Public Opinion, The News Media, and the Crime Problem

1
Chapter 2

• Public Opinion, The News Media, and the Crime
  Problem

2
Introduction

• News media
• Our opinions about crime and criminal justice
  have an impact on public policy on crime

3
A Brief Look Back

• 1830s Mob violence
• 1920s crime boom
• 1967 Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement
  and Administration of Justice
• Crime has always been a serious problem

4
Public Opinion and Crime Policy

• Feature of democratic theory is policy decisions
  by public officials should reflect public opinion
• Criticism is politicians are influenced by small,
  wealthy group rather than general public
• Another criticism is majority of public opinion
  violates democratic principles of fairness

5

• Public opinion is often inaccurate
• Erroneous opinions about crime and criminal
  justice influence policies
• What if racial prejudice affects public views
  about crime?

6
News Media Coverage of Crime and Criminal Justice

• Overdramatization of Crime
• Crime waves media suddenly devotes much
  attention to small number of crimes
• Heavy coverage increases fear of crime
• Heavy coverage of uncommon crimes (i.e. poisoned
  Halloween candy, kidnapping children)

7

• Overreporting of (violent) crime
• Research study indicated crime most common type
  of story on TV among 13 U.S. cities
• Focus on violent crime, especially homicide
• Cover crimes that occur the least

8

• Crime Myths
• Crime myths False beliefs about crime
• Crime is rampant
• Crime is overly violent
• Minorities are more heavily involved in crime and
  drugs
• Teenagers are heavily involved in violent crime
• Crime victims are particularly virtuous

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• Other Problems in Media Coverage
• Selecting people to interview that support
  reporters point of view
• Using value-laden language
• Presenting misleading data
• Neglecting various forms of white collar crime
• Failing to provide social and/or historical
  context
• Biased picture of certain aspects of crime

10

• Effects of Media Coverage
• Contributes to public ignorance
• Increases public fear and concern
• Obscures underlying forces
• Diverts attention from white collar crime
• Racial and ethnic stereotyping

11
Research on Public Beliefs about Crime and
Punishment

• Fear of Crime
• Structural factors concern the social and
  physical characteristics of locations where
  people live
• Fear is generally higher in dilapidated minority
  neighborhoods
• The larger the population, the greater the fear
  of crime

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• Seriousness of Crime
• Public judgments of seriousness of crime are
  important for several reasons
• Reflect the value placed on human life/personal
  property
• Affect individuals views on punishment
• Help determine appropriate penalties for
  offenders

13

• Punitiveness
• The Death Penalty
• Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for
  people convicted of murder?
• Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for
  people convicted of murder, or do you favor life
  imprisonment without parole?

14

• Views About Police
• Satisfaction with police is lower than one might
  expect
• Demographic variations with respect to
  satisfaction ratings
• African Americans rate police more negatively
  than Whites
• Age and income differences

15

• Individual characteristics demographic variable
• Age (i.e. elderly more likely to fear crime than
  younger people)
• Gender affects fear of crime
• Race (i.e. blacks are more fearful compared to
  whites)

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• Consequences of Fear
• Paralyzes society
• Weakens social ties within the community
• Threatens economic viability of neighborhoods
• Influences public policy
• Affects individuals daily lives