Discussion Board Forum 5- CJUS 740 Reply 1

Reply must be at least 200-300 words and at least 2 citations from sources such as your textbook, peer-reviewed journal articles, and the Bible. The thread and replies must follow current APA format.

Brian D. 

Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2018). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781337091824.

Research Idea: The gap between the public’s perceptions of crime and actual criminal activity due to ineffective communication leads to criticism of criminal justice policy and influences individual behavior by heightening unfounded fears of crime.
Crime is among the major concerns in society. It is the desire of all people to live in a safe and secure community. However, over the years, crime has become a part of society as people violate set laws and engage in unethical and asocial behaviors. Notably, people in the community entrust the government to curb criminal activities and make society safer. Usually, the government tackles the issue of crime through the criminal justice policy.
 Over the past years, the government has carried out extensive efforts to suppress criminal activities in the United States. In particular, it has increased security measures to ensure that criminals are discouraged from posing threats to the public and that lawbreakers are apprehended. Compared to the situation before, the number of police officers has increased, an aspect that is visible to the public. Courts have also become stricter in their sentencing, leading to the incarceration of more criminals  (Roeder et al., 2015). Overall, due to such aspects of the criminal justice policy, crime rates in the country have significantly reduced.
Despite the various measurable facts about the reduction in criminal activities, there exists a misperception by the public regarding crime rates. Notably, the public still has the perception that crime problems are escalating. Consequently, people blame the criminal justice policy for failing to reduce criminal activities. Also, because of the opinion that the crime rate is high in society, individuals have the perception that their safety is at risk, an aspect that affects individual behavior. Specifically, people live in fear of being victims of criminal activities as they have the notion that crime rates are incredibly high in society.
Evidently, the perception of crime problems and the actual situation regarding criminal activities are interrelated. The situation exists because there is ineffective communication between the government and the public. Besides the government and the public not having an effective communication fueling the misperception regarding crime, misinformation from the media may also be blamed for the situation. The media plays a significant role in informing the public about issues in society. Criminal activities account for the headlines as the media reports to society, and as a result, the public opinion regarding the crime is further influenced (Alitavoli & Kaveh, 2018). The media’s representation of criminal activities and ineffective communication between the government and the public are influential in shaping the misperception of crime problems. Consequently, it culminates in the people blaming the criminal justice system as the public harbors increased fear of crime.
Focusing on the situation, it is clear that various challenges need to addressed to reduce the gap between how people perceive crime and the actual criminal activities occurring in society. The research covering the four areas would seek to establish why the noted gap exists despite the presence of many measurable facts regarding crime reduction. Also, the study would aim to show how ineffective communication contributes to the deficit and how encouraging appropriate flow of information would enhance the public’s faith in the criminal justice policy. Also, the research would focus on how the misperception affects individual behavior and how solving the issue would influence individual behavior by encouraging a sense of increased personal safety.
References
Alitavoli, R., & Kaveh, E. (2018). The US Media’s Effect on Public’s Crime Expectations: A Cycle of Cultivation and Agenda-Setting Theory. Societies, 8(3), 58.
Roeder, O. K., Eisen, L. B., Bowling, J., Stiglitz, J. E., & Chettiar, I. M. (2015). What caused the crime decline? Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. Retrieved from http://www.antoniocasella.eu/nume/Roeder_2015.pdf