Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Crime Television-Draft

Courtroom situations and crime have forever been known to make it into the average person’s living room. On any night of the week when a person flips through the channels on a television at least one crime show is on, if not more. In addition to this the average television viewer has a plethora of news programs to choose from. Crime television can be described as police procedurals, legal dramas, other police shows, or any program that shows violence in the form of an offense. These crime television shows that make their way in living rooms across the nation effect actual crime. Because of this television⎯crime television in particular⎯ should be censored.

News programs such as CNN or the local news can be used to keep the public informed. Without shows like this many people would not know what was going on not only locally but worldwide as well. Even though these shows are not directly crime television, these shows do report crimes.

News programs are not the only way crime comes into people’s lives. Crime has been making its way into our lives through various programs on television everyday. Entertainment can be an advantage of crime television. Any of the three CSI shows have “over 70 million” viewers on any given week (Shelton 2008). If these types of shows disappeared completely there would be millions of unhappy viewers. Taking away these programs altogether is not going to solve anything. The “CSI effect” is still enough of a concern that it should be taken in consideration a little more.

Although crime and the court system make for great entertainment, there can be a down side to entertainment. These shows have brought viewers’ expectations even higher in an actual court because of all the new science and technology that is used in these entertainment shows.
Even though not every viewer is a potential criminal the risk of copycat crimes does exist. Researchers have been studying if the “CSI effect” really does exist. An example of the risk of copycat crimes is mode copiers who already intend to commit a crime and who receive a method from the media event (Shelton 2008). This could be a person, who is potentially going to steal a car, using techniques that they saw in a police drama to break into the car.
Reality and fiction are being blurred these days. The average American spends about 170 minutes a day watching television or movies (Americans spend more energy… 2004). Copycat crimes do exist. With more people in America spending unnecessary amounts of time watching television, the risk of a copycat crime is even greater. Excessive sex and violence on the television can lead to similar behavior in real life. People become inspired by the portrayal of criminal activity. One study showed that “violent content [on tv] increased others’ aggressive tendencies”(Hoffner 1999). The Tylenol tampering incidents of 1982 and the assassination attempt depicted in the 1976 film Taxi Driver are two actual copycat crime examples. Even if crime television does not provide the motivation for crime in real life it greatly influences the techniques used by criminals. Most copycat crimes are by repeat offenders rather a first-time offender. At least a third of prisoners who are released will end up back in jail within three years. Also there are over 2 million prisoners currently (Henslin 2007). Even if you only take these people into consideration it is a substantial enough number of people that can be influenced by copycat crimes.

Extensive research has been done on copycat crimes. One researcher named Surette argued that copycat crimes are “common enough to influence the total crime picture” (Learning 2005). The current relationship between copycat crime and media coverage is still not completely understood.

If all types of crime television shows disappeared completely there would be millions of unhappy viewers. Taking away these programs altogether is not going to solve anything. Television needs to be censored. There has already been several hearing in the U.S. Congress about the issue of controls on the depictions of crime and violence. These hearings will continue as long as people decide that the media should be censored to some degree. If a child watches thousands of violent acts and crime in cartoons and other programs will the child have any long-term impact as they grow up?
Work Cited

Hendershot, Heather. Saturday Morning Censors: Television Regulation Before the V- Chip. Duke UP, 1998.
Henslin, J. M Essentials of Sociology: A down-to-earth approach. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2007.
Hoffner, Cynthia. "Support for Censorship of Television Violence." SAGE Journals Online (1999). 15 Apr. 2008 .
"Learning." 22 Nov. 2005. FSU. 7 Apr. 2008 .
Rojas, Hernando, Dhavan V. Shah, and Ronald J. Faber. "For the Good of Others: Censorship and the Third-Person Effect." Oxford Journals 8 (1996): 163-186. 16 Apr. 2008 .
Shelton, Donald E. United States. The Research, Development and Evaluation Agency. Department of Justice. The 'CSI Effect': Does It Really Exist? 17 Mar. 2008. 8 Apr. 2008 .
Yang, Sarah. "Americans Spend More Energy and Time Watching TV Than on Exercise, Finds New Study." UC Berkley News 10 Mar. 2004. 15 Apr. 2008 .

1 comment:

MR. MILLION said...

I feel like you don't have enough support for the possibility or reality of these copy-cat crimes. Why no examples? As of right now it seems like you are presenting a "Minority Report," trying to preempt criminal behavior. Less time should be spent on the way television shows depict crime and more on how this has actually happened. To me, reducing or censoring news and television to preempt something that MAY happen seems like you are praying the fear of your audience. To much like the methods employed now to combat terrorism.

What about the reverse effect? Many national news crimes have been dramatized in shows like CSI. Why not examine the possibility of committing crimes to get on television? Natalie Holloway case? There have been others.

I think you need to address the fact that just by taking these crimes out of public focus won't make them go away. It would almost be an insult to censor the horrible reality from "normal" society.