Media's Tough-On-Crime Approach

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Media is an essential element to everyday society and acts as a bridge between societal views and the criminal justice system. Media plays an essential role in influencing the legal, political and social discourse of society by presenting crime in specific ways. The continued focus on violent crimes in the media and the affect it is having on society creates a sense of heightened risk in individuals lives and alters their perception of reality (Callanan 2012). The result of this push is for a ‘tough-on-crime’ approach in which the police force, as the first point of contact in the criminal justice system is expected to carry out (Callanan 2012). This creates a severe problem in society as media coverage often disproportionately presents minorities …show more content…

Ultimately, creating a push for a ‘tough-on-crime’ approach instinctively influences police culture and police suspicions which rather than acting as a deterrent for offenders, creating a system which oppresses certain members of society. This means that strain of a ‘tough-on-crime’ approach can lead to unwarranted police intervention and targeting of minorities which does not correspond with deviant behaviour or repeat offenders. Therefore, the increase and push for severity of punishments for street crimes (most often covered my media) has no effect on the deterrence of crime and threatens to strain police relations with community. Media is an essential part of everyday society however, the push for a ‘tough-on-crime’ policy which is enforced through the police force ultimately acts as a burden on society rather than acting as a deterrent. The police force is the first point of contact in the criminal justice system and increasing the severity of punishment due to media pressure acts as a barrier to monitoring and preventing crime rather than solving

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