondents about their perceptions of how the level of crime was in the country as a whole.   It showed that around “two-thirds (65%) of people thought crime in the country as a whole had increased in the previous two years, with a third (33%) of people believing that crime had risen ‘a lot’.”   This shows that people have been influenced by the wrong information because the British Crime Statistics also shows that Crime in England and Wales has remained relatively stable in the past two years.   This gives good evidence of how the media has influenced people’s perceptions on crime because for most people the media is the only source of information they obtain about crime.  

The British Crime Survey gives statistics based on people’s experiences on crime.   The current number of people surveyed is forty thousand per year, which obviously causes problems as the current population is sixty million.   Even so it is a very important source of information because it addresses the crimes which are not reported and also gives the publics perception on crime.    Jock Young argued the importance of finding out information about unreported crime.   He believed that a great number of victimisation “genuinely belong to the ‘dark figure.’  Newburn (2007:66)   As Quetelet himself stated, “Our observations can only refer to a certain number of known and tried offences, out of the unknown sum total of crimes committed.”   Walklate (2005:30).   This is exactly why the British Crime Survey is so important, to try and determine the ‘dark figure’.  

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The media adversely affects people’s perceptions about crime in different ways.    For example it has been found that elderly women are more likely to feel susceptible to crime while young men are less likely.    This suggests that the media have more of an impact on elderly women than young men.   The statistics show that this should not be the case as young men are more likely to be victims of crime while older women are less likely.    For example The Home Office Statistical Bulletin for crime in England and Wales 2007 found that “Young men ...

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