Media & Crime Assignments for FLEX CREDIT:

General media assignments (choose 3) are from text #1: Bailey, F.Y. and D.C. Hale. 1998. Popular Culture, Crime, and Justice. Belmont, CA: West/ Wadsworth.

Film critique media assignments (choose 2) are from text #2: Rafter, N.H. 2000. Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

GENERAL MEDIA ASSIGNMENTS: choose three of these five for flex credit option. Text refers to the Surette text.

OPTION 1 SUMMARY: Social Construction assignment

Choose one of:

An entertainment media piece
A news media piece

And

One government document such as a special report, research in brief, etc. discussing a specific type of crime or criminal, or aspect of the CJ system that relates to the above piece (try www.ncjrs.org or www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs or www.fbi.gov or www.albany.edu/sourcebook )

NOTE: BOTH resources should be about the same type of crime or criminal or the same aspect of the CJ system, e.g. the courts, the police, homicide, etc.):

Chapters 1-3 discuss the social construction of crime by the media. For this assignment, compare the portrayal of your chosen topic from three sources: one from the entertainment media, one from the news media, one from the government. Begin with a brief summary of what each source says about your topic, and be sure to discuss:

q Whether the entertainment media source is based on the crime control model or the due process model, and why? Whether it uses front stage or backstage information, with examples.

q Whether the news media source gets its newsworthiness based on the market model or the manipulative model, and why?

q The source of the news story and which gatekeepers are involved.

Conclude with a summary of what each source implies or suggests is the cause of crime (or the nature of the criminal) and, thus, what we should do to control crime.

Finally, identify the audience for each source, and contrast public opinion with that of criminal justice professionals on crime control policy.

MAXIMUM LENGTH 750 words

Please cite the examples using APA style.

OPTION 2 SUMMARY: Media and Journalism assignment #1—The media and criminal proceedings

After reading chapter 4, find a news story that covers a criminal proceeding or trial (from a source that you can save as a file, or a web page that you can send the URL for). Include a copy of the story or the URL with your assignment.

Summarize the story, and relate it to the concepts in chapter 4.

· If this information were revealed pretrial, would it be prejudicial information (what form)? How do you think this information would affect a jury (see the chapter for research results that will help here)?

· Is there an issue re: access to government information? Explain.

· Is proceeding being televised? If so, what effect might this have on the process?

· Is there any indication that the court has attempted to control the availability or effects of prejudicial information? If so, what mechanism was used?

Give your overall opinion of whether this can be a fair trial or not.

MAXIMUM LENGTH 750 words

Please cite the example story and our text following APA style.

OPTION 3 SUMMARY: Media and Journalism assignment #2—The media: a cause of crime?

After reading chapter 5, find a media piece that fits into the “media as a cause of crime” model.

Summarize this piece and explain why it fits into the model. Since you will all have different pieces, I won’t tell you exactly which concepts to focus on from the chapter, but your explanations should be a combination of references to your media source supported with references to specific concepts from the text. In other words, not just your opinion here—information from the text combined with the examples you have found, with some of your opinion worked in.

MAXIMUM LENGTH 750 words

Please cite the example story and the text following APA style.

OPTION 4 SUMMARY: Media and Journalism assignment #3— The media: a cure for crime?

After reading chapter 6, find a media piece that fits into the “media as a cure for crime” model.

MAXIMUM LENGTH 750 words

Please cite the example story and the text following APA style.

OPTION 5 SUMMARY: RHETORIC vs. REALITY assignment

Review one television series or film (TV or theatre release) that addresses the criminal justice system. Based on that film or television show, write a description of a criminal justice related occupation (NOT A CRIMINAL CAREER, a legitimate profession). Interview a criminal justice professional in that position (NOT YOURSELF OR ANYONE FROM YOUR AGENCY, PLEASE) to determine whether that perception is accurate or inaccurate, and to what extent that is so (chapter 12 in Bailey and Hale has an example from interviewing attorneys re: films about attorneys, you can use that as a guide).

MAXIMUM LENGTH 750 words

Please cite the example story following APA style.

APA style for a personal interview:

Blah blah blah blah (M. Gonzalez, Lee County Assistant District Attorney, October 15, 2000).

M. Gonzalez, Lee County Assistant District Attorney, stated blah blah (October 15, 2000).
NO ITEM ON REFERENCE LIST!

PLACES TO LOOK FOR APA STYLE:

http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html#Web Site

to cite web pages and other electronic resources. Please use the format for citing specific pages, rather than the entire web site in general.

http://www.ldl.net/~bill/apatwo.htm is a very good general guide to APA style, if you are unfamiliar with it.

FILM CRITIQUE ASSIGNMENTS: do two of these for flex credit option:

(Text refers to the Rafter text). You probably want to do #1 and #2 unless you know others who are flexing at this time and could work with you on #3.

FIRST FILM CRITIQUE: If you have not done so already, read the introduction to the Rafter text, which will help you to identify an appropriate crime film, or ask me to see a film. You may choose a film discussed in the text, or a more recent film. Avoid action films that happen to have a crime committed, choose films that focus on crime or some aspect of the criminal justice system.

If your film is listed in the appendix of Rafter's text, be sure to check to see what she has to say about it.

Your critique of the crime film should include two primary components:

First, a summary of the film, including:

An overall evaluation of the type of crime film this is: Detective movies, Gangster films, Cop and Prison movies, Courtroom Dramas, Crime Stories.

A brief summary of the story line.

Discuss the hero of the film in terms of chapter 6.

Second, a comparison to what we know about this type of crime, or this part of the criminal justice system:

Here, as we have been doing all semester in our assignments, compare the film's depiction with reality, using a reliable source (journal article or government report) on your topic. You should conclude with your overall perspective on how this film affects the average American's understanding of the crime or the CJ system, and whether that is accurate or inaccurate.

BE SURE TO USE APA STYLE CITATIONS IN THE ASSIGNMENT.

SECOND FILM CRITIQUE: This written assignment is more detailed than the first critique, since we have learned a bit more about crime films. Use APA style to cite your film, and all references (including our text). If your film is listed in the appendix of Rafter's text, be sure to check to see what she has to say about it.

Your critique of the crime film should include two primary components:

First, a summary of the film, including:

An overall evaluation of the type of crime film this is: Detective movies, Gangster films, Cop and Prison movies, Courtroom Dramas, Crime Stories.

A brief summary of the story line.
Discussion of the film in terms of the examples provided in the Rafter text that apply here. For example, in a crime story film, there is likely to be coverage of why or how the criminal became criminal. This is covered in chapter 2 of the Rafter text. The theories discussed include biological, environmental, psychological, and rational choice explanations. Rafter also discusses cop films, courtroom films, prison films, and execution films: review the chapter that applies to your film and discuss the film in terms of that chapter.

Discuss the hero of the film in terms of chapter 6.

Second, a comparison to what we know about this type of crime, or this part of the criminal justice system.

BE SURE TO USE APA STYLE CITATIONS IN THE ASSIGNMENT.

THIRD FILM CRITIQUE (only available for flex if done with other students): This third assignment will be done in collaboration with one or two other students. You will evaluate the same film, but will choose different foci for your evaluations. For example, for the film Hurricane starring Denzel Washington one may choose the police corruption theme, another may choose the prison culture theme, and a third may choose racism in the CJ system. Each student's review and outside materials will focus on that aspect of the film, so you are not repeating each other.

Your critique of the crime film should include two primary components:

First, a summary of the film from the FOCUS YOU CHOSE for this review, including:

An overall evaluation of the film from your focus.

A brief summary of the story line, highlighting the areas pertinent to your focus.
Discussion of your focus in terms of the examples provided in the Rafter text that apply here.

Discuss the hero of the film in terms of chapter 6, and how that applies to your focus.

Second, a comparison to what we know about this type of crime, or this part of the criminal justice system.

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