Fear: How crime television hides our sense of justice

You have probably seen it before: a dramatic police hunt, a panicked 911 call or the urgent expression “based on real events”. Criminal media are everywhere. Out of Law & order Marathons on endless podcasts for true crime, we are immersed in stories about murder, kidnapping and criminal masterminds.

But although these shows could be entertaining, they also do something different and shape how we see the world around us.

Have around 60% of the Americans (sometimes more) consistently said They believe that the crime increases, even in decades in which the national crime rates have actually decreased. So what drives the separation between perception and reality? A large part of the answer lies in what we observe, stream and bingen.

If the average person does not meet violent crimes in their daily life, where do their ideas come from the media risk? Cultivation theoryDeveloped by the media scientist George Gerbner, suggests that the more time people consume to consume media, reflect what they see on the screen.

In the case of crime media, this often means a world full of constant threats, sensational violence and simple stories about good boys and villains.

This is not only a theory, but also a solid research. Found a study The local crime rates overestimate these heavy television viewers. Another showed that frequent consumers of crimes reported media about greater fear of crime, regardless of their actual risk or where they lived. And this fear doesn't stay on the couch, she seeps into how we choose and how we punish.

Fear is not just an emotion, but political fuel.

Several studies have shown that media that induced the fear of crime public support For criminal justice policy of criminal justice, including longer prison terms, increased imprisonment and reduced investments in rehabilitation. In other words, the shows that run our heart Damage communities.

Reality -based crime exhibitions can be the worst offenders. They dramatize investigations, feel court proceedings and show criminals as clearly guilty and legal proceedings as a clean cut. However, if you are used to seeing justice in 43 minutes (plus advertising), the idea of ​​long studies or acquittal model can feel frustrating or even unfair.

This has consequences of the real world. If people expect the judicial system to resemble what they have seen on TV, they see the protection of real life as proof that the system is “soft” for crimes. This perception can weaken the support of the defendant's rights and fuel policy, which prioritize the punishment from fairness.

Some argue that criminal media play a role in the public service by clarifying the audience and raising awareness of real threats. This may be theoretically true, but in reality most crime reporting is selectively and more characterized by evaluations as objectivity. Crime stories are often sensationalized and focus disproportionately on rare violent crimes, which increases harmful racial stereotypes and systematic distortions. Instead of informing the public, distorted reporting is afraid, distrust and distorted Perception of dangers.

Psychology offers some answers why this crime content has us under control:

First, Fear conditioning Tell us, the more we are exposed to violent pictures, the emotionally reactive we become. Even if it is fictional, it still feels real.

Next the Availability heuristic Is the abbreviation of our brain, which believe that it must be easy to think about. Because we saw so many TV murders, we think they are everywhere.

Finally there is Conferring confirmation. As soon as we had prepared to fear crimes, we notice short stories that confirm and ignore this fear that question it. Over time, this creates a feedback loop that is difficult to break.

So what can we do about it?

In order to change the public understanding of justice, we need a combined effort between improving media literacy, accountability and reinforcement more responsible stories. Schools, platforms and storytellers all play a role in helping the audience, thinking critically, questioning harmful representations and dealing with stories that reflect justice more precisely and ethical.

If we want a judicial system that is in truth rather than in entertainment, we have to rethink the stories we consume and the power they have.

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