Summary: Crime, Power, Media
Table of contents
Week 1: Power and media in the social construction of crime ............................................. 3
Summary: Rafter (1990): The Social Construction of Crime and Crime Control ..................... 8
Summary: Jewkes (2004): Media and Crime, Chapter 1 ......................................................... 10
Glossary week 1 ....................................................................................................................... 13
Week 2: Criminalization and the interactive construction of the deviant figure ............. 16
Summary: Falkof (2020): On Moral Panic: Some Directions for Further Development......... 22
Summary: Garland (2008): On the Concept of Moral Panic ................................................... 26
Glossary week 2 ....................................................................................................................... 30
Week 3: Cultural Criminology, Meaning & Representation .............................................. 34
Summary: Ferrell (2013): Cultural Criminology and the Politics of Meaning ........................ 40
Glossary week 3 ....................................................................................................................... 45
Week 4: Myth, Semiotics & Ideology ................................................................................... 48
Summary: Roland Barthes, Mythologies .................................................................................. 55
Glossary week 4 ....................................................................................................................... 60
Week 5: Visual Criminology and Prison Cinema ................................................................ 63
Summary: Mason (2006): Cinematic Penal Discourse and Populism ..................................... 70
Glossary week 5 ....................................................................................................................... 75
Week 6: Feminist and Postcolonial Criminology ................................................................ 78
Summary: Burgess-Proctor (2006): Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Crime ............ 84
Summary: Cunneen (2011): Postcolonial Perspectives for Criminology................................. 87
Glossary week 6 ....................................................................................................................... 91
Week 7: Social Harm, Power and the Limits of Criminology ............................................ 94
,Summary: Hillyard & Tombs (2004/2021): Beyond Criminology? ....................................... 101
Glossary week 7 ..................................................................................................................... 105
Week 8: Fake News, Power and Cultural Bias .................................................................. 108
Summary: Marzouk (2022): Fake News and Cultural Biases ................................................ 114
Summary: Egelhofer & Lecheler (2019): Fake News as a Two-Dimensional Phenomenon . 118
Glossary week 8 ..................................................................................................................... 122
,Week 1: Power and media in the social construction of crime
1. Introduction: Situating Crime, Power and Media within Criminology
Week 1 introduces Crime, Power & Media as an interdisciplinary field located within broader
criminological traditions. The course builds on historical developments in criminology from
the eighteenth century to the present, highlighting shifts from classical and positivist
approaches toward critical and cultural criminology.
Three core dimensions structure the field:
• Crime: different ways of defining and conceptualizing crime
• Power: the unequal distribution of symbolic, material, and institutional power
• Media: representations of crime and their societal effects
These dimensions are interconnected in what can be described as a mutually constitutive
relationship, where “the street scripts the screen, and the screen scripts the street”. This
highlights that media not only reflect crime but actively shape its meaning, perception, and
control.
2. What is Crime? Competing Approaches
The lecture introduces multiple perspectives on defining crime, illustrating that crime is not a
fixed or objective category:
2.1 Legal and Positivist Approaches
Traditional criminology defines crime as behaviour that violates legal rules. Positivist
approaches assume crime can be explained through scientific causation, focusing on
individual pathology or biological determinism. This reflects what Rafter describes as a
tendency to treat “facts” as objective and independent, ignoring their social origins.
2.2 Sociological and Constructivist Approaches
In contrast, sociological perspectives emphasize that crime is socially produced.
Becker’s labelling theory argues that deviance is created when social groups define and label
behaviour as deviant. Crime is therefore not inherent in an act but emerges through social
processes of rulemaking and enforcement.
Rafter expands this into a social constructionist framework, which investigates how
knowledge about crime is produced, circulated, and legitimized. This approach is:
• Historical (changing across time),
• Political (linked to power relations),
• Epistemological (concerned with how knowledge is formed).
2.3 Zemiological Perspective
, The zemiological (harm-based) approach challenges legal definitions by arguing that crime
should include broader forms of harm, including environmental and structural harm. This
highlights that legal definitions often reflect power inequalities, excluding harms caused by
powerful actors.
3. Crime as a Social Construction
The lecture then develops the idea that crime itself is a social construct.
Traditional approaches rely on:
• Individual responsibility,
• Rational choice,
• Statistical “facts”.
However, critical criminology argues that:
• Law itself is socially constructed,
• Definitions of crime are shaped by historical, social, and economic contexts,
• Power determines who is labelled as criminal and who is not.
Rafter demonstrates this through historical studies showing that criminal justice practices are
influenced by race, gender, and class relations. For example, punishment practices
historically reinforced racial hierarchies and gender norms.
Thus, crime is not simply behaviour but a product of power relations and social meaning-
making.
4. Theorising Crime and the Media
The course distinguishes between different forms of media:
• News media (journalism),
• New media (social media, digital platforms),
• Popular media (films, music, entertainment) .
Jewkes emphasizes that media and crime are deeply intertwined: most people’s knowledge of
crime comes not from direct experience but from mediated representations, which are often
selective and distorted.
5. Media Effects and Mass Society Theory
5.1 Mass Society Theory
Mass society theory views individuals as vulnerable and easily influenced by media. It
assumes a direct causal relationship between media content and behaviour, often described
Table of contents
Week 1: Power and media in the social construction of crime ............................................. 3
Summary: Rafter (1990): The Social Construction of Crime and Crime Control ..................... 8
Summary: Jewkes (2004): Media and Crime, Chapter 1 ......................................................... 10
Glossary week 1 ....................................................................................................................... 13
Week 2: Criminalization and the interactive construction of the deviant figure ............. 16
Summary: Falkof (2020): On Moral Panic: Some Directions for Further Development......... 22
Summary: Garland (2008): On the Concept of Moral Panic ................................................... 26
Glossary week 2 ....................................................................................................................... 30
Week 3: Cultural Criminology, Meaning & Representation .............................................. 34
Summary: Ferrell (2013): Cultural Criminology and the Politics of Meaning ........................ 40
Glossary week 3 ....................................................................................................................... 45
Week 4: Myth, Semiotics & Ideology ................................................................................... 48
Summary: Roland Barthes, Mythologies .................................................................................. 55
Glossary week 4 ....................................................................................................................... 60
Week 5: Visual Criminology and Prison Cinema ................................................................ 63
Summary: Mason (2006): Cinematic Penal Discourse and Populism ..................................... 70
Glossary week 5 ....................................................................................................................... 75
Week 6: Feminist and Postcolonial Criminology ................................................................ 78
Summary: Burgess-Proctor (2006): Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Crime ............ 84
Summary: Cunneen (2011): Postcolonial Perspectives for Criminology................................. 87
Glossary week 6 ....................................................................................................................... 91
Week 7: Social Harm, Power and the Limits of Criminology ............................................ 94
,Summary: Hillyard & Tombs (2004/2021): Beyond Criminology? ....................................... 101
Glossary week 7 ..................................................................................................................... 105
Week 8: Fake News, Power and Cultural Bias .................................................................. 108
Summary: Marzouk (2022): Fake News and Cultural Biases ................................................ 114
Summary: Egelhofer & Lecheler (2019): Fake News as a Two-Dimensional Phenomenon . 118
Glossary week 8 ..................................................................................................................... 122
,Week 1: Power and media in the social construction of crime
1. Introduction: Situating Crime, Power and Media within Criminology
Week 1 introduces Crime, Power & Media as an interdisciplinary field located within broader
criminological traditions. The course builds on historical developments in criminology from
the eighteenth century to the present, highlighting shifts from classical and positivist
approaches toward critical and cultural criminology.
Three core dimensions structure the field:
• Crime: different ways of defining and conceptualizing crime
• Power: the unequal distribution of symbolic, material, and institutional power
• Media: representations of crime and their societal effects
These dimensions are interconnected in what can be described as a mutually constitutive
relationship, where “the street scripts the screen, and the screen scripts the street”. This
highlights that media not only reflect crime but actively shape its meaning, perception, and
control.
2. What is Crime? Competing Approaches
The lecture introduces multiple perspectives on defining crime, illustrating that crime is not a
fixed or objective category:
2.1 Legal and Positivist Approaches
Traditional criminology defines crime as behaviour that violates legal rules. Positivist
approaches assume crime can be explained through scientific causation, focusing on
individual pathology or biological determinism. This reflects what Rafter describes as a
tendency to treat “facts” as objective and independent, ignoring their social origins.
2.2 Sociological and Constructivist Approaches
In contrast, sociological perspectives emphasize that crime is socially produced.
Becker’s labelling theory argues that deviance is created when social groups define and label
behaviour as deviant. Crime is therefore not inherent in an act but emerges through social
processes of rulemaking and enforcement.
Rafter expands this into a social constructionist framework, which investigates how
knowledge about crime is produced, circulated, and legitimized. This approach is:
• Historical (changing across time),
• Political (linked to power relations),
• Epistemological (concerned with how knowledge is formed).
2.3 Zemiological Perspective
, The zemiological (harm-based) approach challenges legal definitions by arguing that crime
should include broader forms of harm, including environmental and structural harm. This
highlights that legal definitions often reflect power inequalities, excluding harms caused by
powerful actors.
3. Crime as a Social Construction
The lecture then develops the idea that crime itself is a social construct.
Traditional approaches rely on:
• Individual responsibility,
• Rational choice,
• Statistical “facts”.
However, critical criminology argues that:
• Law itself is socially constructed,
• Definitions of crime are shaped by historical, social, and economic contexts,
• Power determines who is labelled as criminal and who is not.
Rafter demonstrates this through historical studies showing that criminal justice practices are
influenced by race, gender, and class relations. For example, punishment practices
historically reinforced racial hierarchies and gender norms.
Thus, crime is not simply behaviour but a product of power relations and social meaning-
making.
4. Theorising Crime and the Media
The course distinguishes between different forms of media:
• News media (journalism),
• New media (social media, digital platforms),
• Popular media (films, music, entertainment) .
Jewkes emphasizes that media and crime are deeply intertwined: most people’s knowledge of
crime comes not from direct experience but from mediated representations, which are often
selective and distorted.
5. Media Effects and Mass Society Theory
5.1 Mass Society Theory
Mass society theory views individuals as vulnerable and easily influenced by media. It
assumes a direct causal relationship between media content and behaviour, often described
