Sense and penal values in the contemporaneity: the search for the needed links of thinking between media and criminal justice

Abstract

Research in the area of communication and media, on the one hand, and in crime and criminal justice, on the other, has been investing in understanding the relationship between their subjects of study. This has been, however, an investment marked by mutual disregard, if not by mutual distrust, despite sharing theoretical and methodological influences and intellectual concerns. In this article, we bring into play some theories about criminal values and senses, whose interest in issues of justice, communication and culture and in the place of the media in the social system, have helped to bring together these areas of study. By emphasizing the relevance of these proposals, we demonstrate the indispensability of this thinking to better understand and resolve the tensions between media and justice. We will do it in particular stating the results of two empirical studies of media coverage of cases of legal reform based on press analyses.