Introduction
It is possible for individuals to get information on crime and criminal justice from various platforms, yet the media has proved to be the most important and accessible platform from which individuals get this kind of information. Most of the information on crime and criminal justice is socially constructed, meaning that human ideologies about it play a significant role in the way crime issues are addressed. Lack of objectivity is highly likely to hinder individuals from getting to know the truth, meaning that most individuals are prone to believe personal biases created in their social contexts. Research shows that most of the information presented on the media platforms is subject to scrutiny by corporations and politicians who decide what is presented and what is not even where it means, causing the information to lose its objectivity. While media is an important part of providing information on crime and justice to the people, there is a need for major reforms if all individuals who rely on it for information expect to get objective information.
Crime as a Social Construct
Every society has social constructions that determine what is good or what is unacceptable within its context. In that light, then, crime is socially constructed. All social constructions are generally known in society, but the media has the power to dictate which ones get coverage and which ones do not. It happens through the construction of frames through the media used to categorize a crime. These frames are such as the social breakdown frame that focuses on the issues of the community or family that may propel acts of crime (Robinson, 2011). There is also the blocked opportunities frame that focuses on occurrences such as inequality and poverty that are seen to be a hindrance to opportunities for some individuals. The violent media frame focuses on negative news that may trigger acts of crime, and finally, there is the racist system that drives the notion that members of color are unfairly targeted (McGregor, 2017). Through these frames, greater divisions are seen among the liberals and the conservatives, with the two groups taking different sides on what they believe to be the causes of crimes.
Within the society settings, individuals have also come up with narratives that they use to describe crimes, criminals, and victims. It is the reason that when a crime is mentioned, individuals get several images and perspectives in their minds. The images come from what they have heard of or interacted with within their own social settings. The deal offender is referred to an individual whose case is desperate in that not even rehabilitation can help them change their behavior (Robinson, 2011). There is also an ideal victim who is seen as weak in most cases and in need of assistance to make sure no crimes are committed against them by the offenders. From the ideal offender and ideal victim comes the narrative of an ideal hero who is seen to be an individual bold enough to speak against acts of crime. Additionally, there are narratives of individuals who have preexisting conditions that cause them to hurt others without being empathetic, victims who do not do anything to warrant having acts of crime committed against them, and those who actively engage in fighting acts of crime by all means (Kort-Butler & Habecker, 2018).
Unfortunately, these acts of crime are supportive of the political ideologies used by the conservatives. They are also commonly used among the media causing the media to turn out to have some form of conservative bias (Baranauskas & Drakulich, 2018). As a result, the media covers acts of crime subjectively using the narratives, leaving no room for objectivity. Ideally, at no one point can a victim of crime be considered totally innocent in terms of contributing to the acts of crime (Robinson, 2011). Through objectivity, the character of a hero is also likely to be eliminated since, in most instances, individuals fighting against crime do not do so for free but instead do so because it is part of their job. Evidently, through these narratives, it is clear that it is so easy for the media to cause a situation that was a mere incidence to be blown out of proportion.
Information also goes through a process referred to as linkage through the social construction process. At this stage, available information is highly likely to be associated with a group considered vulnerable using certain aspects. The best example is the association of Muslims with terrorism, even though it is so evident that a very small number of them are actually involved in terrorism (Roberts & Stalans, 2018). It is, however, difficult to convince many people otherwise since that is what most individuals have been made to believe for the longest time. In the final stage of social construction, new laws are created and made known to the people through social media (Robinson, 2011). Laws emphasize what is the new acceptable and dictate what will happen to individuals who will go against the new rules. That way, the old rules could be nullified, and the new ones become part of society’s social construct.
Through the social construction of crime, it becomes easy to experience moral panic. It involves viewing a problem differently from what it exactly is due to the exaggeration by the media, eventually causing society to feel the need to change the rules and regulations that are already in place. It leads to a cyclic process where society comes up with new definitions of what crime is following policy changes. Change in policies involves a process where the government gathers support from the citizens in reference to a certain crime through the media (Robinson, 2011). To make it seem worse and an urgent issue, it is connected to other social evils within the society, making citizens treat it as an issue that needs to be addressed urgently. The existence of certain myths within the society magnifies it even further through typification, finally causing the citizens to agree to the change in policies. Researchers have noted that most of these changes are not important and are done to allow politicians to have some form of political advantage. In most instances, they are also used to divert attention from more critical problems within a country.
Other Sources of Information
Social media is clearly not the only source of information on crime and criminal justice; however, it remains the most used today though it mainly presents information subjectively. One of the other ways an individual can get to learn about crime and justice is through personal experience. It refers to having an individual as a victim of crime and or having them seek justice for the crimes committed against them (Robinson, 2011). It is more of an unintentional process than it is intentional. Information may also be outsourced through groups and institutions. In some occurrences, certain institutions such as schools or groups against certain crimes are highly likely to address these issues by creating awareness among their stakeholders. Significant others such as relatives or spouses also play the role by enlightening each other on issues concerning crime and justice, especially while the individuals involved are experts in these fields.
Media as the Most Important Source of Information
Several analyses have shown that the media happens to be the most important source of information since it is the means that is easily accessible to most individuals. Unfortunately, the media has been proved to be more subjective than objective over the years. Certain changes need to be done for the media to serve its important role objectively. Media houses need to seek to practice neutrality. That means that they do away with giving their personal opinions that cause personal bias by avoiding all manner of interpretive claims (Robinson, 2011). While neutrality is difficult to exercise since individuals are prone to personal bias, it could be taken care of by bringing in some balance. That means that individuals in the media take time to look at all sides of a story and give the details to the public without tending towards any side. It is one of the best ways the media can withdraw their support from any beliefs and myths on a topic, helping them to be neutral.
Since the media is an important source of information on crime and justice, it also needs to work on its reliability. That means putting an end to relying on the government for information but instead carrying out research or using expert reports. It has also been found that descriptive and simple language helps the journalist be objective by helping them not to include their emotions in writing (Robinson, 2011). It is unfortunate that large corporations dictate what kind of information they want to appear, how it appears, and how it is marketed to the people. It is one of the factors that have been messing up with the objectivity that some journalists attempt to show and, in the end, cause the source of information that is heavily relied on to become unreliable. Individuals hence are advised to be wary of biases as they consume information made available to them through the media (Baranauskas & Drakulich 2018).
Conclusion
Media is an important source of information on crime and justice since it is one of the platforms that individuals heavily rely on. Its importance, however, is subject to questioning since media platforms have become largely subjective since they are run in ways that particular groups have authority over what the people should know, when, and even how they get to know it. That way, its reliability has significantly reduced the probability of having so many individuals feeding on the wrong kind of information while what matters most to them and needs to be addressed urgently goes unmentioned. Media has also played a huge part in causing individuals to have some social constructs on the kinds of crime that exists in society through improper categorization. A lot needs to be done to ensure that only facts that can be proven are presented on media platforms and that issues that should be of more concern in society are prioritized.
References
Baranauskas, A. J., & Drakulich, K. M. (2018). Media construction of crime revisited: Media types, consumer contexts, and frames of crime and justice. Criminology, 56(4), 679-714.
Kort-Butler, L. A., & Habecker, P. (2018). Framing and cultivating the story of crime: The effects of media use, victimization, and social networks on attitudes about crime. Criminal Justice Review, 43(2), 127-146.
McGregor, J. (2017). Crime, news, and the media. In The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand criminology, crime and justice (pp. 81-94). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Roberts, J. V., & Stalans, L. J. (2018). Public opinion, crime, and criminal justice. Routledge.
Robinson, M. B. (2011). Media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
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