Vermummte Männer mit Brecheisen bei Nacht

Starting from the assumption that our understanding of the world is significantly conveyed through pictures, this paper addresses the question how discourses on crime and security influence its portrayal in media visualizations and vice versa. Using domestic burglary as an example, we examine this question by drawing on the documentary interpretation of pictures developed by Bohnsack, a method that enables social scientific access to the intrinsic meaning of pictures and how this meaning is communicated. An exemplary analysis of the cover design of the news magazine "Der Spiegel" is presented on the subject. In a second step, the findings of this analysis are contrasted with criminological findings on the subject. Results reveal that utilizing the inner logic of pictures could provide a powerful methodical approach for criminological research.