Factors Influencing Public Perception of Crime and National Crime Prevention Policies

CRIMINOLOGY 1
Criminology
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CRIMINOLOGY 2
Criminology
List and describe several factors that are most important in shaping the public perception
of crime and in influencing national crime prevention policies.
The public perception about crimes is typically shaped by a variety of factors. Some of
these factors help in the prevention of national crimes since they offer valuable information
which influences the type of policies formulated for crime prevention. A typical factor which has
been seen to be at the forefront of shaping up the different views of the public about crimes is
media. The mass media is generally responsible for the construction of the criminal justice
system and criminality (Welsh & Harris, 2016). Also, the portrayal in the mass media determines
the public’s perception about law enforcement officials, victims, criminals, and deviants. The
other factors include nature of the crime committed, the location of occurrence of a particular
crime and even the politicians among others. Based on the Canadian criminology, the factors
which influence the public perception on crimes are as discussed in the paper below;
Nature of the Criminal Act
Generally, the nature of a particular criminal activity tends to have an impact on the
different views of the public, and this entails changing their perception. Often, some of the
biggest crime-related stories can create shock and drama among the public. Such stories tend to
cause fear among different individuals (Surette, 2014). Further, the nature of criminal activity
can cause individuals to think that criminal activities are on the rise even if in the real sense that
is not the case. It can, therefore, be concluded that the specific nature of any particular criminal
act can influence the perception of the public about crimes and hence the national crime policies
will be formulated based on such opinions of the people.

CRIMINOLOGY 3
Mass Media
Based on a study which was conducted, it was found that the media influences the
attitude of fear among the public using the news it spreads across the globe. Also, it was found
out that the criminal activities which are displayed in the media channel such as television tends
to be more violent and hence dangerous than the crimes in the real world causing fear among the
public about crimes (Wall, 2015). The perceptions of the public generated by mass media have
been considered to contain certain features such as alienation, mistrust, and cynicism which are
typically believed to be higher than the normal levels of threats of criminal activities in the
community. Generally, there are the features of the public and message spread by the mass
media determines a lot on the relationship which exists between the criminal activity and the
presentations of the mass media.
The mass media typically offers public knowledge on crimes and justice and it, therefore,
has a crucial responsibility in the creation of the criminal justice system and criminality. The
perception of the public on law enforcement officials, victims, criminals, and deviants largely
depend on the information portrayed in the mass media (Spalek, 2016). According to recent
research on mass media, it was found out that it typically results in the development of a variety
of attitudes by the public about crimes and justice. Most often, the media has been blamed for the
differences existing between reality and crimes. For example, there are times in which some of
the journalists put a lot of focus on the negative news leaving the positive news and stories.
Another example could be that news and stories relating to a decline in the crime rates are just
mentioned by the journalist.