Week 2: Perceiving crime – Measuring and reporting on crime

Question 1

Crime news value: Threshold

Answer 1

Events have to meet a certain level of perceived importance or drama in order to be considered newsworthy. For example, a single rape might make it into the local newspaper, but a serial rapist might become a national story.

Question 2

Crime news value: Predictability

Answer 2

If an event is rare, extraordinary or unexpected, it will be considered more newsworthy. Equally, if a story is predictable, it may also be deemed newsworthy as media organisations can plan their coverage in advance and deploy their resources accordingly.

Question 3

Crime news value: Risk

Answer 3

Crime becomes newsworthy when it can be presented as serious, random and unpredictable enough so that we’re all at risk of becoming victims, and we all have something to fear.

Question 4

Crime news value: Sex

Answer 4

One of the most salient news values especially in the tabloid press, but also in the broadsheets and other media. Sex and violence are interlinked themes that powerfully combine to illustrate the value of risk.

Question 5

Crime news value: Celebrity

Answer 5

The obsession with celebrities is evident in the media and a story with a criminal element with a well-known name attached to it will more likely be deemed newsworthy.

Question 6

Crime news value: Proximity

Answer 6

Proximity has both spatial and cultural dynamics. Spatial proximity refers to the geographical ‘nearness’ of an event, while cultural proximity refers to the ‘relevance’ of an event to an audience.

Question 7

Crime news value: Violence or conflict

Answer 7

This is the news value that is arguably the most common to all media. Violence fulfils the media’s desire to present dramatic events is the most graphically possible way.

Question 8

Crime news value: Visual spectacle or graphic imagery

Answer 8

Events, particularly CCTV or mobile phone footage are more newsworthy as they enable the media to provide a visual and dramatic impact for audiences.

Question 9

Crime news value: Children

Answer 9

Any offence, particularly those that deviate from the moral consensus, are made newsworthy if children are involved. Since the 1990s, children who commit crime have also become newsworthy, especially when the act is of a violent or serious nature.

Question 10

Crime news value: Simplification

Answer 10

Events that are easily understood and not too complicated, without the need for lots of background information and detail are often deemed newsworthy.

Question 11

Crime news value: Individualism

Answer 11

This news value connects simplification and risk. The media engage in a process of personalisation in order to simplify stories and give them a ‘human interest’ appeal.

Question 12

Are the following crimes * over represented crimes or * under represented crimes?

Celebrity crimes
Crimes involving children or young people
Crimes involving police
Violent crimes (committed by strangers)
Crimes that have been visually recorded (CCTV)
Sex crimes (committed by strangers)

Answer 12

Over represented crimes

Question 13

Are the following crimes * over represented crimes or * under represented crimes?

Cyber crime 
Domestic violence
Environmental crimes
Crimes against undeserving victims (eg, drug dealers or the homeless)
Crime not deemed 'street crime'
White collar crimes

Answer 13

Under represented

Question 14

What is White Collar crime?

Answer 14

Financially motivated, non violent, committed by individuals, governments and businesses.

Question 15

Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Ideal victim

Answer 15

Ideal victims are those who share characteristics that generate maximum sympathy. The victim is afforded the public label of being a worthy victim.

Characteristics of an ideal victim include extremes of age (young child or elderly), ethnic or racial majority, presentable, articulate, photogenic or resisted the offender.

Question 16

Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Signal crimes

Answer 16

Signal crimes generate strong collective emotions—particularly fear and outrage. These types of crimes tap into the more broadly held public concerns and tensions (e.g. sexual assault, immigration, drug use, religion).

Signal crimes result in extensive and continuing media interest in related issues and offences. This type of crime usually reconfigure social thinking and practices.

Question 17

Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Moral panic

Answer 17

Moral panic occurs when a perceived threat to social order is identified or misidentified. Key elements to moral panic include the following:

Concern over certain kinds of people and behaviour.
Hostility towards group identified as responsible.
Consensus, substantial or widespread, that something ‘must be done’.
Disproportionate response concerning the actual level of threat.

Question 18

Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Misguided response

Answer 18

Moral panics are driven by the media, exploited by moral entrepreneurs, particularly politicians and often culminate in disproportionate and reactionary policy making. This is particularly evident when informed by erroneous or misleading media representations.

Question 19

Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: ‘Soft’ judges

Answer 19

Sentencing magistrates are often referred to as ‘out of touch’ by the media, which leads to public demands for tougher penalties and mandatory sentencing.

However, it is important to note that members of public are more likely to agree with a sentence with more knowledge about the circumstances of the offence.

Question 20

Statistical information is recorded at all stages of the criminal justice system. What are the these three C’s…?

Answer 20

Cops, courts and corrections

Question 21

Official crime statistics are analysed and published by a range of government agencies, including:

Answer 21

Crime Statistics Agency Victoria
Australian Institute of Criminology
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) National Crime and Justice Statistical Centre
New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics (BOCSAR)
Western Australia Crime Research Centre
South Australia Office of Crime Statistics.

Question 22

People measure crime in order to answer a variety of questions, including:

Answer 22

How good or bad are current levels of crime?
What are the risks?
Is crime getting better or worse?
Is the criminal justice system working effectively?
Are specific policies working?
Do we need to do more?
What areas need more attention?

Question 23

Things to keep in mind when looking at crime statistics:

Answer 23

Take note of the rates of crime rather than absolute numbers of crime.

Examine the prevalence on how common an offence is to begin with. Remember that if an offense is not common, small variations can have a disproportionate impact.

Be wary of the time period of when the statistics were recorded. The longer the time period being examined will usually result in more accurate statistics.

Question 24

Factors that influence crime statistics/ Changes to the criminal justice system:

Answer 24

Examples:

introduction of new laws
recording practices of the police—only certain offences will be recorded based on the thresholds of threat and evidence
policing strategies that involve blitzes (e.g. drink driving) or targeted offences (e.g. drug usage)
improvements in crime detection technology used by law enforcement agencies.

Question 25

Factors that influence crime statistics/ Social factors:

Answer 25

Shifts in public priorities or sensitivity towards particular crimes
increased media reporting on particular crimes
public awareness campaigns (e.g. women’s safety)
high profile or signal crimes
attitudes towards police in terms of increasing or decreasing public trust.

Question 26

Factors that influence crime statistics/ Dark figure crime:

Answer 26

Hidden crimes which are experienced by the public but not reported to police and therefore not recorded in official crime statistics.

Question 27

Factors that influence crime statistics/ Non reporting of crime:

Answer 27

minor or inconsequential crimes that are not recorded by police
victim shame or embarrassment that leads to non-reporting the offence
victim does not report crime as they don’t wish for the offender to be punished
victim fears reprisal if they report the offence
victim has lack of faith in the police or justice system
victim has a fear of the police
victim is also involved in criminal behaviour.

Question 28

The misuse of crime statistics/

Answer 28

Unfortunately crime statistics are often skewed and misrepresented not only by the media, but also by politicians and law enforcement agencies. The statistics provided are often a less accurate interpretation of crime because they are misrepresented, decontextualised, and fictionalised.

Patrick (2011) noted that law enforcement agencies often misrepresent crime figures by:

cuffing: reclassifying or downgrading offences
nodding: getting offenders to admit to crimes they have not committed
skewing: tackling measurable and easy-to-solve crimes
stitching: proceeding with a charge despite lack of evidence.