Media Influence On Crime Policy

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The role of the Media: Influence public attitudes and on crime policy.

There has always been a longstanding relationship between the media system and the criminal justice system. Nowadays, the public tends to follow criminal cases covered by the media and feel confident to make judgments about the guilt (Hough, 2005). (This essay will argue that) The role of media is a powerful influence on the criminal justice, It can impact the public attitudes towards crime, which then further alters the crime policy.

Throughout the media representation, crime occurs a lot within the media context. The most common issue is the in the misrepresentation of the mass media on crime. In the “Fictional Representation” of crime, crimes such as violence, drugs, …show more content…

The media representation attains shocking influences on the public's perception towards the idea of crime increasing at an alarming rate. According to Wolfer, the number of crimes is actually decreasing. However, despite the inaccurate media representation towards crime and justice. According to New Zealand context (2003), the public attitudes naturally overestimate the proportion of crime, which leads to an increased outcome of public’s anxiety and insecurity towards crime. This form of public attitude is known as the fear of crime. Mc Laughlin defines the fear of crime as a rational and irrational belief towards the fear of being victimized. For example, the misrepresentation of the media influences the public attitudes to think that they are more likely to be murdered instead of being robbed. Due to the role of the media influencing the public’s fear of crime, the public will protest and demand the changes in the law. The rise of public concern will then pressure the politicians to act and put a solution. This then creates a moral panic where certain acts or groups are seen as threats to the social order. Therefore, the role of the distorted media operates the public concern, which affects the crime policy in the criminal

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