Fiction

Media Sensationalism and the False Narrative of a Youth Crime Wave

News media, often steered by law enforcement public relations offices, prosecutors, and some politicians, are driving a false narrative in Massachusetts and nationwide that youth crime is on the rise. Indeed, this inaccurate narrative reflects how Americans view crime in the nation as a whole. A National Online Survey organized by the Center for American Progress reported that 32% of Americans characterize crime in the country as “an immediate crisis,” and 56% characterize crime as “a major problem, but not a crisis.”

In stark contrast to the police/media narrative, Fiction: Media Sensationalism and the False Narrative of a Youth Crime Wave presents publicly available data to show that youth crime has declined significantly over the last 15 years in Massachusetts and has continued to decline over the last three years. Since the early 2000's, juvenile arrests, applications for complaint, and gun-carrying among Massachusetts youth has decreased steadily. This decrease in crime among youth has continued in the COVID-19 era, as nearly every process point in the juvenile legal system decreased in use between fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2021.

While youth crime has decreased, a youth mental health crisis has emerged nationwide. Research has established that involvement in the juvenile legal system is not the answer to this problem; rather, a Positive Youth Development approach is the most effective way to achieve better outcomes for young people and increased public safety.

Recommendations:

  1. The Massachusetts Legislature should not increase the use of the juvenile legal system based on this false narrative.

  2. The Massachusetts Legislature should raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction: CfJJ encourages Massachusetts lawmakers to pass legislation that would raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 18- to 20-year-olds.

  3. Individual municipalities should not use this false narrative to increase police budgets.

  4. The media should stop pushing the narrative that crime is rising among youth based on certain anecdotal perspectives rather than concrete data.

Tips for Reporting on Youth Crime

CfJJ spoke to Colleen Shaddox, an award winning (National Newspaper Association and National Association of Science Writers) journalist and consultant to the National Campaign to Reform State Juvenile Justice System on best practice approaches reporters can take in covering youth crime.

  1. Use data. Don’t say there have been a “rash” of incidents; say there have been four in six months.

  2. Put incidents in context. When covering youth crime, explain the big-picture downward trend.

  3. Go beyond only using law enforcement sources. Talk with young people themselves or people who work with and advocate for them.

  4. When a source says “lock ‘em up!” put that in context. There is an ocean of research that shows youth incarceration makes communities less – not more – safe.

  5. If you are doing a deep dive on youth crime, look at young people’s lives. How many youths have been pushed out of school in the community you are covering? What’s the youth unemployment rate there? How do the number of parks, libraries, etc. compare with nearby communities? Crime prevention is not just law enforcement.

  6. Ask police leadership tough questions to expose racialized policing practices. One recent list of questions from the Executive Director of Civil Rights Corps includes: “Do you have any reason to believe that usage of illegal drugs is higher among Black people than White people in this city? Why do you focus your narcotics operations, undercover narcotics operations, and arrests on poor people and people of color almost exclusively?

  7. Write about people, programs, and policies that have kept youth out of the juvenile legal system, and ask them why they do the work they do.