FREE ESSAY ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

The crime problem in the United States has historically been misstated and exaggerated by
bureaucrats and politicians. The intentions behind these overstatements vary within each
context but a common thread emerges upon closer examination. As in any capitalist
society, money and material possession are the primary motivation that fuels society and
people. It could be argued that FBI director Louis Freeh made his comments to the
National Press Club in 1994 out of genuine concern for the American people, but
realistically the statement was made in an effort to gather support and increase funding
for law enforcement. Following this statement and from increased pressure from
politicians, the Federal Crime Bill was ratified, and authorized the spending of thirty
billion dollars, primarily towards more police officers and prisons. It also included
many new punitive sanctions and the expansion of the death penalty to more than fifty
federal crimes. Louis Freeh's politically correct and unapprised proclamation takes an
exceptionally narrow view of crime and its curtailment. Freeh chooses to focus on the
media, statistics, and ultimately public opinion as his justification for increased
funding. However he fails to realize the influence of the media and statistics in molding
public opinion and the difference between public opinion and reality. Existing
individualistic theories such as rational choice theory help reinforce Freeh's statement.
The overstated crime problem, backed by a capitalistic media and misinterpreted
statistics has created a punitive crime policy, which is further supported by
individualistic theories of crime. In this paper I will show how misreported statistics
and media focus on violent crimes shapes public opinion. Then I will go on to demonstrate
the role of individualistic theories in supporting punitive crime control policies.
Ultimately I look to prove that the actions of the media and politicians are centered on
money and how crime is inherent to the American Dream .
The media never has been and probably never will be an accurate source for criminology or
criminal analysis. The sensationalist media depiction of crime is almost always
exaggerated and biased toward violent crimes. From newspapers to television the crimes
that get the most coverage and attention are homicides and aggravated assaults. However,
in actuality ninety percent of all crimes are property crimes and less than one percent
are homicides (Stephen Lincoln 9/24/01). The media also is fond of reporting crime clocks
based on aggregate statistics. Popular and catchy lines like, "A murder occurs every
twenty seven minutes, a robbery every sixty seconds," are very misleading yet are used
regularly. These crime clocks show no reference to a ratio between crimes being committed
and the people effected (Lincoln 10/3/01). Once again here the motives behind depiction
of crime by the media vary, but money can be found at the source. Newspapers and
television stations don't want to report common and usually petty crimes because they are
boring and monotonous. People don't buy boring and monotonous newspapers; so to increase
circulation and ultimately revenues, editors choose to emphasize and embellish violent
crimes. This intentional bias towards violent crimes, even though they represent a very
small fraction of all crimes creates a sense of apprehension and concern in law-abiding
citizens.
Television is also responsible for exaggerating crime and over emphasizing its focus on
violent crimes. Where newspapers can only provide writing and limited photographs of
crime, television can take the next step in showing (versus telling) the crime and
criminals. The television show "COPS" is an excellent example of the misrepresentation of
crime and law enforcement. On the show you never see routine traffic stops or officers
writing parking tickets, rather the producers choose to show shootings, gang fights and
drug offenders. People throughout the country get to see criminals actually breaking the
law on television. Given that the majority of the scenes shown are of violent crimes,
people construct a violent and evil image of all criminals. While in reality the majority
of police work is mundane, the show attempts to glamorize crime fighting (Lincoln
9/26/01). These producers don't care about how they are depicting crime or its
consequences; they are simply concerned about TV ratings. Higher ratings mean advertisers
must pay more money for airtime, which ultimately leads to more money for the television
networks. 
By constantly and disproportionately reporting violent crimes, the media influence the
general public into thinking there is a bad crime problem. The media produces several
criminal fallacies and strongly influences the public's opinion on crime. The dramatic
fallacy has been discussed above as it relates to the overemphasis on violent and extreme
crimes. The "not me" fallacy helps create a distinction between criminals and
non-criminals (Lincoln 9/29/01). By creating a distinction, people tend to believe they
are not capable of committing violent crimes and that criminals are inherently evil and
different from the rest of society. "Contrary to popular perception, the expansion of the
U.S. prison and jail populations are not the direct result of a worsening or an
exceptionally bad crime problem…rates of violent and property crime have been in
decline" (Beckett and Sasson 237). Since the vast majority of crimes people hear and see
in the news are violent and heinous, they assume that there is a crime problem and that
something must be done to stop it. 
The statistics that the media enjoys to misinterpret and report misleadingly is primarily
taken from the uniform crime report. The uniform crime report is aggregate data taken
from 17,000 law enforcement agencies and compiled annually by the federal bureau of
investigation. Organizational and presentational concerns arise from the uniform crime
report (Lincoln 10/3/01). There are significant omissions in the report such as
white-collar and environmental crimes. Also the definition of crimes chosen by the
agencies greatly manipulates the data. For example some jurisdictions define rape as the
forceful act of sexual intercourse, this omits the entire category of date rape (Lincoln
10/3/01). Law enforcement agencies have a direct interest in the reporting of crimes and
crime rates. If they report that crime is on the decline, then people will feel more
secure and satisfied with law enforcement but funding will be decreased. Conversely if
they report that crime is increasing, and make the public feel at risk, an increase in
funding will occur and be justified. 
Individualistic theories of crime serve to contribute support to the image of the bad
crime problem and encourage punitive crime control policies. The two hundred year old
rational choice theory defines human behavior through the two principles that humans act
in order to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. This very Hedonistic theory facilitates
the creation of punitive polices because it creates a need to harshly punish
self-indulgent crimes. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's there was a rapid influx of
punitive crime policies like the creation of long mandatory prison sentences for drug
possession and the expansion of the death penalty. The biological deterministic theory
highlighted by C. Ronald Huff in Historical Explanations of Crime defines a "criminal
type, or 'born criminal'"(Huff 75). The theory works hand in hand with the media
depiction of criminals. It tries to show criminals as separate and distinct entities that
are different from the rest of society. In this theory it is ineffective to deter crime
since criminals are unalterable and predestined to break the law. Biological
individualistic theories should be analyzed and critiqued with rigorous scrutiny.
Although many of the sources for data acquisition in this theory are objective, the
consequences and conclusions drawn from the data are subjective and open to argument
(Lincoln 10/17/01). 
In order to curb crime based on the rational choice theory, lawmakers have fashioned
policy around preventative measures. The foundation of preventive policy is based on
controlling the physical environment. Examples of preventive measures are gated
communities, target hardening, and neighborhood watch programs. Although these policies
are effective in curtailing crime in their specific contexts, "measures which increase
the difficulties of a particular crime will merely result in criminal activity being
'displaced'"(Cornish & Clarke 118). A criminal isn't going to break a law that is heavily
policed and enforced because his chances of getting caught are greater. 
To counter the supposed pressing crime problem, bureaucrats and politicians alike have
adopted a very punitive system of crime control. They claim that, "The people of this
country are fed up with crime" and that the people are the ones demanding better crime
control (Louis Freeh, 1994). Gallup polls from 1993 to 1998 showed that crime was the
most pressing problem in public opinion (Lincoln 9/28/01). In actuality during this same
time period the crime rate has been decreasing annually which does not justify the
tremendous rise in government spending that has been allocated to the criminal justice
system. This goes to show that public opinion does not necessarily mimic or reflect the
true reality of the situation. Public opinion can be easily shaped and molded by forces
such as media and politicians. More responsibility must be taken by the media in
reporting statistics and crime because of their influence on public opinion. When
influential leaders like Louis Freeh make statements based on the opinion of the masses
instead of facts, the false crime problem is further worsened and perpetuated.