The Second Chapter Of ÂŤ Crime And American Dream

Crime is often described as socially constructed, which influences our understanding of who commits a crime. Firstly, labelling theorists argue that crime is a social construction based on the powerful’s reaction to certain behaviour, those who are deviant are people that have been labelled as such. Marxists claim the bourgeoise construct crime in order to criminalise the proletariat, get away with their own deviance and maintain their own dominance. Neo-marxists look at how moral panics create a social construction of crime and can criminalise certain groups. Finally, feminists, argue crime is constructed in a patriarchal way and that the criminal justice system is harsher to female offenders. Whereas others criticise these theories for

This essay is going to discuss the causes of crime and evaluate the theories of criminalisation using one theory for each of the following themes. The themes are labelling and deviant identity of criminalisation, theory of delinquency and criminalisation, theory of political economy and criminalisation, and finally radical theory of criminalisation. This essay will also show some of the weaknesses of each of the theories used for these themes.

Television executive Lauren Zalaznick, gave a presentation called “The conscience of television” for TED Talk which she discussed past five decades of the highest standing shows on air. Zalaznick runs studies which go to great lengths on how the topics of television shows changed from decade to decade and how viewers changed the reason of watching based on what was happening in the world. Television’s conscious effects our emotions, challenges our values, and influences our views on the world by what we choice to watch.

Pop culture media, like Law and Order, has a way of showing people how crime is portrayed. Case (2013), mentions that past studies about the representation of crime in the media has increasingly shown fear to the public and portraying unrealistic standards of how crime is in the real world. Media likes to exaggerate how things truly are in the real world, which is why people believe what the media portrays. People will believe that everything they see in a television show can truly happen in the real world, which certain things can happen but not everything. If people end up believing in how the media portrays crime then people will be living in fear of their society being more violent than it actually is (Case, 2013).

Crime is the product of the social structure; it is embedded in the very fibres of society. In this essay, I aim to explore different theories as to why crime exists within society and how we as a society therefore construct it. Crime is a social construct; it is always in society and is on the increase. It is inevitable. Where does it come from? It comes from legislation, from the making of laws.

There has long been a debate over which, if any, are the most effective methods of crime control. Governments from bottom to top in our nation have poured over the issue with mixed results for as long as there has been a nation. Until very recently deterrence was completely based on fear of punishment. However, recent years have provided us with a more complete understanding of crime and its roots among the more desirable parts of our society, specifically the mind of a criminal. Through the study of psychology, specifically free will, determinism and social identity, we may find that situational crime prevention is a better means to deter crime in our nation.

The viewers are positioned in the group of people who are educated by crime knowledge. Television helps viewers to shape the way that they understand the world. They were educated to understand the social world and to recognize of right and wrong. The show warns the audience that the crime happens anytime any place. However, Even though the world contains crime and violence, people would not be hopeless because the police as a moral authority and they are the embodiment of justice.

In reference to the media’s role, they have been highlighted for playing a part in maintaining these views by portraying victims in a certain way according to the newsworthiness of each story

Crime is a social construction, and behaviour defined as criminal varies across time and place. Crime is an act that violate moral behaviour, but why is that not all behaviours that violate moral behaviour are labelled as crime? This is because crime is defined differently across different societies and different times. Neutralisation and drift theory helps us to explain why people abuse children by showing us how perpetrators rationalise their guilt for these actions before they physically, sexually, emotionally abuse or neglect children. They do this by blaming their actions on other people, higher forces or believing their acts are harmless. In this essay I will begin by talking about crime as a social construction then touch on child abuse in New Zealand followed by a discussion of how my social contract theory helps us to explain this crime.

ideas on what exactly crime is, how it is represented by the media, and how

a. Imagine asking 100 strangers to describe a criminal. Predict whether those descriptions would be likely to focus on street criminals, or the variety of topics covered in this video.

The public depends on the news media for its understanding of crime. Reportedly three quarters (76%) of the public say, they form their opinions about crime from what they see or read in the news (Dorfman & Schiraldi, 2001). After reviewing five hours of reality crime television shows, one is left with a very dismal look on society and a prejudice towards minorities as they are largely depicted as the perpetrators of crime. This new genre commonly referred to as reality television appears to be sweeping the nation by storm. Opinions vary, depending on whom you ask, to what extent reality plays a role versus the selling of a product. Sensationalism, advertising, ratings hype, profiling and fear all comprise the mass

Parole (early release from prison) is often referred to as the back door to the US corrections system. The concept of parole dates back to the establishment of the Elmira Reformatory. The goal of the Elmira Reformatory was to rehabilitate and reform the criminal instead of following the traditional method of silence, obedience, and labor. Parole was originally set up to encourage prisoners to do well, keep their noses clean, and become model prisoners. Once a prisoner had shown rehabilitation and reform they were released prior to the execution of their full sentence.

Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, since we live in a country where there is poverty, people living in the streets, or with people barely getting by, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is robbing food, money, or even hurting the people you love, your family. You will soon read about how being a criminal starts or even stops, where it begins, with whom it begins with and why crime seems to be the only way out sometimes for the poor.

Is the criminal justice system more effective as a method of bringing the guilty to justice or as a deterrent or a method of social control? It is unanimously agreed that the aim of the criminal justice system is to provide equal justice for all according to the law, by processing of cases impartially, fairly and efficiently with the minimum but necessary use of public resources. It is a complex process through which the state decides which particular forms of behaviour are to be considered unacceptable and then proceeds through a series of stages - arrest, charge, prosecute, trial sentence, appeal punishment -' in order to bring the guilty to justice' (Munice & Wilson, 2006 pIX) and is designed for a coherent administration