Why Do We Glamorize Murder in the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why Do We Glamorize Murder in the Media - Essay Example Public surveys reveal that 95% of general population refer mass media as a primary source of their information about any crime.2 It implies that media and other people construct reality in a way or the other. Here, the question arises about the content media is disseminating about crime. Media is certainly not portraying the fact alone, but a combination of facts and fiction. It sensationalizes, dramatizes, and glamorizes what must be condemned and demeaned. This paper tries to explore people's fascination and media's glamorization of murder. Oscar Wild has identified American fascination with murder in 1982 when he said, "Americans certainly are great hero-worshipers, and always take their heroes from the criminal classes."3 Murder has become culturally accepted within today’s society. Phrases like â€Å"it’s a dog eat dog world†, â€Å"killing two birds with one stone† or simply â€Å"I could kill him† (when annoyed at a partner) are entwined into our everyday language. Though the meanings are not... Even television programs show murder as indifferent. The hero of the story can kill the bad guy, or commit murder and then do a heroic thing and the original wrong doing can be forgotten by all. In the Old Testament, Moses murdered an Egyptian slave-master, then supposedly went on to do many great things and became a corner stone for Islamic, Jewish and Christianity religions. How do we rationalize killing someone? Over 87% of a core group of surveyors said â€Å"justification† is the difference between killing and murder. We are happy to live our own lives excepting that people die at the hands of other as long as it is justified. In the face of brutal and hideous crimes society try to characterized the reasoning of such criminals. Often when no apparent conclusion can be established, the association with madness is almost immediate. It is a natural defence mechanism within our conscience that one wants to believe that t he criminal had to be crazy otherwise the crime would never have been committed. People try to comprehend and explain something that if it were not justified by the madness would be too disturbing to think that a "rational" human being could execute such brutal and hideous crimes. Murders are considered bad or good based on the justification provided. Regardless of the horrors associated, murder remains coloured by perpetrator's subjectiveness in devising strong judgement to entitle his or her behaviour as radical. It is evident that media understand these judgements; therefore, they treat murder as an intense experience needing dramatization. Popular media sources engineer their presentations in a certain way that implies murder as an instant, convenient, and absolute solution to problem.4 Typically, we don't care much about murder, but what makes it really significant is: when the victim is well-known; the number of victims is shocking; murderer is exceptionally wealthy or attract ive; or method of murder is horrifying and beyond our imaginations. The very moment such incident takes place people take notice and follow each step closely. The process starts with the reporting and revelation of crime details, more shocking the details more interest is piqued. With the revelation of crime evidence, we try to know from every media source possible. Media prolongs the coverage to arrest, trial, verdict, civil trials, and every bit of information behind crime. Even after the murderer's conviction and sentence, the story does not end, it takes several forms and major actors of the crime are casted in widely different stereotypical roles. As time passes, these shocking stories of crime are represented in the form of books, comics, fictional programs,

Miscarriages of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Miscarriages of Justice - Essay Example This happens because of inefficient procedures . Second, the laws that are applied to them. Third, for there is no information that justifies the applied treatment or punishment. Fourth, if suspects, defendants or convicts are handled unfavorably by the state to an unequal extent compared with the necessity to protect the rights of others; or, fifth, if the rights of other persons are not effectively or equally protected or defended by State action against law violators or, sixth, by State law itself(Greer, 1986). For, the six groups above revolve around themes of breach of rights of suspects and defendants, the disproportionate treatment of suspects/defendants or the non-vindication of the rights of victims, might be termed direct miscarriages. In addition, it may be possible to derive from their infliction a seventh, indirect miscarriage which affects the community as a whole. A belief coming out of deceit or illegalities will corrode the state's claims to legitimacy. For, this is founded on the community criminal justice system's values which includes as respect for individual rights. In this way, as well as the unwanted faith of the individual, the "moral integrity of the criminal process" suffers harm(McConville, 1994). Also, there could be a common detriment by way of diminished confidence in the vanguards of law and order leading to lesser active citizens aiding the police and a decrease in the number of jurors willing to convict even the glaringly "guilty".Definitely, it has been deba ted that this indirect form of miscarriage can exist independently as well as contingently in two respects. One is that a breach of "the principle of judicial legitimacy" should be of concern even if there is an accurate and fair determination of guilt or innocence. Secondly, it still produces great moral harm even if, so far as the individual is concerned, there is an error but no real harm is inflicted (say, when a person imprisoned for life is wrongfully convicted soon afterwards of a minor motoring offence). It is therefore argued that the State itself should avoid actions or processes which might damage the integrity of the system. Consistent with this concern, lawyers, whether acting for prosecution or defence, are reminded that they are not the ciphers of their clients but owe duties of integrity to the criminal justice system(Poole, 1998). Critical examination why gender related crime is important to understanding relevant policies of the criminal justice policyIn the article stated that the gender equality duty and the criminal justice system April 2007: The Gender Equality Duty comes in to force, the gender equality duty has been the biggest radical metamorphosis to sex to sex discrimination law for the past thirty years. It is also similar to the introduction in 2001 of a similar public sector race equality duty after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the introduction of a disability equality duty in December 2006. Furthermore, Fawcett publications of the Fawcett Society had published two reports to support the implementation of the Gender Equality Duty in the criminal justice system: The responsibility to understanding the "understand your duty" section details how the law should affect the criminal just