Description
An important part of a course on Media and Crime is to consider what media focus their attention on relative to what goes uncovered and receives little to no attention from politicians and the mass media.
In the video lecture from Dr. Matt Robinson he implies that the concept of “harm” is an important consideration as society defines “crime.”
He cites several examples where an outcome is harmful to a human and to society but may or may not be defined as “crime.” Further, even though a behavior may be defined as crime, it is a truism that some crime is punished to a greater extent than other crimes. This gap in punishment between crimes can be written into the statutory law, or it can result from judicial discretion at the point of the sentence.
Many suggest that we do not effectively assess harm and use it as a guide for punishing those who offend. Rather, we react to social conditions, political agendas, the concerns of social interest groups, and mass media presentations of specific crimes or crime issues to inform us in our views of seriousness.
In a second video lecture, Attorney Emily Baxter notes that the level of “criminal” is not uniformly applied to all persons. She asserts that the power of the criminal justice system is disproportionately applied to the poor and minority groups, even though many if not most of us have committed a crime. She argues that due to the disperate focus of criminal justice on the poor and minority groups this has the effect of creating differences in groups levels of prior criminal convictions. In essence, the use of criminal history as an indicator of crime is a social construct.
Critically assess these claims. Is it a straightforward endeavor to evaluate harm in defining “crime”? Are there difficulties? If so, what are they? How would you approach harm to inform your opinion on what behaviors are most serious and less serious?
Does the existing social and economic structure of the United States play into the notion that crime is a social construct?
P.S.;
Important links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkpzNxVUfkM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PUxJazSTKw&feature=youtu.be
Sample Solution