To what extent does Surette’s (1998) ‘law of opposites’ accurately summarise the relationship between media representations of crime and the picture conveyed by official statistics?

This is a summative piece of assessment, to be submitted in Week 16. Students must choose one of the essay questions provided. The options relate to all the key themes and issues dealt with during the module. The word count for the assessment is c. 3,000 words.

Important: Referencing your work appropriately is crucial. When you quote directly from any source, you must reference the quotation – including the author’s name, date of publication and page number, in the text. This should follow the Harvard format and appear at the end of the quote in brackets.

QUESTION:

To what extent does Surette’s (1998) ‘law of opposites’ accurately summarise the relationship between media representations of crime and the picture conveyed by official statistics?

Book to reference and to add in the essay:

-Law and order news: an analysis of crime reporting in the British press
by Steve Chibnall,1977

-The manufacture of news: social problems, deviance and the mass media
edited by Stanley Cohen; Jock Youn 1981

-Criminal visions: media representations of crime and justice
edited by Paul Mason