This is a class discussion post that needs to be approximately 2-5 paragraphs in length. 

***Discussion Post should be followed accordingly each question asked needs to be answered.

********I will post the students response below.  With the Student response it should be 1 paragraph in length reply to the students disccusion.

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

********************Discussion Post*****************

As discussed in this module, citizens consistently perceive crime as increasing and consider it a very serious issues.  However, actual rates of crime have been steadily decreasing over the past few decades.

What factors might explain this phenomena?  What potential actions could be undertaken to help change citizens’ perspectives on crime?

************************ Student Response #1 ***************************

Crime decreasing could be a factor of many things. One factor is that security is tighter now and anyone and everyone can own a gun. Maybe you have seen it yourself, anything and everything can have a camera attached to it, like when you ring the doorbell “Hey Alexa, show me the front door”, or you have a dash cam that monitors every time anyone is in the car. We have taken it into our hands to be accountable if our family or possessions are are risk. Social media can also be a factor as well. Anytime a crime is committed, for example and child get abducted/almost does we will see “share” after “share” alerting us where and when the crime was committed so that we don’t make the same mistake by letting out kids play outside unsupervised. Not only does social media help us prevent a crime to be committed, but we can also spread awareness of who committed the crime and this could scare them. I think one way we think crime feels like it is increasing is because we see it in the media often. Every time we watch the news its 2 hour long of crimes after crimes being committed. One potential way we could change the perspective on citizens is not blowing up every crime that happens on the media, i do believe things should get attention but others shouldn’t haven’t to be on the news for 4 weeks at a time. 

************************ Student Response #2 ***************************

As every other post has stated, media is truly the core of the problem here. “If it bleeds, it leads” is the saying because negative news brings in dollars due to the very human inability to avoid horrifying topics once they are brought up (like car wrecks, public executions, war); media stations rely on their viewers to make money, so of course they would linger on the “bad news.” Apart from the media, the prison system itself can have a significant impact on citizen perception–as one poster remarked, people see high rates of incarcerations and make assumptions, even if those incarcerated have only been so due to non-violent crimes such as possession of controlled substances. This is perpetuated by for-profit, privatized prisons, for whom negative media coverage of crime almost serves as advertising. Politicians can easily rely on “I’m tough on crime” slogans because citizens can easily understand this sort of topic; it is harder to explain tax laws to people with no interest in tax laws, regardless of whether they utilize tax-funded services or not. There are a few ways to help change citizens’ perspectives on crime. One simple way could be a “negative coverage cap” for the largest networks that citizens rely on for news; positive news should be as frequently spread as negative. Additionally, the approach to incarceration must be changed–private prisons should be banned, politicians should limit emphasis on incarceration, and non-violent crimes should not lead to incarceration (regional restitution centers, for example, could be excellent alternatives, if organized well with a comprehensive financial plan that requires little funding by the government and more funding or investment by the residents of these centers–they could be responsible for cooking and cleaning for themselves, etc.).