Crime And The Media Flashcards
Representation of crime in the media
-over represents violence and sexual crimes (extreme crimes), 46% of reported crime but only makes up 3% of crime. Felson- dramatic fallacy
-overexaggerates police success- to represent police I’m good lighy
-exxagerates risk of being a victim- especially to white m/c women even though young w/c black men more likely to be victims.
-age fallacy- Felson - portrays victims and offenders as older and more m/c when most are young.
What is the backward law of crime
Surrette - the media portrays crime opposite to crime in reality.
Show crime in the media is a social construction
Left realists and marxits opinion in crime in the media
Left realist- ignores that most offenders and victims are w/c
Marxist - conceal white collar crime and corporate crime (hides crimes of the powerful)
What are news values and list them
Criteria that makes a story news worthy or not
Dramatization- exciting and interesting for viewers.
Higher-status- celebrities
Violence- especially with images
Children- shocking for viewers
Simplification- easily understood not overly complicated
Sex- with women as victims
The more news values a story has more likely it is to make the news eg James bulger - violence, children
Jimmy Savile high status, children, sex
The media as a cause of crime
Imitation- provides devient role models that people may copy eg James bolger and child’s play the movie. «_space;bobo doll experiment
Desensitization- repeated viewing of sex and violence
Advertising unaffordable goods - robbery
Transmitting knowledge of criminal techniques.
Glamourising crime in movies, music etc
Media creating new crimes
Reiner-
Internet bullying, stalking, child porn, grooming children, fraud.
However media also helps crimes come to light eg #metoo movement helped women come out about rapes
Media and relative deprivation
Media glamorises a materialistic expensive lifestyle through influencers and advertisements causes relative deprivation amounts the poorer people who can’t get these things through legitimate means leading them to turn to crime to attain thus lifestyle.
Strain theory and left realists
Crime as a commodity
Young and Hayward
- crime is marketed to young people as exiting, fashionable eg adverts that encourage graffiti, joy riding.
- digital media has turned crime into something that is desirable eg rap music videos movies that encourage this lifestyle.
-cause crime as people stage crime for media to gain views and followers eg fights
Media exaggerates fear of crime
Fear of being a victim increased by reporting crime in an unrealistic way eg over reporting violent sexual crimes especially towards women even though men more likely to be victim.
What is Moral panic and how does it work
Wide spread feelings of anxiety or concern that exaggerate a fear of certain crimes and the risk to them.
-media identify something as a threat
-the threat is over-reported in the media
-this causes public concern
-the CJS are pushed to do something about the threat
-the media reports on the crackdown by the CJS creates self-fulfilling prophecy
Causing more panic and further police activity
-media continues to report, police activity continues to increase and public get more and more panicked.
Mods and rockers study
Cohen-
Mods smartly dressed. Rockers leather clothes
Small disturbance between the two groups was exaggerated and distorted by the media which led to increased police and public concern.
-police made more arrests, media reported the more violence, youths identified with either group for support which lead to further disturbances.
-so more police and more media coverage = moral panic
Caused deviancy amplification spiral - moral panic amplifies deviance as media labels someone as a threat causes police and public concern = marginalisation of the threat = self fulfilling prophecy
Positive effects of media on crime
-helps solve crime - BBC eg showing missing people
-alerts public of crimes eg fraud, robbery’s
-media campaigns eg #metoo put pressure on police and gov to act on crimes.
Evaluation of media as a cause of crime
✅- supporting study of imitation BOBO doll experiment
❌-only applicable to less extreme crimes- you can’t justify someone killing or raping someone on the media over representing violence.
Evaluation of moral panic
❌-implies crime is constructed by the media and made a threat.
Takes away from the seriousness of crime and the suffering it has on the victims that is real
