O'Farrell in the blue corner and Keneally in the red.

I think it would be safe to say that I am one of the last people that would associate myself with politics or start a political debate over anything. However, this year, it was the NSW state election and it is one of the first elections I have to vote in. Before this year, political campaigns were just boring, annoying ads which exaggerated the flaws of the other party so the party the ad is supporting could just hide behind this.

Personally, and before I was of voting age, my parents would tell me about politics - or what they believe in - and it really made an impression of who was 'bad' and who was helpful to me. With 16 years of Labor and with my growing frustration over rising prices and transport matters (because that is how I go to uni everyday), I thought I’d actually listen to the campaigns and see who can actually win me over with advertisements. N.B. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll vote for them but I was wondering if one could sway me.

An interesting advertisement was Labor’s which involved a couple talking about voting for Liberal but not wanting to give Barry O’Farrell a majority because he was hiding things from the public. More of these advertisements were being broadcasted by Labor with one simple message: don’t give Liberal a majority in parliament because it will be handing O’Farrell “a blank cheque” (as said in Labor’s television advertisement). It was a strange approach and it almost seemed like Labor knew they were going to lose and they have lost faith in themselves. It seemed like they needed a new angle and that way they would persuade people to vote for them, thinking Liberal was going to win anyways, but since that is happening, all the seats will go to Labor? Unfortunately that’s not how it turned out. Whether it was because of the lost of trust in the Federal Labor Government or because of all the scandalous MPs or even that it was time for a fresh start after 16 long years of Labor, the people of NSW voted Liberal in an historical win.

Just by watching television campaigns, both parties were more focused on revealing the flaws of the other party rather than promising* different law and order actions. Labor seemed to want to pour money into upgrading their old implementations of law and order (CCTV, more police equipment). Whereas Liberals did the same, they seemed to focus a little more on community based (rehabilitation centres and PCYC upgrades). 

***

Oh, and did anyone else notice that when it was a Liberal Federal government, we had a Labor NSW government... but now we have a Labor Federal government, we have a Liberal state government?

*Not that promises would work anymore thanks to Prime Minister Julia Guillard and the Carbon Tax debacle

A response: Grand Theft Innocence

This is a response to the blog post of a fellow classmate which could be found here - Mel CRIM2027 blog: Grand Theft Innocence

Plants vs. Zombies: surely this isn't harmful? Zombies are trying to eat your brains!
Your plants are just trying to protect you!

Videos games have been evolving rapidly from using wired brick controllers to using your whole body as a controller (how awesome is that?). As Mel Kheir (2011), my classmate, wrote "the appeal of video games is that they enable users to immerse and involve themselves in the story-lines and action of the games, rather than passively watching a video or listening to the radio” and hence, there are concerns when violent video games increases the aggression and are harmful to youths. It has been found in 2008, that approximately 85% of all video games include some form of violence (Source: Cognitive Daily).

I have many friends who play such violent video games such as Left 4 Dead I + II (censored in Australia) which involves players to work in a team of four to kill zombies. Dead Rising is also a similar game in which you kill zombies. Plant vs. Zombies (is really cute), Dead Island, Killing Floor – these are all games in which you kill zombies; and not living human beings. Sure, my friends do get frustrated when they lose or if they ‘died’, but they are not serial violent gamers, and they do not use these violent ways to harm other people around them.

There has been countless of stories of harm caused by youths who played violent video games and it was only a few days ago where I came across a newspaper article where a 15 year old boy plotted and killed his 7 year old neighbour just to steal her earrings and sell to fund his video game addiction. And what about that guy who wanted to be like Dexter and killed like him? Is there an underlying cause to this behaviour?

As criminologists, I think we should take into account other variables and causal factors which could lead one into being violent. There is only a correlation between violent video games and increased real-life violence, sure, but is it really the cause?

Positivist criminology theorises that “behaviour is determined, in the sense that the individual behaviour is shaped by factors outside the individual’s control” (White & Perrone, 2010: 56) like biological and psychological factors. The classical theory states that the offender is rational and chooses their own actions. Violent video games are just a situational factor which, I believe, only contributes to violent behaviour because of the individual. We are all exposed to violent television programs and us criminology students are bombarded with images of crime every day, but we’re not going out there as violent delinquents. To be able to act in a violent way like Dexter or like the “criminal hero” (Kheir, 2011) the individual must know everything about the show/game. What made them obsessive over this fantasy world? What made them lose self-control? Do youths get too bored these days which cause them to fall into violent criminal behaviour?

Whatever it is, I feel a wave of moral panic that is going to hit us in the near future as more and more media attention is directed to kids playing video games.

Related Links

Cognitive Daily psychological research into violence and violent video games: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/04/violent_video_games_and_desens.php

Mel Kheir’s CRIM2027 Blog: http://melcrim2027blog.blogspot.com

White, R. & Perrone, S. (2010). Crime, Criminality & Criminal Justice. Oxford University Press, New York.

Isn't the real problem here toy guns and rifles? For the past few years I've been seeing little kids with toy rifles! What are their guardians thinking?

Jail House Girls (Wednesday 9:30pm on GEM (90))

Whilst watching FRIENDS on GEM (digital channel 90) I saw the preview of Jailhouse Girls (rated M), which was going to be aired later that night at 9:30pm. I have never heard of the show, but this is what happened during the preview and I thought it would be great to blog about.

What I jotted down during the preview:

- "They're the naughtiest girls on the block. Welcome to their world

- Images of girls screaming, being held down by prison guards

- Imagery of a gate shutting and locked

- A girl mentioning drugs - "crack"

- Girls being upset

With that in mind, I was just waiting for 9:30 to come and see how this certain production (UK) portray prisons (Holloway prison) and female prisoners.

The show started out with a voiceover of a girl reciting a poem which describes the violent crimes the persona (possibly the girl who wrote/is reading the poem) has committed. Just like other police shows in Australia, there is a narrator, and it takes the perspective of officers and inmates involved. The Holloway prison is the largest female prison in Europe and is situated in London.

This episode focused around 2 inmates and a controversial newspaper article which was published in the British newspaper The Sun. The article is largely negative and slams the Holloway prison for letting the inmates have a Halloween party where they are shown to be dressed up like monsters – the monsters they are most believe. On Jailhouse Girls, the prison noticed the way the newspaper exaggerated the truth, like the expenses of the party. On the newspaper’s website, you can find how people have commented their outrage and how ‘sick’ it is for the prisoners to have this party over a year ago (link to The Sun's article by Wilson, G., 2008).

The prison defended such parties, which includes Christmas, as a good way of rehabilitation and management of the prisoners as self-harm rates and aggression are high. This way, the prisoners, especially those with mental illness, can still feel a sense of belonging which can aid their rehabilitation process (which the wider community didn’t think was ‘what these criminals deserved’).

This is a prime example of misunderstanding between the wider community and prisoners and shows the power of the media over the general public and its effect on prisoners.

Real monsters?
Source: The Sun 

Overall, the prison did not look like a conventional prison (like the one seen in documentaries watched in the CRIM2027 tutorial or even movies) and looked more like a hospital with long corridors and coloured doors into little rooms and where inmates could wear casual clothing, which seem like their own. What was really surprising to me was a section in the prison where female inmates who gave birth while serving their time could be with and play with their newborn until the child is 18 months old – just like a hospital. There was also a salon in the prison where inmates can get their hair cut and manicures the way they liked.

The show sheds a positive light on the prison and it wasn’t as scary or violent as the preview made (another way the media manipulates and exaggerates).

*Another preview which I saw on GEM that caught my eye was My Strange Addiction - which talks about people with weird obsessions and habits! It's coming soon and I'm a little amazed at what programs are shown on GEM whose target audiences are women - haha!

Related links

Website for The Sun newspaper’s article on prisons hosting Halloween parties: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/1876866/Broadmoor-dangermen-swap-ghost-stories-during-Halloween-party-on-ward.html (by Jamie Pyatt, 2008)

Missing Children

Females and children are seen as ideal victims when studying criminology as they are perceived to be more likely victims of crime, such as rape and kidnapping and also targeted for theft. Young girls are seen as weak, vulnerable, innocent and are susceptible to being harmed by 'bigger, older and bad' people. It could be because of this view that makes the stories of children who are reported as missing or murdered 'newsworthy' - it grabs the media’s attention and most of the cases are closely followed and reported by the media. 


According to Jewkes (2004) there are 12 values of 'newsworthiness', which can be found in the more popular stories. Modified by Jewkes (2004), these elements of 'newsworthiness' is what gives the story relatively more media coverage and public interest.


Using the examples of Madeleine McCann and Kiesha Abraham I will briefly summarise how the media portrayed these cases and what makes the story ‘newsworthy’.

Madeleine McCann – disappeared 3^rd May, 2007

Even though the case of Madeleine McCann is far away (geographically and even time-wise) the latest development in the story was viewed in the news just over a week ago both on TV news and in print media. This mysterious disappearance of the 4 year old girl (who would be 11 now) has been in the media spotlight for approximately 4 years. Not only that, but there are many websites and books dedicated to the case of the missing girl including a book which was written by the mother, detailing her ordeal. The news chose to broadcast videos and photos of Madeleine playing like an ordinary girl. This highlights the innocence of the child and also utilises the importance of visual for a newsworthy story.

Kiesha Abraham – reported missing 1^st August, 2010

The story of the missing 6 year old from her Mt Druitt home in NSW received a large amount of media coverage, especially on the news with the developing story being reported every day for over a week and regular updates up until her body was found earlier (April, 2011). The media focused on the feelings of grief and shock felt by the community from the day of the disappearance til the arrest of the mother and stepfather of the little girl. Not only does this story evoke strong emotions and reactions, the proximity of the case, involvement of a child and the threshold which this story has are main values of newsworthiness seen in this story.
*The arrest of her mother and step-father and the discovery of her body created more headlines in the month of April.

Extra reading

Jewkes, Y. (2004). Media and Crime. (1^st ed) London: Sage Publications.

[ WANTED ]

Wanted posters have been plastered around to let people know about fugitives and also for to help the police find wanted (alleged) criminals or for eyewitnesses to come forward. Then television and radio broadcasting took over and we see descriptions, footage and drawings of potentially dangerous offenders in the news. The modern way of hunting down fugitives is now YouTube. The NSW state police force now has their own YouTube channel and Twitter account to keep followers and viewers informed of the latest crime updates.

TheNSWPolice, the username for the police on YouTube, has over 1000 subscribers and a total of approximately 851,000 unique views of their videos. The accessibility of the internet and the ease of creating social networking accounts like a YouTube channel where you can upload your own video or a Twitter account, where your ‘followers’ can read a 140 characters account of what you’re doing, it is not surprising that the authorities are using such platforms to inform the public of events, especially when politicians and celebrities are using these sites. People who may not have time to watch the news, or who only catches glimpses, can jump online and watch and read information which the authorities

The police have recently released CCTV footage of a stabbing in Sydney CBD on the corner of Sussex St and Goulbourn St in Sydney CBD as an attempt to appeal for witnesses. The 30 second footage shows a group who were at the time of the incident that police suspects may have information on the attacker and/or victim or can describe the events prior to the violent altercation. Other videos on the channel include police operations which are more detailed and different updates which you may not see on the news.

The video embedded above received 2293 views. 

               

With the police using YouTube and Twitter, will they ‘break up’ with ‘traditional’ press? How important is a press conferences when there are millions of users on YouTube and Twitter? As technology advances, we'll just have to wait and see what new platforms are available for use by the police.

Related Links

NSW Police’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNSWPolice

An introduction

So hello everyone and welcome to my crime blog where I will be blogging my own opinions and insights on the most recent stories on crime. I think I should start with a brief introduction to just give you a bit of information of how my opinions are shaped and where I get my facts from so you (may) feel more comfortable.

I remember waking up turning on the television and seeing footage of passenger planes striking the twin World Trade Centre towers of America and realising how something so far away and feel so close and can be shown to the entire world so quickly. However, now with easy access to the internet and 24/7 free-to-air news channel (ABC4, Channel 24) seeing what happens around the world live doesn't seem like an exclusive event. The media has greatly influenced in the way I view crime as it is the only source of crime news. 

I watch the news each night when I get home from my outings and with Channel 10 having 2.5 hours of news each night, it is hard to miss. Other issues which I am attentive to are those on Today Tonight/A Current Affair. However with the television blaring it is hard to miss all the news stories which are online, like those clips which appear on the bottom on my Windows Live Messenger when I'm chatting to my friends placed by Ninemsn to get unsuspecting messagers to accidently click on and visit their site for the latest news and video clips, among other things. As with print media, I occasionally read the daily newspapers but I do read quite a bit of the Sunday Telegraph.

As you can tell, I do get most of my information from the media but my views on crime and what happens around me also root from my family. To me, when I see a group of guys late at night, my heart starts to race and I start panicking because my parents always told me to walk faster (or in the opposite direction altogether) when I see a group of guys or a group of people of a certain culture/race. Nothing else to look for, just a group of guys especially when they're being loud (or just being how males are when they're bonding). So my reactions to situations are hugely influenced by my parents. They are also my source of foreign news (as they read the Chinese newspaper) which are stories which are interesting to me but never make it to Australian news (overseas murders, strange but true stories from Asia, etc.).

Unfortunately I have nothing to report on for today as Charlie Sheen and Benji Marshall are still being bombarded in our faces and celebrities are not what I consider as 'blog-worthy' even though they're 'newsworthy'.