CRIM 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Funhouse, Funhouse, Road Rage
28 May 2016
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Chapter 3: the funhouse mirror: media representations of crime and justice. Most common form of violent crime is murder. Murderers who are intelligent plan their crimes meticulously. Victims who do not know their killers are usually: young, affluent, caucasian, female. Violent crimes do occur, but not that often, especially compared to non violent property crimes. But most are due to spontaneous acts committed by people under drugs, alcohol or rage. Most victims come from other demographic and socio economic groups then those listen above. Some people charged with murder are acquitted but most are convicted. All defendants convicted with murder receive a life sentence. Prisoners serving a life sentence for murder spend more time in prison than people convicted of murder in other western nations. Media is a funhouse mirror that accentuates certain aspects of the world at the expense of others. A crime must meet a threshold of significance and violent crimes are most likely to meet that threshold.
