A Justice Site
Media, Crime and Criminal Justice Preparations
Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP - Archives
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: March 4, 2004
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
CRMJ 490-01: Media, Crime, and Criminal JusticeYou will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.* * * * * Week 8: Week of March 7, 2004
Topic: Media and Police
Preparatory Readings:
- Merlo and Benekos. What's wrong with the criminal justice system: Ideology, Politics and the Media. -- Chapter 2.
- Read "Law Enforcers: A Profile" which can be found on Ray Surette's website.
- Guest Lecturer tentatively scheduled for Friday, March 12th (if not, a documentary will be shown in class)
- Surette. Media, crime, and criminal justice. -- no chapter readings this week.
- Potter and Kappeler. Constructing crime. -- no chapter readings this week.
Lecture related links:
--- Sociology of Knowledge Files . --- Check out this link -- Ray Surette's website ( found by Bettie Poole).
Concepts to be covered:
- community policing
- SWAT
- racial profiling
- "techno cops"
Discussion Questions:
- Discuss why images of police and policing are distorted. What can be done to create more balanced views of police? (M&B:46)
- What are the consequences of viewing criminals as "evil enemies" of the war on crime? (M&B:46)
- Discuss why some observers are skeptical about community policing. What is the rhetoric versus the reality of this policing reform? What is your assessment of community-oriented policing? (M&B:47)
- Examine the media's role in portraying crime and police. Discuss the consequences of a "law and order" image on the public's expectations and understanding of the police. (M&B:47)
Suggested Creative Activities:
- Trace the origins and development of community policing. How effective is community policing in your city? Why.
- Watch a law enforcement related program (i.e, television program, movie) and relate it to this week's readings. Or, listen to a radio program focusing on crime and relate it to this week's readings.
- Select a law enforcement related television program, (i.e., "Cops," "NYPD Blue"). Find out how and why this particular program was created. How popular is this program? Why. Who are some of its competitors? Why.
- How are police and other law enforcement agencies depicted on television and/or (or on the silver screen)? Trace the changing images of police and policing. What accounts for the changing images? Why.
- How many different law enforcement related programs are currently broadcasted today? Which one is the most realistic depiction? Why.
Recommended Readings:
- Kenneth Bolton & Joe Feagin. Black in Blue [forthcoming]
- Aaron Doyle. Arresting Images: Crime and Policing in Front of the Television.
- Kenneth Meeks. Driving While Black .
- Gregg Barak. Media, process, and the social construction of crime: Studies in newsmaking criminology.
Media Sources:
Left/Right Perspectives - Cursor - New York Times
Arts and Letters Daily - The Economist - The Guardian
Wall Street Journal -The Weekly Standard - The Nation
Los Angeles Times - Chicago Tribune - The Washington Post
Cursor's Al Jazeera Archive - Ha'aretz - Palestine Monitor
Indymedia - BBC News - New Profile - Progressive Sociologists Network