The Role of Mass Media in Crime Prevention

Health and security are two cornerstones of human social life. Naturally, humankind has long tried to achieve these two goals as promised by God in the Holy Quran: “Enter in security and health” (15:46).No one can question the prominent role of mass media (press, radio, TV, etc) in development and advancement of human society. Mass media largely contribute to communication of knowledge, ideas, culture, and conventions among nations; a capability that comes from such features as reaching mass audience, dissemination of information, fast distribution of information and news, and continuous spread on information on variety of issues. On the positive side, media are powerful tools to provide information and make individuals sensitive to and aware of issues that can affect their social and individual lives at different levels; however, some media do not serve social interests and, in other words, do not cover main issues or what society basically holds; they have moved away from playing their positive roles, that is conveying established values and norms, proper dissemination of information to citizens, and serving as a link between government and the public, and found negative, or at least, non-useful application. Given these conditions, crime can be regarded as a major issue whose connection to negative or positive roles played by the media should be examined.