Film at eleven: Recent developments in the commodification of crime

Abstract

Recent increases in the number of crime‐related commodities (e.g., burglar alarms, security systems, private security forces, and crime‐related television news programs) are critically examined in relation to mildly fluctuating national crime rates. Increasing sales of crime‐related and target‐hardening products during the time when crime oscillated only slightly are explained as capitalism's ability to create commodities from both social problems and unfounded needs. Using secondary data, I describe these crime trends and the consumption of crime‐prevention goods. Although the media apparently contributed to increasing concerns about victimization while crime was fairly stable, the process of commodity exchange for crime goods is far from simply a media‐induced phenomenon. This article relies on a critical and dialectical approach as a way of analyzing these contradictory developments.