Mass Communications and Crime Prevention - What the Experts Think - Report 2 (From Mass Communication Strategy for Generating Citizen Action Against Crime - See NCJ-86573)

• NCJ Number: 86575
• Author(s): H Mendelsohn
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 34 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0105
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: University of Denver
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Bibliography
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-86575

Annotation

This report presents findings from interviews with 53 crime prevention experts which solicited views on bibliographic materials and effective aspects of media crime prevention campaigns.

Abstract

Of the 53 experts surveyed, 10 were mass communications experts, 24 were both mass communications and crime prevention experts, and 19 were crime prevention experts. There was no consensus among the experts about the components that should be part of effective crime prevention mass communications. There was some degree of agreement on the following: (1) that all the media comprising the mass communications spectrum should be used in crime prevention efforts; (2) that some degree of public awareness can be created through the media regarding property crime, rape, and the realities of local crime situations; and (3) that the media can be used to stimulate neighborhood crime prevention actions through block watches. For the most part, however, the experts appear to be as perplexed as everyone else about the steps to take in producing effective crime prevention mass communications. Bibliographic citations offered by the respondents are appended, and the information/opinion data are presented in tabular form. (Author summary modified)