A Call for Change: The Social Construction of crime, accountability, and police reform.

Crime in the media is often shaped by social constructionism, which is a theoretical framework that our perceptions of reality are shaped by the social and cultural contexts in which we live. Claim makers utilize concepts of social constructionism to support a narrative of an issue that is out of control and to ignite action on the part of the citizens and the government to save and restore faith in humanity. This paper deconstructs a crime committed to show the concepts used to make this social construction a reality and help society adapt and want to change the future of policing. This crime was linked to prior cases of abuse of power and racially motivated attacks by police officers that support the enactment of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Social construction has a greater chance of being accepted by society when there are reputable individuals who support the claim, the claim is easy to understand, individuals can visualize themselves in the situation, the claim incites some form of fear or other emotion, and the claim is repeatedly proven to be true when comparing with other cases of the same nature. The proposed solution to the social construction is that police reform is vital to reduce racial prejudice and ensure that police are accountable for their misconduct