An unresolved research question regarding crime and justice policy is the relationship between
an individual’s media consumption and their support for punitive and preventive criminal justice
policies. The relationship between media, crime, and justice is under-examined in countries other
than the United States and Britain and the relationship between media and criminal justice policy
support remains less than fully understood in all locales. In response, an examination of a media–
policy relationship in a Western democracy not previously studied was conducted. Based on data
from an October 2005 national telephone survey of Trinidad and Tobago residents, this study
measured support for punitive and preventive criminal justice policies in association with crime and
justice media consumption and worldviews. Multivariate analysis showed that, for Trinidadians,
support for punitive policies was significantly related to perceiving television crime dramas as
realistic and crime news as accurate. For preventive policy support, the same media factors plus
the level of exposure to crime dramas on television were significant. Overall, media were found
to play similar but not especially strong roles in support levels for both punitive and preventive
criminal justice policies.