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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: October 9, 2008
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ 385 Media, Crime, Criminal Justice

You will be held accountable for the readings and discussion questions listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

"Media, Crime, Criminal Justice" Cards

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Week 7: Week of October 12, 2008

Monday, October 13 - Friday, October 17th - First Meetings

Monday, October 20th at the beginning of class - Midterm Visual Projects (include your bibliography & self-assessment)

Topic: The Media and the Police

Preparatory Readings:



• Rafter . Shots in the Mirror. Chapter 4.
• Surette . Media, Crime and Criminal Justice . Chapter 4.
• Potter and Kappeler. Constructing Crime. - entirety.
• Documentary : "The End of the Night Stick" (to be shown in class)
  
  
• Metaphor and Theory. Read the Blind Men and the Elephant fable. Think about how this fable relates to the course.
• "theory, policy, practice"
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  

Lecture related links:



• Sociology of Knowledge Files
• Ray Surette's website
• Internet Movie Database




Concepts to be covered:



• War on Crime
• G-men
• "CSI effect"
• police reality programming
• citizen crime fighters
• ultraviolence
• good cop/bad cop
• "supercop"
• community policing
• SWAT
• racial profiling
• "techno cops"



Discussion Questions:




Note: Incorporate this week's documentary into your answers.

1. "There's more law at the end of the night stick than all the Supreme Court decisions." Why does the documentary, "End of the Night Stick" begin with this quote? How does this documentary relate to the police and the media?

2. Discuss the connection between the portrayal of guns, violence, and victims and the crime-fighting policies that are implied in these portrayals. (Surette, p. 114). Incorporate the Rafter readings into your answer.

3. Discuss some of the possible reasons that civilians are portrayed so often as successful crime fighters and the traditional police are portrayed as unsuccessful in the entertainment media. (Surette, p. 114) Provide examples from Shots in the Mirror .

4. What are the policy repercussions of the media portraying crime fighting as an individual battle between good and evil? Support for what types of policies is encouraged and discouraged by this portrait? (Surette, p. 114) Connect your answer with ther Rafter readings.




Self-Assessment Questions for each Visual Project:




1. List the names of the individuals in your group. What did you do exactly for this visual project? (If in a group, explain the division of labor and your individual contribution to this visual project).
2. Explain in depth, how your visual project specifically relates to "media, crime, criminal justice" (i.e., the readings, the documentaries, class discussions, major concepts). What did you learn?
3. Assess how the 6Cs apply to your visual project, with special attention on competence and creativity. What is your visual project self-assessment (provide a letter grade) ___ ? Explain why this particular grade.

Suggested Visual Projects/Creative Measures:

Note: Your visual projects/creative measure: a) Must relate to "media, crime, and the criminal justice system." b) Must be approved before starting your creative measure. c) Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. d) Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). e) Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). No term papers! Email me your visual project idea/topic.



• Make an "explosion box/card" that focuses on this week's topic, "The Media and Police."
• Watch the film Dirty Harry and discuss the law enforcement stereotypes and narratives portrayed. If all someone knew abou the crime problem was based on this film, what criminal justice policies would be advanced? (Surette, p. 115)
• Watch an episode of the show COPS and discuss the use of editing, formatting, and the portrayal of police work, offenders, and victims. (Surette, p. 115)
• Watch a different crime-fighting show for five consecutive nights and summarize the portrait of crime fighters shown. (Surette, p. 115).
• Listen to an old-time radio program about police, crime and criminals. (Every week-night on 780 AM from midnight to 1 a.m. or Sunday evenings on 90.7FM, from 9-11 p.m.) Compare and contrast the radio image of police and policing with today's television images.
• Trace the origins and development of community policing. How effective is community policing in your city? Why. Describe how the media depicts community policing.
• Select a law enforcement related television program, past or present, (i.e., "Law and Order," "CSI", "Cops," "NYPD Blue," "Dragnet," "Car 54 Where are you?" ). Find out how and why this particular program was created. How popular is this program? Why. Who are some of its competitors? Why.
• How are police and other law enforcement agencies depicted on television and on the silver screen? Trace the changing images of police and policing. What accounts for the changing images? Why.
• How many different law enforcement related programs are currently broadcasted today? Which one is the most realistic depiction? Why.
• Trace the origins and development of community policing. How effective is community policing in your city? Why.

Recommended Readings:

• Regina Lawrence. The Politics of Force: Media and the Construction of Police Brutality.
• Frank Leishman and Paul Mason. Policing and the Media.
• Aaron Doyle. Arresting Images: Crime and Policing in Front of the Television.
• Kenneth Meeks. Driving While Black .
• Kenneth Bolton & Joe Feagin. Black in Blue.
  
  
• Internet Movie Database
  
• Lawrence Lessig. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University, has made his book free online.