Criminal Minds Analysis Final copy PDF

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Final comparative analysis...

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Criminal Minds Analysis

Criminal Minds Analysis SOCI 2615H

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Criminal Minds Analysis

The fictional crime-based television show that we are going to be analyzing is Criminal Minds. The episode in particular we chose to do is season 2 episode 16, Fear and Loathing. In the episode, there are 4 deaths of young African American girls in a predominantly white community. The crimes are first portrayed as hate crimes, although it becomes clear that this is not the case. This episode shows how the media impacts and depicts our perception of crimes through racial profiling, as hate crime and racist remarks exhibit the social inequality that is persistent throughout the episode. This episode of criminal minds displays an exaggerated version of racial profiling and crimes in America by portraying the criminal at first as a racist killer, displaying the many stereotypes in racist crimes in America, and the false assumptions that are used to profile them. These stereotypes can be located within the Theory of African American Offending (a strain approach), the policing and crime trends with a focus on racial profiling, and the racial crime statistics in America. In the Criminal Minds episode, there is an exaggerated version of racial profiling in portraying the criminal as a racist killer. Four African-American girls are killed in a predominantly white community which leads to the claim that it is a hate crime. Racial motivation is a factor that is considered by the FBI when investigating the case as the victims are African American so it is considered that the killer would be as well. They later find out that hate was not the motive, and that hate crimes are political whereas this is personal, as the motive of the unsub is purely sexual gratification. These stereotypes are present in the strain approach, theory of African American Offending, as offending is related to the degree to which they encounter racial injustices, strain and can trigger criminal involvement (Lilly, Cullen & Ball, pg. 82, 2015). This is shown in the episode as they discover the unsub is a black male killer, aged 20-35. Through this approach, Young American males are marked by a concentrated disadvantage when it comes to being involved in crime within the states. Homicide is the leading

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Criminal Minds Analysis

cause of death among African Americans (Lilly, et.al, p.82, 2015), which was present in the episode with the killing of young African American girls. Therefore, racial inequality that is present in the theory of African American Offending still persists in society today. This episode also exhibits the three traditional roles of policing and crime prevention, although they are exaggerated in this episode. The three roles include, crime control (catching criminals), order maintenance (keeping the peace) and service (providing assistance) (Torrens, Policing and Crime Prevention, 2018). An accurate representation of policing and crime prevention is not portrayed in this episode, but rather a distorted image allowing the audience to think that this is what crime, policing and the role of FBI is, in reality. It shows catching the criminals, the first part of the traditional roles of policing, in this case it is the young African American male, but the way the FBI discovers who the criminal is does not depict what it would be like in reality. They are able to conclude right away that it is a young black male, aged 20-35 who is a sexually motivated killer, and soon after they get a source from another victim and locate him. If this was a real crime investigation this would not happen as fast and this creates a false depiction of how policing and investigations work. There is a great deal of racial profiling shown in the episode, depicting that because the victims are black, the killer is as well. It does not do an adequate job in showing how the police deal with situations like this and the ways in which they provide their services. The episode creates a strong depiction of crime statistics in the United States, and although this episode was an exaggeration of crime in the United States, the information they used to form the episode was rather relevant and correct. The FBI began with the investigation, as it was a crime against race and a possible hate crime. To analyze this episode using crime statistics the FBI Uniform Crime Reports are a good place to start. Law enforcement agencies conclude that 3,081 single-bias hate crime offences were racially motivated in 2014 as 63.5%

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Criminal Minds Analysis

were motivated by anti-black or African American bias and of 40 offences on gender bias 28 were female (Uniform Crime Report, 2014). The episode supports American crime reality through the display of racial crimes and the policing of these events. As indicated within lecture, racial profiling occurs when members of certain racial groups are subject to greater surveillance than other citizens (Torrens, Race, Ethnicity and Crime, 2018). The murderers socialization as an African American is important to consider because his race has implications within the criminal justice system. The FBI use many stereotypes and assumptions to analyze the crime such as: African American male violent crime rates, gender assumptions and socially constructed depictions of African American individuals. This caused him to be more susceptible to be investigated for these crimes due to his race; therefore, there is a lack of sociological analysis on behalf of the investigators (Lilly, et.al, p.67, 2015). The killer clearly displays a stereotypical life of an African American male, making it challenging to escape stereotypes when it involves violent crime. As this is an American show, the reflection of Canadian reality is not as evident. We have discussed in lecture that the United States encompasses the Prison Industrial Complex, as Canada does not. In this case, they have more corporate increases in their prison population, as well as private prisons (Torrens, Prison Industrial Complex, 2018). Therefore, there might be a higher risk of racial profiling tactics such as stop and search in the United States compared to Canada because of the need to fill their prisons. This would explain the level of racialized crime in the episode, and the profiling of the murderer as they are using stereotypes and assumptions that have formed these statistics. Although this episode of Criminal Minds is largely an exaggeration of the real policing and investigations that occur in the United States, it can still have a great impact on the viewers understanding. As we learned in week 1, media influences what we think about crime and how we perceive it (Torrens, Crime and Society, 2018). The exaggeration of the legal system can give

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Criminal Minds Analysis

viewers a false depiction of reality and even invoke fear that is not necessary. Criminal Minds focuses on gruesome murder cases, often serial killings that are not as common to society as a whole, despite what the show displays. The FBI investigates and arrests the criminal in under forty minutes to make the show appealing to viewers. This can also give an audience false hope as some crimes are often not solved as easily. Finally, this episode can be viewed as enforcing stereotypes, as the racial profiling displays negative stereotypes toward African Americans. This could be damaging to viewers who are unaware of these social issues, such as racial inequality. In conclusion, the fictional crime-based television series, Criminal Minds, depicts a degree of social inequality through racialized crime. The mentions of hate crime, racist remarks and false assumptions on the part of the FBI exhibits social inequality. Being a form of media, this can be potentially dangerous as it gives false hope and a distorted understanding of policing and crime. Through an analysis on this episode using the theory of African American Offending, policing and crime prevention trends, racial profiling and racial crime statistics in America, it concludes that this episode is an exaggerated version of policing and crime prevention in America.

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Criminal Minds Analysis

References Lilly, J. R., Ball, R. A., & Cullen, F.T. (2015). Criminological Theory: context and consequences. Los Angeles: Sage Torrens, E. (2018) Crime and Society, Week 1 (Lecture Notes) Torrens, E. (2018) Policing and Crime Prevention, Week 4 (Lecture Notes) Torrens, E. (2018) Prison Industrial Complex, Week 8 (Lecture Notes) Torrens, E. (2018) Race, Ethnicity and Crime, Week 10 (Lecture Notes) Uniform Crime Reports. (2015, October 27). Incidents and Offenses. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://ucr.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2014/topicpages/incidentsandoffenses_final

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