Critical Analysis Title Romer, D, Jamieson, K & Aday, S 2003, 'Television News and the cultivation of fear of crime', Journal of communication, vol. 53 no. 1, pp. 88-104 Topic This text discusses 'cultivation theory,' which explores the influence of violent dramatic programming on prime-time television, and its effects on the publics' perceived risk of experiencing crime in the world in which they live. In particular, it looks at prime-time news and how it creates unrealistic fear in the public independent of actual crime rates.
Violence In CSI: Is It Really Bad? The popular television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has often been criticized for portraying too much violence; however the violence is what draws in the crowds of people watching. Many authors of journals have also criticized the series, along with the two spin-offs, CSI: New York and CSI: Miami, for not depicting the job of the investigators correctly. For example, Amy Goehner writes in her article, “Where CSI: Meets Real Law and Order” that to use the DNA analysis on every case, as they do in CSI would cost over $10,000 each time, and most crime labs not only have that much money to spend, but they don’t have the time to find all the probable DNA evidence on every case. Although CSI has its share of controversy, it is liked due to the nature of the program, with its depiction of gore and violence.
Another group included 40 sex offenders, who induced crimes such as rape, paedophilia and sexual assaults. Their mean age varied from 41 for the paedophiles down to 28 for the other assaults. The last group of 20 had committed property offences involving theft and burglary, their mean age was 29. The procedure involved the use of the ‘Blame Attribution Inventory’, this measured the offender’s type of offence and attribution of blame in three aspects: internal/external, mental element and guilt. The results exposed the sex offenders as feeling the most guilt with a mean score of 12.7, and the violent criminals followed with a score of 8.1.
| Unit 1 SO0752A | Introduction to Crime and Deviance | | | | | “Why is it important to understand what constitutes crime?” | In the 21st century it is important for a variety of reasons to understand what constitutes crime. Not only does it broaden the criminological imagination but it allows you to questions the stereotypical images of crime presented to us on a daily basis through the media. We can also gain a more insightful understanding of the problem of crime. For many crime is seen as an act that breaks the law. According to Tappan’s (1947 p.100, quoted in Muncie et al 2010 p.4) “crime is an intentional act in violation of criminal law (statutory or case law), committed without defence or excuse and penalised by the state as a felony or misdemeanour”.
The Evolution of Crime and Criminal Laws in the face of Terrorism Almost on a daily basis we are exposed on TV, newspaper radio and word of mouth about Crimes committed, Criminal Laws Broken and Terrorism threats across our nation, some of the crimes we see and talk about can be fiction. TV shows like Criminal Intent, 24, Law and Order are some of the most watched and some of the best TV dramas about Crime, Criminal Laws and Terrorism. While we are fascinated about Crime, Criminal Laws and Terrorism we don’t often think about those subjects in the same details or regard as say medicine or a sickness yet in actuality the subject of Crime, Criminal Laws and Terrorism can be described in the same manner. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the issue of Crime, Criminal Laws and Terrorism. I will elaborate on how the threat of terrorism impacted Crime and Criminal Laws.
Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain? Official criminal statistics are defined as “Statistical data compiled by the police and the courts and routinely published by governments as indices of the extent of crime” (Munchie, 2001, p194). “The working class, the young males, and members of some ethnic minorities are all more likely to commit crimes than the middle class, the elderly, females and whites – according to official statistics”. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004, p338). In assessing the question “Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain?” several factors will be considered: including how the statistics are collected, the divide between males and females in crime statistics, the over representation of ethnic minorities and any problems in looking at the true extent of crime using statistics as an indicator for this.
Some people get trigger-happy when it comes to tense situations. Because of this, criminals are killed more often by citizens than by law enforcement (Huntwork). Firearm injuries are the second leading cause of injury (Ruben). There are more gun related fatalities in the United States than in the worlds thirty-six other richest nations. Murders by firearm rates are 17.5 times higher than in twenty-two other populous high-income nations combined.
Statistics are usually collected on based on three categories: Offenses, the breach of law; Offenders, those who commit the offenses; and the victims, the ones who are offended against. The United States has programs in which they collect this data; the first is the Uniform Crime Reports, which is compiled by the FBI and the Crime Victimization Survey, handled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Crime statistics for the same crime can vary based on not just between countries and jurisdictions, but also between individual law enforcement officers that have come across the same exact case. There are some crimes that are reported to law enforcement but are not reported because the law enforcement officer that takes the report has the power of discretion. They have the ability to affect how much crime is recorded, based on how they record their activities.
Victimology: A Study of Crime Victims 1 Victimology is an important element in the process of learning about crime victims, the needs of the victims, and even about the perpetrator of the crime. It identifies the victims, reveals their physical and mental state before and after the crime, their social interactions, and ideas as to why they were a victim. Victimology does not give the reasons why a particular person is chosen by an offender, however it will give general overview of victim selection (Petherick, “Victimology” 2010) The definitions of victimology vary in the use of words within the definition, such as victim, crime victim or behavior of crime victim. Victimology as an academic term containing two elements; the Latin word “victima” which translate into victim and the Greek word “logos” which means a system of knowledge (Dussich “Victimology ‘Past, Present and Future’”2000). In it’s simplest definition, victimology is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender (Wallace & Roberson 2011: 3).
This assignment will discuss the problems involved in measuring crime and defining crime and deviance. A crime consists of behaviour that breaks the law, e.g. Murder. Deviance is behaviour that differs from the norms and values of the wider society. Describing crime and deviance is varied across different cultures; history; social situations and place.