Images of Crime and its control

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Images of Crime and its control

• public opinion in this country is everything
  Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

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In the eye of the beholder...
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Consider...

• Oklahoma city bombing domestic terrorism or
  political leverage
• Lady Dis death? Media scapegoats /or cover-up
• Louise Real - bad guy turned hero
• Wacco - the silent conspiracy
• Saddam the evil tyrant or cultural zealous
• Oka incident in Quebec

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The Role of the Media

• Types of behaviour focus on?
• Types of offenders focus on?
• What makes crime news?
• Reality of police and law shows?

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Public Perception of Crime

• 1982 Gallup National Survey
• 75 believed that 30 of all crimes were violent
  (reality
• 5.7)
• murder on the increase (reality
• stable 2.2/100,000)
• those released most likely to re-offend (40) -
  (reality
• 13)

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• Public perception hidden element of the CJS
• 1987 survey - purpose is to prevent crime
• Reality the CJS is reactive
• criminals a product of their environment -
  poverty, child rearing, association (Ch.s 5-8)
• naïve ? Policy vs. public pressure

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Limits of General Knowledge

• Rationalism vs. empiricism
• Crime involves a complex interplay of information
• E.g., fear vs. reality of victimization
• booming industry protection devices
• Speculation, authority, consensus, observation,
  past experience vs.
• Scientific method (Wheel of research)

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Give us the tools and well finish the job
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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Security tops96

• Survey new homeowners
• 93 safe community
• 77 close to parks and open space
• 76 low taxes

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Source of Knowledge

• Personal experience (victim or perpetrators)
• media collective ignorance (Box 83)
• moral panics (S. Cohen 80) - undue attention
  (e.g., ecstasy vs. viagra)
• copycat crime -Taxi driver Warlock Ninja
  turtles)

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Frame of Reference...
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TV Violence Seductive 98

• Youth most impressionable 500 high-risk scenes
  per year
• violence not all bad BUT when it goes unpunished
• 40 violence instigated by GOOD characters
  (credible)
• 33 by bad characters BUT unpunished
• 71 scenes showed no remorse

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• The media and Catch 22
• provides info not otherwise
• offers different types of knowledge
• facilitate exchange of info (North/South -
  Herald)
• media is central to policy debates/issues (YOA)

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Juristat 95

• Stats not tell whole story
• media slanted coverage
• fear vs. actual crimes rates distorted
• perception distorted (J. Roberts)
• police practices
• reporting practices patterns
• officially rates declining among adults

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Public...

• Murder up 0.1 in 30 yrs.
• BE up 7 down 88-95
• impaired driving steady decline 90s
• system too lenient (60) - among the highest
  conviction rate
• parole too easy - only 13

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Consider...

• 98 murder down 4th year in row
• Bernardo, Simpson, youth violence
  representative?
• 83 of murders involve acquaintance
• media coverage
• CBC 54 unknown - 18 known
• CTV 66 11

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Official Sources

• experts
• crime statistics - news releases
• Internet
• state sanctioned definitions of topics, issues,
  and concerns
• methodological issues (Stats CDN)
• post-hoc analysis (reactive)

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Disciplinary Bias

• Sociology dominated
• self-reports vs. victimization
• discipline biases interpretation methodological
  parochialness (Sugarman Hotaling, 89).

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Summary

• Where we get our knowledge
• we are social creatures
• personal knowledge, media, official data
  banks/actors theoretical research - ALL
  strengths weaknesses
• one superior?
• Scientific approach (objective) -
  interdisciplinary and integrated

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See you next class?