Courses :: Module, MEDIA, CULTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF CRIME

	Overview
	This module will explore the relationship between crime, criminal justice, media and culture. Specifically, we will analyse the ways in which the media construct and frame the problem of crime, and the consequences which flow from such framing. In particular, the focus will be on identifying the key forces involved in shaping whether an issue gets defined as �a crime� in the first place, how it gets defined or framed, and the factors influencing that process. Media spaces � including television, cinema, print media and social media � provide important discursive and visual interpretative grids, lenses and prompts through which people make sense of their everyday experiences but these resources are rarely put forward in a neutral or innocent way. Discourses involves both the written/spoken word and visual representations which work together to produce an �interpretative package� (Gamson & Modigliani 1989). There will be a strong focus on media literacy so that students develop the capacity to evaluate media sources, to recognise bias, to compare levels of reported crime with actual recorded crime and to critically deconstruct prevalent constructions of crime.

Overview

This module will explore the relationship between crime, criminal justice, media and culture. Specifically, we will analyse the ways in which the media construct and frame the problem of crime, and the consequences which flow from such framing. In particular, the focus will be on identifying the key forces involved in shaping whether an issue gets defined as �a crime� in the first place, how it gets defined or framed, and the factors influencing that process. Media spaces � including television, cinema, print media and social media � provide important discursive and visual interpretative grids, lenses and prompts through which people make sense of their everyday experiences but these resources are rarely put forward in a neutral or innocent way. Discourses involves both the written/spoken word and visual representations which work together to produce an �interpretative package� (Gamson & Modigliani 1989). There will be a strong focus on media literacy so that students develop the capacity to evaluate media sources, to recognise bias, to compare levels of reported crime with actual recorded crime and to critically deconstruct prevalent constructions of crime.

	Learning Outcomes
	On successful completion of the module, students should be able to: Detail and evaluate the major theories and key concepts used by social scientists to analyse the construction and representation of crime across media platforms. Critically assess the contribution of social scientific analyses to an understanding of how the media characterised and represents crime. Evaluate different kinds of interpretative schemata for �reading� media messages about crime. Demonstrate how media literacy enhances capacity to distinguish between the framing of crime in the media and the prevalence and nature of crime in society. Develop an independent and critical perspective on the social scientific analysis of the relationship between crime, culture and the media.

Learning Outcomes

	Autumn Supplementals/Resits
	Are supplemental/resit registrations permitted? Yes Where applicable, Autumn resit students may submit continuous assessment work by a date before the Autumn examination, which will be specified by the department. Students are responsible for familiarising themselves with this deadline. No continuous assessment work will be accepted after this date. If students do not submit by the deadline, the existing continuous assessment mark will be carried forward to the Autumn. University scheduled written examination (Autumn): 60 minutes, On-campus

Autumn Supplementals/Resits

	Additional Reading
	Breen M.J., (2004).'Through the Looking Glass: How the mass media represent, reflect and refract sexual crime in Ireland', Irish Communications Review. Vol.10. E. Carrabine, Crime , Culture and the Media Polity Press, 2008 Cohen, S. Folk Devils and moral panics. 1972. Brian Conway, Mary P. Corcoran and Lynne M. Cahill 2012. �The �miracle� of Fatima: media framing and the regeneration of a Dublin housing estate�, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism., 13 (6) pps. 551-571 Corcoran, Mary P. �The political preferences and value orientations of Irish journalists� in Irish Journal of Sociology, Special Issue on the Media, Vol.13, No, 2, 2004. pp 23-42. Crime, Media, Culture: International Journal (various editions) Devereux, Eoin. 2014. Understanding the media. 3rd edition. London: Sage. Devereux, Eoin et al. 2012. Tarring everyone with the same shorthand? Journalists, stigmatization and social exclusion, Journalism: Theory, practice and criticism, 13, (4) pps. 500-517 Dreier, Peter (2005) �How the Media Compound Urban Problems�, Journal of Urban Affairs, 27(2): 193-201. Ferrell, J. et al. Cultural Criminology: An invitation Gamson, William A. and Modigliani, Andre (1989) �Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach�, American Journal ofSociology 95(1): 1-27. Gamson, William A., Croteau, David, Hoynes, William and Sasson, Theodore (1992)�Media Images and the Social Construction of Reality�, Annual Review ofSociology 18: 373-393. Goffman, Erving (1990) Stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Ciaran McCullagh (2014) 'From Offenders to Scumbags; changing understandings of crime and criminals in contemporary Ireland'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 22 (1):8-27 Sacco, Vincent F. (1995) �Media Constructions of Crime�, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 539: 141-154.

Additional Reading

Search form

Courses / Module

MEDIA, CULTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF CRIME

Semester 1

Semester 2