Crime and the Media

Question 1

What is the Penological Perspective of Justice?

Answer 1

The study of prisons, pragmatic side (dealing with things sensibly and realistically), what works in reducing crime

Question 2

What is the Philosophical Perspective of Justice?

Answer 2

Justice must be seen to be done, what is just? just is ‘what is proportional to the blameworthiness of the offender’ which does not satisfy the public

Question 3

What is the Sociological Perspective of Justice?

Answer 3

• Punishment is an ensemble of social forces and has significance that reaches well beyond the population of criminals
• The sociology of punishment should inform us about the social forces that penal processes and the various social consequences that these processes in turn produce
• General public interested in punishment - does it fit the crime?

Question 4

What are the two working forces inside of us according to Durkheim?

Answer 4

1. Our desire to forward our personal goals and objectives

2. To do good for the social collective (moral compass)

Question 5

Explain Durkheim’s two working forces?

Answer 5

• Punishment tells us that it is worthwhile to not break the laws, we are making the right decision by looking after the social good and social order
• Modern punishment is aimed at expressing, educating and reassuring the public
• Punishment is not for the person who committed the crime but to reaffirm our beliefs in the social good

Question 6

What does public punitiveness mean?

Answer 6

The public has a view that sentencing is too lenient due to a lack of information

Question 7

What is the problem with the media?

Answer 7

• Media does an injustice by not providing all the information/facts
• Media are more likely to publish aggravating factors than they are mitigating factors

Question 8

What is cultivation theory?

Answer 8

• Cultivation theory suggests that widespread fear of crime is enhanced by the media
• Fear is as important as crime itself - it affects and impacts more people than crime

Question 9

The vast majority of crime is…

Answer 9

• Minor offences perpetuated by family, friends and acquaintances

Question 10

What is the differential reception thesis?

Answer 10

• The media cultivates an unrealistic picture of crime
• The degree of cultivation depends upon variables such as belief systems and social environments
• Some people will be more receptive to this message than other people
• 4 associated hypotheses

Question 11

What are the four hypothesises of differential reception thesis?

Answer 11

1. Substitution hypothesis
2. Resonance hypothesis
3. Affinity hypothesis
4. Vulnerability hypothesis

Question 12

Explain substitution hypothesis?

Answer 12

The effect of cultivation will be stronger in an absence of personal experience - those who have not experienced victimisation

Question 13

Explain resonance hypothesis?

Answer 13

The effect of cultivation will be stronger in the presence of personal experience - those who have experienced victimisation

Question 14

Explain affinity hypothesis?

Answer 14

The effect of cultivation will be greater for those who resemble victims - the closer you are to the victim, the more you will be scared of crime

Question 15

Explain vulnerability hypothesis?

Answer 15

The effect of cultivation will be greater for those who feel most vulnerable e.g. the elderly, disabled

Question 16

What is herostratic fame?

Answer 16

• Fame deliberately acquired by destructive means

- Seeking notoriety (famousness)

Question 17

What is body count journalism?

Answer 17

• The tendency for media to report sensational offences rather than mundane offences
• Notoriety (famousness) achieved by sensational offences
• Media can contribute towards crime

Question 18

Explain the term ‘folk devil’

Answer 18

When a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests, its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media

Question 19

What is deviancy amplification spiral?

Answer 19

• Behaviour begins as a relatively minor deviance but amplifies into more serious criminal behaviour due to heavy handed intervention by control agencies
• Includes primary & secondary deviance

Question 20

What is primary deviance?

Answer 20

The initial breaking of the law, deviant behaviour committed before the application of a deviant label

Question 21

What is secondary deviance?

Answer 21

• Deviant behaviour committed in response to or because of a label that has been applied to an individual
• Deviant acts that occur after labelling and in response to labelling from control agencies such as police and media

Question 22

What are Wall’s four classifications of cybercrime?

Answer 22

1. Cyber-trespass: crossing boundaries into other people’s property and or causing damage e.g. hacking, defacement, viruses
2. Cyber-deceptions and thefts: stealing (money, property) e.g. credit card fraud, intellectual property violations (piracy). Phishing - large scale email frauds that use what on the surface appears to be legitimate electronic letters from banks and building societies
3. Cyber-pornography: breaching laws on obscenity and indecency, posting images
4. Cyber-violence: doing psychological harm to or inciting physical harm against others thereby breaching laws relating to the protection of the person e.g. hate speech, stalking