The problem of the crime in the U.S has historically been misstated and exaggerated by bureaucrats and politicians whereby the intentions behind these overstatements vary within each context but a common thread emerges upon closer examination (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993).
As in any capitalist society, money and material possession are the key driving force that that moves the society and people.
The media never has been and probably never will be an accurate source for criminology or criminal analysis (Gaines& Miller, 2008). The startling media description of crime is almost always exaggerated and biased toward violent crimes. From newspapers to television the crimes that get the most coverage and attention are homicides and aggravated assaults, however, in actuality ninety percent of all crimes are property crimes and less than one percent is homicides (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993). The media also is interested in reporting crime clocks based on aggregate statistics. This is illustrated by popular and catchy lines such as a murder occurs every twenty seven minutes, a robbery every sixty seconds which are very misleading yet are used regularly (Matthews, 1994). These crime clocks show no reference to a ratio between crimes being committed and the people affected (Matthews, 1994).
Moreover, the motives behind depiction of crime by the media vary, but money can be found at the source (Gaines& Miller, 2008). Media stations do not want to report regular and usually petty crimes because they are boring and monotonous. Individuals do not purchase boring and monotonous newspapers and thereby in order to increase circulation and ultimately revenues, editors choose to emphasize and embellish violent crimes (Gaines& Miller, 2008). This intentional bias towards violent crimes, even though they represent a very small fraction of all crimes creates a sense of apprehension and concern in law-abiding citizens (Matthews, 1994).
Television is also responsible for exaggerating crime and over emphasizing its focal point on violent crimes; while newspapers can only offer writing and limited photographs of crime, television can take the next step in showing the crime and criminals (Gaines& Miller, 2008). Individuals throughout the country get to see criminals actually breaking the law on TV.
Given that most of the scenes shown are of violent crimes individuals create a violent and evil image of all criminals while in reality the most of police work is mundane, the show attempts to glamorize crime fighting (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993). These producers do not mind about how they are depicting crime or its consequences; they are just concerned about television ratings.
By constantly and disproportionately reporting violent crimes, the media influence the general public into thinking there is a bad crime problem (Matthews, 1994). The media provides various criminal fallacies and that strongly influences the public’s opinion on crime. It can be argued that by creating a distinction, people tend to believe they are not capable of committing violent crimes and that criminals are inherently evil and different from the rest of society (Matthews, 1994). And contrary to popular perception, the expansion of the U.S. prison and jail populations are not the direct result of a worsening or an exceptionally bad crime problem…rates of violent and property crime have been in decline (Matthews, 1994).
The fact that in majority of crimes what individuals hear and see in the news are violent and heinous, they tend assume that there is a crime problem and that something must be done to stop it. Law enforcement agencies have a direct interest in the reporting of crimes and crime rates. If they report that crime is on the decline, then people will feel more secure and satisfied with law enforcement but funding will be decreased (Gaines& Miller, 2008). Conversely if they report that crime is increasing, and make the public feel at risk, an increase in funding will occur and be justified (Gaines& Miller, 2008).
Individualistic theories of crime serve to contribute support to the image of the bad crime problem and encourage punitive crime control policies (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993).The rational choice theory defines human behavior through the two principles that humans act in order to maximize pleasure and minimize pain (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993). This very Hedonistic theory facilitates the creation of punitive polices because it creates a need to harshly punish self-indulgent crimes (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993).
So as to prevent crime based on the rational choice theory, policymakers have shaped policy around preventative measures. The foundation of preventive policy is based on controlling the physical environment (Matthews, 1994). Even though these policies are effective in curtailing crime in their particular contexts, measures which increase the difficulties of a particular crime will merely result in criminal activity being ‘displaced’ (Matthews, 1994).
. To counter the supposed pressing crime problem, bureaucrats and politicians alike have adopted a very punitive system of crime control (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993). They claim that, the people of this country are fed up with crime and that the people are the ones demanding better crime control. A recent research effort showed that crime was the most pressing problem in public opinion (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993). In reality during this same time period the crime rate has been decreasing annually which does not justify the tremendous rise in government spending that has been allocated to the criminal justice system (Schwendiger & Schwendiger, 1993).
This goes to show that public opinion does not necessarily mimic or reflect the true reality of the situation and can be easily shaped and molded by forces such as media and politicians (Matthews, 1994). More responsibility must be taken by the media in reporting statistics and crime because of their influence on public opinion. Overall, when influential leaders make statements based on the opinion of the masses instead of facts, the false crime problem is further worsened (Matthews, 1994)
References
Gaines, L. and Miller, R. (2008). Criminal Justice in Action – The Core. (4th ed.) Belmont CA: Wadsworth/Thompson.
Schwendiger & Schwendiger (1993), Giving crime prevention top priority’, Crime and Delinquency 39 (4).
R Matthews (1994) Crime prevention, disorder and victimization: some recent western experiences’, International Journal of the Sociology of Law 22, pp 87101.