Media and Crime Policy

In this article, I use the tenets of media studies scholarship to reformulate David Garland’s account of the shifts in sanctioning policy that began in the 1970s. I address the media’s prominent role in shaping public mentalities and sensibilities that were incompatible with penal welfarism and supportive of more punitive policies. In particular, I analyze media coverage of the policy debate and also dramatic depictions of crime. I argue that the media were more influential in shaping public attitudes toward sanctioning policy than Garland suggests.