소년범죄에 대한 언론 보도에서 부정적 어휘와 통계자료 제시 여부가 일반인의 소년범죄 인식에 미치는 영향

Abstract

This study was conducted to find out the difference in the general public''s perception of juvenile crimes according to whether negative vocabulary and statistical data are presented in news articles on juvenile crimes. After 176 people in their 20s and older were randomly assigned to one of the four groups with or without negative vocabulary x statistical data, they responded to questions asking for juvenile criminal recognition. As a result of the study, in some dependent variables, the main- and interaction-effects of independent variables were significant. First, when juvenile crime was negatively described in a newspaper article on juvenile crime, the rate of juvenile crime felt when statistical data were presented (vs. than when it was not presented), and the possibility of criminal damage was evaluated low. This suggests the possibility that distorted perceptions of juvenile delinquency (overvaluation of juvenile delinquency rate, vague fear of crime) that can be caused by media reports on juvenile delinquency, which is described negatively, can be corrected by objective statistical data. Based on these results, the significance of this study and future research were discussed.