Beyond the Hall of Mirrors: Mediated Representation of Crime

Criminological literature that is shedding light on the intersections between criminality and its mediated representation has been growing exponentially in the past decade. The topic that was once timidly looming on the margins of crime studies is now rightfully considered an established area of criminological attention. Yet, despite the diversified and ever-growing consideration for the power of the image, the role of social media, the performative character of illicit behavior as well as studies of crime representation often lack a firm theoretical backbone and output. To counter that deficiency - while offering an incentive for future theorizing, this presentation departs from cultural criminology and communication studies and uses case study examples of crime-related phenomena that have attracted great media attention recently. It advocates for a comprehensive conceptualization of mediated crime representation that takes into account will-to-representation on the micro level, structural determinants of media business and wider forces linked to the consequences of deep mediatization.