Crime in the Media
Question 4
This week you will be creating the outline for your final.
For the final in this course, you will create a photographic essay to illustrate a social problem, summarize and discuss that social problem using sociological concepts and one sociological perspective, and research two different social movements devoted to solving or alleviating this social problem.
Your outline should include the following information:
Review the Photo Essays that are presented throughout your text. What photo essays are did you like and/or are considering modeling for your own Photo Essay?
Choose a social problem of interest and important to you.
Ideas you are thinking about for the creation of your own Photo Essay that illustrates the social problem.
You can use Microsoft Word and Google Images to copy and paste images into a word document.
Write a brief description of the social problem. What 4-6 social concepts are you going to highlight?
What perspective are you going to use (structural-functionalism, conflict, or symbolic interactionist)? How would this sociological perspective examine and explain the social problem?
Research two different organizations or social movement devoted to solving or alleviating this social problem. What two organizations are you going to use?
Question 5
Crime in the Media
Spend 1-2 days noting images of crime in the media on television and/or in movies. Watch the nightly news, television programs, movies, and read newspaper articles (online or in print). Keep a journal of what types of crimes are reported, discussed or shown, who are the perpetrators of the crime (gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class), who are the victims of the crime (gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class), and how is the crime handled by law enforcement. Note the overall message about crime in society that you receive from these images.
Go to the website for the Bureau of Justice Statistics at www.bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov. Click on the subheading, “Crime Type,” at the left side of the page. Read through the summaries for each crime type, noting major themes and trends.
Write a 500 word essay describing your findings from the media analysis and comparing these media images with the information you found on the website for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Be sure to discuss, differences between media images about crime and realities based on national statistics. What information from the website surprised you? What is your overall reaction about this information? Why do you think the media portrays crime as increasing, when national numbers show that violent crime has been decreasing since 1994?