Constructing Crime: Media, Crime, and Popular Culture

Arguably one of the most significant and potentially illuminating areas of criminological inquiry is the analysis of crime, media, and popular culture. As residents of a highly technological society undergoing rapid transformations in the conduits for information on crime, we have an increasing array of options in forming our ideas about crime and justice. A staple assertion of introductory texts and lectures is that societal perceptions of crime are formed through exposure to various forms of media, including television, film, video, and Internet services. Our knowledge acquisition has changed dramatically in the past 200 years, from first-hand knowledge of crime and deviance in rural communities and small urban centres to a society in which we are inundated with so much information that it is difficult to assess what specific impacts media have on our ideas and attitudes. Therefore, when we speak of "knowledge of crime," we must also be specific about the type of information we receive and the form in which this information is presented. Crime is central to the production of news in Canadian society (Dowler 2004a: 574; Fleming 1983, 2006). Although crime is considered newsworthy and often produced as informative, it is also a central component in entertainment in Canadian and North American society. It grips the collective imagination of television viewers, theatregoers, Internet browsers, and readers of true-crime books. Moreover, the boundary between crime information and crime entertainment has been increasingly blurred in recent years through the rise of reality crime shows. Crime as entertainment has cemented a place in popular culture, reflected in all the above-mentioned media formats and beyond. Canadian viewers are now exposed to American reality television shows including American Justice, Cold Case Files, COPS, Court TV, and Dallas SWAT, while "cop" shows focus on the investigation and arrest of suspects for a variety of offences. The First 48 tracks cases through the investigative process, showing the arrest and interrogation of suspects. Court TV presents sensational trials that typically focus on murder, serial murder, or sexual assault. The Nancy Grace Show selectively targets specific kidnappings, sex crimes, or murders, with a particular focus on retribution and punishment. Canada boasts its own equivalent of COPS, the less sensational To Serve and Protect, which follows everyday police patrols in various Canadian cities. Ideas about crime emerge not only from news sources and reality television shows but also from dramatic movies and television shows that adopt crime as their subject. The massive popularity of crime shows has spawned some of the most enduringly popular television series of the 1990s and beyond, including Law & Order, DaVinci's Inquest, and CSI. The enormous appeal of crime as entertainment is also reflected in the many spin-offs of these series, all of which are currently running alongside the original series and their re-runs. What is particularly disturbing about these crime drama shows is that they are presented as "realistic" portrayals of crime and justice, which further blurs the lines between fiction and reality. In fact, they often borrow storylines from real-life cases and advertise their programs as "realistic" crime portrayals (Eschholz, Mallard, and Flynn 2004)--so much so that the expression "the CSI Effect" has been bandied about by such media outlets as CNN, National Geographic, USA Today, CBS News, and US News and World Report. Simply put, the CSI Effect relates to the popularity of CSI, Criminal Minds, Crossing Jordan, and other programs that portray scientific and forensic evidence-gathering procedures to catch criminals; the "effect" is the rise in expectations of real-life crime victims and jury members. Prosecutors lament the fact that they have to supply more forensic evidence because jurors expect this type of evidence, having seen it on television. …