Criminology Theories: Media
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There are five groups of criminological theories supported in media representations of crime and justice. The five theories are:
•Rational-choice theories: Crime is seen as being a free-will decision.
•Biological theories: A person is born to kill.
•Psychological theories: Crime is caused by defective mental or personality development.
•Sociological theories: Crime is caused by a criminal environment.
•Political theories: Crime is the result of inequity, oppression, and racism.
The media tends to reflect the theories popular at a given time. Based on your understanding of these theories, respond to the following:
•Analyze and explain which of these theories the media is most likely to use to spike their ratings or to bring in more money.
•Which of these theories can be seen in current films? Explain why it is used.
•Give an example of a current film and explain how you feel a theory is represented in the film.
•When more than one theory is present in a film, how are the theories incorporated?
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Solution Summary
This solution explains criminology theories represented in media. The sources used are also included in the solution.
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The media is most likely to use political theories to spike their ratings or bring in more money. When media uses theories of inequity, oppression, and racism, they sensationalize the crime. It makes the media report more sensational. The sensationalism is used to increase the rating points of the media. In addition, the political theories also support certain political viewpoints. This form of denationalization brings in more advertisements from firms that support the political viewpoint. The objective of the media is sensationalism or arousing strong emotional reaction in the audience. This is easily achieved if the media claims that the crime has resulted from inequity, oppression, and racism. For example, if a murder occurs and the media reports that since the killer was born to kill, he killed. This is not sensational, but if the media uses political theories and claim that the person was killed because of racism, there will be strong emotion raised by the report. ...
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