What evidence is there to support the view that the public's fear of crime is shaped by news media reporting?
Date Submitted: 09/10/2006 04:12:47
Category: / Social Sciences / Sociology
Length: 12 pages (3373 words)
Category: / Social Sciences / Sociology
Length: 12 pages (3373 words)
Western society is fascinated with crime and justice. From films, books, newspapers, magazines, television broadcasts, to everyday conversations, we are constantly engaging in crime "talk". The mass media play an important role in the construction of criminality and public knowledge about crime as Surette's research (1996) reveals. However, does coverage of sensationalistic and violent crime also create fear among the general public? I shall argue that the media play a substantial role in determining the amount …
Is this Essay helpful? Join now to read this particular paper
and access over 480,000 just like this GET BETTER GRADES
and access over 480,000 just like this GET BETTER GRADES
…Critical Victimology: The Victim in International
Perspective, London: Sage
McCombs, M. and Shaw, D. (1972), The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media, Public Opinion Quarterly, 36 (Summer), pp176-187
Pfau, M. (1995), Covering Urban Unrest: The Headline Says it All, Journal of Urban Affairs, JUAFEM, pp131-41
Surette, R. (1998), Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images and Realities 2nd Edition, New York: Wadsworth Publishing.
Zedner, L. (1997), Victims in Maguire, M. et al. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Need a custom written paper? Let our professional writers save your time.