The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.
Crime and the media share a relationship that is both complex and inter-influential. On the one hand crime, in all its various forms, inspires and influences both factual and fictional depictions of crime within society. On the other hand, modern media platforms have given rise to crimes being perpetrated in new and innovative ways. Together, the use of media to represent, as well as perpetrate crime, has the greatest influence on people's perceptions of crime salience, and the extent to which people fear crime. In this course, students will be introduced to theoretical perspectives applied to explain the connection between crime and the media, and the tendency for the media to sensationalise crime. The portrayal of particular crime types and particular offender types as described in criminological literature as moral panics and folk devils will also be examined, along with media constructions of the `deserving' or `undeserving' victim. Connected intricately to crime, criminals, victims is the criminal justice system. As a formal agency that exists to prevent, detect, and respond to crime and criminals, media representations of the criminal justice system form a key component to students' learning throughout this course.
