“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” — Jim Morrison View the below video:
Crime control is frequently presented in the media. More specifically, many television shows, music videos, and prime-time specials portray different perspectives regarding the criminal justice system. Respond to the following:
List at least four television shows, music videos, or prime-time specials that you have seen depicting police operations, investigative work, court cases, or a correctional setting.
How did the show/video represent that criminal justice agency?
Identify any problems regarding crime control?
Do you think the shows provided a realistic image of a criminal justice agency? Why or Why not?
What tips did you pick up from the video as to how to be a more critical viewer?
Sample Solution
other way that these gender stereotypes are reconstructed are during drug robberies. In the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography article Damn, Yo-Who’s That Girl: An Ethnographic Analysis of Masculinity in Drug Robberies, Dr. Randol Contreras (2008) examines the role of women in the commission of drug robberies. The standard practice is for women to use their sexuality to lure drug dealers into a trap. Usually they get them secluded and then the men ambush and rob them. The women are not given an honest cut, and are not viewed as equals with the men. The robbers know that the drug dealer will fall for the bait because he has to prove he is a real “man” by attempting to sleep with the girl. This shows that drug robbers know the stereotypes, take advantage of them, and yet internalize them, all at once. They don’t see the girls as equals, they don’t think they are smart enough to earn a real cut. It is also just as imperative to the notion of understanding the complexities of crime to look at the various factors involved in a person’s social identity. Intersectionality examines crime while taking into account gender, class, and race. It takes into account the various power structures that a person has to deal with, and the combination of these factors gives their “social location”. African American females will face different challenges than African American males or Hispanic females. Wealth will change how someone has to interact with the world around them. These are inescapable facts that must be taken into account when studying crime.>