Is what we see in the media an accurate depiction of crime and justice in America?" "Before you answer that question, you might want to read this book. For many of us, our only contact with crime and criminal justice is what we learn from the mass media. What we see on television and in the movies, read in newspapers and magazines, and hear on the radio about criminal offenders, victims, and the criminal justice system formulates our opinions and even our subconscious perceptions about the nature of crime." "Popular Culture, Crime, and Justice closely examines how the criminal justice system is presented in the mass media from a variety of perspectives and, along the way, helps us to sort out our own thinking about the validity of this information.