Criminologists making news? Providing factual information on crime and criminal justice through a weekly newspaper column

Abstract

This article summarizes the findings from a two-year research project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which explored the impact of a criminologist presenting factual information on crime and criminal justice through a weekly column in a local newspaper. The research included a natural quasi-experiment, the impact of which was assessed through a large-scale survey and in-depth interviews with members of the public. The key finding from the research was that readership of the column was low (although not as low as survey responses initially indicated), and that the column had no measurable impact on readers. The findings suggest that interest in, take-up, and retention of factual information on crime and criminal justice is not as high as previous empirical research has suggested.

Selling the Public on Probation: Beyond the Bib

“…According to the British Crime Survey, Measuring Crime for 25 Years report (Jansson, 2008), only around 20 per cent of the British public feels that probation is doing a 'good' or 'excellent' job. This is essentially the same as opinions on the prison service, but considerably less than opinions on the police, who were rated positively by 50 per cent of the public surveyed (see also Allen and Hough, 2007;Feilzer, 2007;Hough, 2002, 2005;Wood and Viki, 2004). Likewise, when members of the public were asked what they thought could help to reduce crime in Britain, the National Probation Service (2002) research found that only 2 per cent of respondents spontaneously mention the Probation Service, compared to 77 per cent who cite the police and 13 per cent who mention schools.…”

Penal Impact: Towards a More Intersubjective Measurement of Penal Severity

“…Rather it is to note that a combination of factors tend to preclude laypersons from developing an informed opinion of criminal justice, including a sensationalized and selective representation of crime (and therefore, punishment) in mass media, 101 and a general lack of interest in the everyday realities of criminal and penal practice, compared with other aspects of public policy. 102 This presents a problem for the UK's democratic credentials, at least on one definition of democracy. Dalton, for instance, perceives democracy as involving not just the act of voting in elections and referenda, but as a broader process of individual engagement with civic life.…”

Reading between the Lines

“…By contrast crime is alltoo often perceived to be adull coagulation of statistics and abstract theory that can be difficult for laypersons to relate to. Even when presented in a more accessible manner, crime facts areless interesting to news consumers than crime stories (Feilzer 2007).…”