Crime News: An investigation into the influence of news consumption on public perceptions of crime, fear of crime and punitive attitudes.
Research Objectives:
Research Question 1: How does news consumption influence the public perceptions of crime?
Research Question 2: What is the relationship between news consumption and fear of crime?
Research question 3: How does news consumption influence punitive attitudes among the public?
Literature Requirements:
Format: Chicago Manual Style Times Roman Size 12
Literature Review must contain:
1. Introduction of the Literature Review: Role, function and importance of news.
2. Construction of crime news: news values and newsworthiness (Galtung and Ruge’s news values)
3. The misrepresentation of crime in the media? (Do crime in the media reflect reality?) The overrepresentation of violent and random crimes (committed by strangers) and underrepresentation of property crimes and white- collar crimes.
4. The role of news in fear of crime:
A. Define fear of crime. B. Consequences of fear of crime. C. The influence of news(media) on fear of crime: Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory. The validity of Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory
5. The influence of news consumption on punitive attitudes.
6. Define punitiveness B. How fear of crime spurred by news consumption is linked to punitive attitudes? (When individuals are very fearful of crime, they advocate for more punitive measures)
