CRIM 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Information Management, Top Cops, Unsolved Mysteries
10 Sep 2017
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Chapter 1: the social construction of crime myths. Scholars in many disciplines look at the origins, diffusion, and consequences of social issues that capture the public"s attention. 2 very different perspectives explain the existence of a social problem: individuals who have vested interests in an issue bring the problem to the public"s attention. These people have been characterized as claim-makers , moral entrepreneurs , political activists , social pathologists and issue energizers . They usually advocate formal social policy to address the new problem, which they feel is real, unique in its characteristics and grave in its consequences: people who study the construction of social problems. These people view social problems as constructed from collective definitions rather than from individual views and perceptions. Social problems are composite constructions based on accumulated perceptions and presentations of information. Myth is a traditional story (often of unknown authorship) with a historical basis that explains some practice, belief, or event.
