7078 research outputs found
Sort by
Violent Crime And Media Coverage In One City: A Statistical Snapshot
Get PDFMany commentators have argued that high levels of public fear and anger regarding violent crime result, at least in part, from distorted coverage of crime in the news media. Among other distortions, it is said that the news media devote greatly disproportionate coverage to the most outrageous instances of violent crime, and that the media fail to provide information that would helpfully contextualize the offenses or humanize the perpetrators. In order to test these latter claims, crime stories from a daily newspaper and an Internet news site in one mid-sized city were collected for one year. As expected, in comparison with actual crime rates, the news sources disproportionately covered violent crime, and, within the violent-crime category, disproportionately covered homicides. Homicides accounted for 61% of the coverage in one news source, and 27% in the other. Also as expected, the news sources only infrequently supplied contextualizing/humanizing information. However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent such patterns in news coverage affect public attitudes toward crime and punishment
Legal Responses To Violent Crime: Does Research Support Alternatives To Long-Term Incarceration?
Get PDF
Reducing Recidivism In Serious And Violent Youthful Offenders: Fact, Fiction, And A Path Forward
Get PDFSince the 1990s, there has been a fear of the serious and violent juvenile offender and the alleged menace they pose to society. In this Article, we begin with some truths about the serious and violent juvenile offender to correct the widespread myths and propaganda that have led to some ill-advised policies. We then define the problem, using research to show how these youth can be identified, even before the onset of their serious offending. We then proceed beyond this fear and offer examples of multiple evidence-based programs that work to guide these youth to regain their future and become productive adults. We do not limit our suggestions to only those youth already engaged in these behaviors but also discuss the importance of early identification of youth on pathways to trouble and thus address prevention as well as rehabilitation. We end with several key messages that we hope will move the field forward as we strive to expand society’s protective systems to beneficently include these youth who are also in need of help and protection