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What is the media influence on the public perceptions of crime
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What is the media influence on the public perceptions of crime
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In recent years, the media have increased their coverage of crime reporting, more specifically, in suburban neighborhoods. Although violent crime rates are low, the covering of these stories has increased in the last few decades. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that several media platforms have been closely following up with the Scarborough crossbow killings.
The Toronto Star is one of many media outlets that have published articles regarding Brett Ryan’s case. “Brett Ryan’s Friends Struggle to Comprehend Family’s Slaying,” by Wendy Gills, narrates Brett Ryan’s killing of his mother and two brothers outside their home in Scarborough on August 25th, 2016. The article primarily focuses on Ryan’s past indiscretions with the law, possibility of mental health conditions, and his interactions with co-workers and friends. In 2009, Brett Ryan was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for 8 counts of bank robberies and received parole in late 2010. According to the article, the reason cited for these robberies was financial challenges. Recently, Ryan has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, in the killing of his two brothers with a crossbow and strangling of his
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1388). Similarly, Gills description of the crime scene reinforces these techniques used in earlier sensationalist reporting. For instance, Gills (2014) mentioned that one of Ryan’s brother was frantically running and yelling to the neighbors, “my brother is bleeding in the driveway”. In using the direct words of the victims and attempting to recreate the crime scene for the public, the reporter is creating an atmosphere of suspense, fear, and shock to draw the public to the news
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it. Unfortunately, such acts of rampage have become a prevalent factor in the Canadian culture. As a result of endless media coverage, Canadians now are constantly bombarded with numerous images of violence. Many of which often portray a victim avenging their opponent by means of force. Thus, indoctrinating a nation of individuals to believe that it is only through aggression that problems can be resolved. Rather than being punished for acts of violence, those who commit such offenses are often praised for their “heroism”. In addition, the success of films like The Godfather, Gladiator, and Troy further aid in reinstating the fact that we live in a society that praises violence. Furthermore, this ideology allows for individuals to partake in violent acts with little or no backlash from ones community. However, when an individual strays away from the “norm”, they are likely to then be viewed as a deviant. Such cases of rejection within a society, are often seen in the portrayal of serial killers. Although our society tends to condone violence when it is directed towards a specific individual(s), it does not allow the killing of innocent bystanders. Instead, crimes that are targeted against a number of people over a long period of time, entail the harshest forms punishments under the law. Sadly, in executing the law for said crimes, those in charge often face much public scrutiny. Such occurrences were apparent in the faulty murder investigations of Canada's most notorious serial killer Robert Pickton. This is due to the ...
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it, (Lapham, 1985). Unfortunately, such acts of rampage have become a prevalent factor in the Canadian culture. As a result of endless media coverage, Canadians now are constantly bombarded with countless images of violence. Many of which often portray a victim avenging their opponent by force. Thus, indoctrinating individuals to believe that it is only through aggression that problems are resolved. Rather than being punished for acts of violence, those who commit such offenses are often praised for their “heroism”. In addition, the success of films like The Godfather, Gladiator, and Troy further aid in reinstating we live in a society that praises violence. Furthermore, this ideology allows for people to partake in violent acts with little or no backlash from ones community. However, when an person strays away from the “norm”, they are likely to then be viewed as a deviant. Such cases of rejection within a society, are often seen in the portrayal of serial killers. Although our society tends to condone violence when it is directed towards a specific individual(s), it does not allow the killing of innocent bystanders. Instead, crimes that are targeted against a number of people over a long period, entail the harshest forms punishments under the law. Sadly, in executing the law for said crimes, those in charge often face much public scrutiny. Such occurrences were apparent in the faulty murder investigations of Canada's most notorious serial killer Robert Pickton. This is due to the fact that, the negligence of the Vancou...
When horrific crimes occur in large cities, many of them can be chalked up to gang violence or to the larger population of that specific city. But when horrific crimes happen in small cities like Lincoln, Nebraska, people begin to ask questions like who did this and why. In 1958, a nineteen year old man named Charles Starkweather put the entire state of Nebraska and possibly the entire nation in a state of terror. With his murder spree taking only three days, Starkweather had collected a body count of ten bodies, including two teenagers and a young child. Understanding Starkweather’s past and state of mind begins to answer the second question of why.
Phillips, D. (1983). The Impact of Mass Media Violence on U.S. Homicides. American Sociological Review, Vol. 48. Published by: American Sociological Association. Retrieved March 1, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2117722
Every morning on my way to school I often pick up the Red Eye newspaper and read the latest news happening in Chicago. As I skim the pages I often see a section that shows the homicide tracker in the city of Chicago. This section of the newspaper shows numerous of deaths occurred in a month in a specific area. Consequently, similar to this homicide tracker on the newspaper the following articles have about the same homicide stories that have occurred in the city of Chicago years ago. In the book The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson illustrates the dreadful events about crime, violence, and illness all leading to death; The Coldest Case: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre by Jonathan Eig describes a tragic murder of six men by the mob making Chicago seen as a gangland murder capital; The Untouchables by Eliot Ness tells the conflict Eliot Ness experienced trying to put the gangster Al Capone out of business, and For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago by Simon Baatz retells the case of judge Clarence Darrow which was to defend two boys of receiving the death penalty. The combination of these three stories shows serious issues such as crime, corruption and violence that are plaguing Chicago.
Serial murder, which is defined as “the unlawful killing of two or more victims, by the same offenders, in separate events”(Lubaszka & Shon, 2013, p. 1), is a term that American society has become quite familiar with. At a ripe age, parents begin teaching their children not to talk to strangers in hopes of shielding them from the potential evil our world has to offer, but what if I told you the serial killer may not always be the scary man driving a van and offering candy? Our society, like it does most things, has placed a stigma upon serial killers. Although not all implied labels are untrue, this stigma makes us vulnerable to the hidden deviance lurking behind us, dressed in sheep’s clothing. Over the course of this analysis, I will discuss and elaborate on Christine Lubaszka and Phillip Shon’s work, “The notion of victim selection, risk, and offender behavior in healthcare serial murders”. My evaluation will consists of a thorough description of Lubaszka and Shon’s article, followed by a brief critic explaining how their work relates to other forms of deviance, social control, and the material studied in this course, as well as stating a few of the drawbacks and benefits of the authors’ work and suggestions for future researchers.
Sue Grafton once stated: “Except for cases that clearly involve a homicidal maniac, the police like to believe murders are committed by those we know and love, and most of the time they're right.” This is clearly the thought the Boulder Colorado police conceived in the case of little beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. As many have observed from the onslaught of media coverage, the day after Christmas 1996, six year old Jon Benet Ramsey was found buried under a white blanket, bound, beaten, and strangled to death in the wine cellar of their Boulder home. With such a strikingly rare and glamorous story of a six year old beauty queen dead, who was a part of a “perfect American upper-middle class family”, combined with a lack of a lead and ever mounting suspicion piling up against the parents it was no surprise to find that it was fuel to the media and soon stories sold and became a matter of competition between the press. So, like wildfire, this heart-breaking story spread, stretching across the nation, shattering the souls of the world. News broadcasts, magazine and newspaper articles, and television specials all shaped and molded peoples perceptions of this beautiful child’s murder, especially her parents, John and Pasty Ramsey’s involvement or lack there of. The police and FBI’s merciless quest to connect Jon Benet’s murder to her parents, seemed to cause the them to overlook important evidence, or at the very least dismiss suspicious findings that would otherwise send red flags to investigators. There are many contributors as to why this case remains unsolved including lack of investigative expertise, failure to protect valuable evidence, and focusing too much on the parents as suspects but, ultimately, the over involvement of...
The victim is nineteen year old Khadijah Stewart. Stewart had grown up in the south side of Richmond, Virginia (a high crime area) where she met a boy named Tommie. Both were in middle school but Tommie soon got arrested for robberies and gun charges, he was sentenced to life as a juvenile. As time goes on Stewart forms a history of dating bad boys. The main on and off again boyfriend throughout her high school years was a young man named Lionel. In High school Stewart is skipping school to hang out Lionel and his gang members. Afraid how the streets could impact Stewart, the mother moves the family to Chesterfield County, a successful middle class suburbs, to create new life. As her life is changing for the better her heart longs to maintain
Scott Peterson was an educated man from California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with a B.A. in Agricultural Business. He was married to his wife Laci Peterson who was also pregnant with their unborn son. In December of 2002 Laci Peterson went missing in the Modesto, California area where she shared a home with Scott. Once the investigation of Scott’s missing wife started authorities began to suspect Scott as a suspect in her disappearance. In April of 2003 a fetus and a female torso that was missing hands, feet, and a head were found on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay area was where Scott was boating the day of Laci’s disappearance. The body was later identified as Laci Peterson and the fetus as Laci and Scott’s unborn son. Scott was also arrested in the month of April shortly after the discovery of Laci and their son’s body and was later sentenced to the death penalty. Over the course of this paper I will cover the whole event of the disappearance of Laci Peterson, relating it to a sociological theory, the impact the event had on our society and how the media had influence over this national event.
Serial killing is rampant in the U.S. According to estimates in a recent study conducted by the FBI, there have been about 400 serial killers in the U.S. in the last century, with the total number of murder victims ranging from 2,525 to 3,860 . Various experts in the field have suggested that there may be anywhere from 50 to as many as 300 serial killers active at the same time, although there is no clear evidence supporting this . Certainly, an estimate of 300 active serial killers seems at odds with the FBI’s estimate of 400 over the entire previous century. But an estimated 80% of the serial killers in the past century have emerged since 1950. For whatever reason, serial killing is clearly on the rise, with the term itself coined only since the mid-1970’s, so perhaps 300 active serial killers at one time could be unfortunately possible. The number of serial killing in the U.S. is staggering.
Lynching, which occurred most frequently in the southern states, resulted in the hanging, mutilation, and death of many blacks at the hands of a powerful white ruling class. While lynchings of this type have not occurred as frequently as in previous decades, it has morphed into a new form, a form that is arguably just as devastating. Instead of unjustly prosecuting blacks, this new form of lynching targets celebrities and politicians and media to accomplish what is commonly referred to as “hi-tech lynching”. The job of the media is to relay information to a general public.
When it comes to falling victim to crime whether it’s violent or not, the victimization and embarrassment does not stop after the crime is done. Media can be useful in law enforcement and it can also be hurtful. While meant to spread awareness and helpful information, media can often relay too much information and potentially hurt people.
The authors suggested that local news has a greater effect on the viewer than the national news because the stories are closer to home. It is far easier for the viewer to remove themselves from the story if it is farther from them. Romer, Hall Jamieson, and Aday (2003) found that local news coverage increased fear of crime in Philadelphia. The authors surmised that cultivation theory is one explanation. Television news media have economic incentives to show violent stories. The outlets keep their focus on crime because other interest...
While those who feel that Joe’s situation has a greater impact than Tom’s, the opposite opponent would have the same opinion that our murder rate needs to decrease. However, just because a person did not lay hands on the victim, it does not excuse them from the consequences. The benefit of the dilemma is that the news is open to the public and murderers are getting off of the streets and creating a more workable society. By this being said, it is a step closer to a safe rule-following
While the bodies pile up in what we call our Nation's Backyard, the rest of the country chooses to deny the facts and to remain blind to the truth. The gruesome statistics, and tales of violence in "The Murder of Thirty of My Neighbors" by Jim Myers has the ability to force just about anyone into understanding the severity of the situation the residents of service area 109, also known as eastern Capitol Hill, are facing. It isn't often that people see or hear about this violent world, partly because they would rather not deal with it and also because the politicians who have the power to do something about it are the ones helping to keep the rest of society ignorant. That is why it is important for someone like Myers to step in and invade the serenity of these ignorant lives and prove that violence and murder are the reality for many people living in America. Myers speaks of the cold-blooded murders, drive-by shootings, robberies, and hate infested streets he sees every day in the place he calls home. He uses these violent facts, blunt statements, and sometimes even sarcasm to convey the seriousness of this matter as well as the reality he and his neighbors have come to accept as normal.