Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Crime and communications are perennial and pervasive features of society, while equally subject to dramatic change. They have a complex and evolving relationship, covering both the communications function or service and its realization through communication technology (→  Technology and Communication ). Attempts to control crime involve both conventional law enforcement/criminal justice and broader, more “scientific” approaches to prevention. Crime is simultaneously a set of hazardous events and the expression of social conflicts, varying in seriousness from littering to terrorism (→  Terrorism and Communication Technologies ); in target from property to person, organization, group, and society; in motive from materialism to sex, power and status, revenge and ideology; in organization and complexity from impulsive vandalism to international networks of people-traffickers; and pervading all of society from homes and shops to global financial systems in cyberspace. Beyond individual criminal events, fear of crime and distrust and avoidance of people, places, services, or systems prone to crime may have independent negative effects on social and economic life for individuals, economies, and communities – hence the interest in the role of the media in elevating fear (→  Crime Reporting ; Risk Perceptions ) and the wider “quality of life” concept of community safety. The trust necessary ... log in or subscribe to read full text