Crime Drama Themes

Crime dramas often use the same pattern of themes. For example Dunne (2006) suggests these five key binaries:

1: Crime <=> Police
2: Criminals <=> Justice system
3: Lawyers <=> Courts
4: Social workers <=> Police
5: Victims <=> Public

The way the the stories are told is much like in medical and hosipital dramas. The main detectives or characters who appear in every episode have their own story lines, while each episode is different due to the range of criminals.
The themes also normally based on themes relevant in todays life and can often border on current affairs. Crime dramas often also carry a moral that normally becomes clear at the end.
Crime dramas are also very careful not to promote crime, but to make sure that it is portrayed by the aduience as being morally wrong.