Crude Populism Research Paper

Media and political institutions are so intertwined that criminal justice policy is increasingly degenerating into a form of crude ‘populism’ (Jewkes, 2004:77).
To what extent do you agree with this statement?

To comprehend this statement and to form either a refuting or supporting conclusion, several elements need to be considered. Firstly, in order to understand the idea that criminal justice policy is degenerating into a ‘crude populism’, the term ‘populism’ needs to be defined. Secondly, an evaluation has to be made on the effect media has on society. This involves the discussion of how ‘moral panics’ are implemented and used to create fear in society that ultimately leads to a punitive populism. To assess the role political institutions
Jewkes’ theory can also be dismissed on the basis that the political institutions and media institutions are not ‘intertwined’ but merely seem to be due to both dealing with crime on a daily basis. The argument does not however deny that the media intensify the fear of crime but rather expands on this in reference to the ‘labelling theory’. The labelling theory suggests that the media create stereotypes of particular groups with society. Stereotyping in the media normally has negative connotations that encourage people to treat others differently who are recognised as being part of these groups. (Hale, C et al, 2009). A particular group in society who have been labelled are black youths. The moral panic of ‘mugging’ in the early 1970’s identified the culprits to be young black males. It was from this assumption that the view of society was that all young black males were ‘muggers’. (Jones, S, 2009, p.64). The labelling theory would suggest that young black males were then treated differently in society due to the widespread acceptance that they were a danger on the streets. This treatment then directs the ‘perpetrators’, in this case young black males, to elicit the response that society expects. Okoronkwo, N (2008) explains that the media to negatively portray black youths but there is statistical evidence that crime among black youths is a serious issue. In this sense the situation can be looked at differently. The media create a moral panic about a particular group which then is made reality due to self-fulfilling prophecy that subsequently validates the creation of any criminal justice policy based on populism. This therefore challenges the statement that it is indeed based on a ‘crude