NCJ Number
218895
Date Published
2007
Length
537 pages
Annotation
This book critiques two "crime-appeal" television programs (programs that profile real criminal cases) in terms of their impact on audiences' views of crime.
Abstract
Critiques of Aktenzeichen XY...ungelost, a "crime-appeal" program in Germany, and Crimewatch UK, a similar program in the United Kingdom, show that they foster a punitive criminal justice policy, select rare random violent crimes while ignoring other types of crime, and tend to portray crimes that have been committed by Blacks and foreign-born offenders. The programs ignore the more prevalent property crimes, white-collar crimes, and acquaintance and domestic crimes. The programs also tend to exaggerate the victimization rates of the most vulnerable parts of the population, such as women, children, and the elderly. Offenders are portrayed as "evil" and abnormal without reference to the social and structural causes of criminal behavior and deviance. The programs' producers are less interested in presenting an objective and balanced view of real crime than they are in feeding the public's appetite for real-life drama and extreme tragedy that pits good (the police, victims, and viewing audience) against evil (people who aren't like the rest of us). The research underlying this book was based on coded observations of programming; documentation of the history, selection, and production of programming; and analysis of viewers' incentives for watching the programs. 18 tables and 590 references