crime and the media

Question 1

crime compared with official statistics.

Answer 1

• the media over represents violent and sexual crime (46% about the violent crime compared with 3% recorded to the police)
• media coverage exaggerates police success (violent crime has high success rates)

Question 2

changes in the overage of crime

Answer 2

-1960s focus on murder but less interested in the 1990s . the change came about partly due to abolition of the death penalty , and rising crime rates means crime had to be special.

Question 3

Cohen and Young

Answer 3

news is not discovered but manufactured- outcome of a social process where stores are selected or rejected

Question 4

news values

Answer 4

immediacy “breaking news”

dramatization “excitement”

Question 5

Mandel

Answer 5

(crime books) over 40 years. 10 billion crime thrillers were sold

Question 6

Surette

Answer 6

“law of opposites” opposite of official statistics

1. property crime is underrepresented
2. homicides are a product of greed and not domestic

Question 7

how can the media cause crime

Answer 7

by imitation, arousal, desentation, glamourizing offending

Question 8

Livingstone

Answer 8

people continue to be preoccupied with rime as we regard childhood as a time of innocence

Question 9

1. what does research show there is a link between

Answer 9

there is a link between media use and the fear of crime. Gerbner et al found that heavy users of television (over 40 hours a day) had higher levels of fear of crime

Question 10

does it prove there is a correlation

Answer 10

schiesing and tumber found a correlation between media consumption and fear o crime, with tabloid readers and heavy users of tv expressing greater fear of becoming a victim, especially of physical attack

Question 11

what do left realists argue

Answer 11

argue that mass media help to increase the sense of relative deprivation among poor marginalised groups

Question 12

how do left realists link to merton

Answer 12

this links to Merton as he argues, pressure to conform to the norm can cause deviant behaviour when the opportunity to achieve by legitimate means is blocked

Question 13

what does cultural criminology ague?

Answer 13

the media turn crime itself into the commodity that people desire. rather than simply producing crime in their audiences, the media encourages them to consume crime, in the form images of crime

Question 14

how does hayward and young see modern society as

Answer 14

as a media saturated society, where we are immersed into the “media scape” as an ever expanding tangle of fluid digital images, including images of crime.

Question 15

how is crime used to sell products

Answer 15

corporations use media images of crime to sell products especially in the youth market

Question 16

how do Fenwick and hayward describe crime

Answer 16

crime is packaged and marketed to young people as romantic, existing, cool, fashionable, cultural symbol

Question 17

what is brandalism

Answer 17

graffiti is the marker of deviant urban cool , but corporations now use it in a “guerrilla market” technique called “brandalism” to sell everything from theme parks to video games.

Question 18

how are designer labels linked with deviance

Answer 18

the designer labels valued by young people as badges of identity now function as symbols of deviance. for example some pubs and club refuse entry to indidviduals wearing certain brands

Question 19

moral panic

Answer 19

exaggerated over reaction by society to a perceived problem driven by the media.

Question 20

example of a moral panic

Answer 20

• the media identify a group as a folk devil and then present them in a negative way.
• moral entrepreneurs then condemn their behaviour.
• this can lead to a fulfilling prophecy, creating deviancy amplification spiral.

Question 21

Cohen folk devils and moral panic

Answer 21

> examined the media response to WC teenagers at English seaside resorts
mods: smart dress and scooters
rockers: leather jackets and motor bikes
small scuffle between them-media overstated
1. Distortion: exaggerated the number involved and damage “day of terror”
2. Prediction: assumes further conflict
3. Symbolism: clothes and bikes associated with deviance

Question 22

Deviance amplification spiral

Answer 22

• media’s portrayal of events produced a DAS by making it seem like it was getting out of hand.
• increased control response and stigmatisation
• media defines two identities which led to more people jollying, encouraged polarisation.
• media definition are crucial in creating a moral panic as people rely on this information on things they haven’t experienced

Question 23

When do moral panics occur

Answer 23

Moral panics occur at times of change, reflecting anxieties- result of a boundary crisis e.g. affluence after the war

Question 24

How do functionalists see moral panics

Answer 24

See moral panics as a way of responding to anomie, raises the correct conscience when values are threatened

Question 25

What does Hall believe about moral panics

Answer 25

Hall takes a new-Marxists approach and suggest that moral panics distracts attention from crisis of capitalism and divide WC e.g crisis of muggings

Question 26

Examples of folk devils and moral panics in recent decades

Answer 26

Dangerous dogs, asylum seekers, AIDS

Question 27

Criticisms of moral panics

Answer 27

Who decides what is a proportionate reaction

Why do panics not go once started

Question 28

Wall identifies four categories of cyber crime

Answer 28

1.Cyber trespass-hacking and sabotage
2.cyber deception-identify theft
3.cyber porn- child access
4. Cyber violence-stalking and building
However Also provides greater surveillance for the police

Question 29

Identify three news values that the media use to select crime stores

Answer 29

Immediacy- “breaking news”
Dramatisation- action and excitement
Personalisation- human interest stories and individuals

Question 30

Identify three ways in which the media’s fictional portrayal of crime statistics

Answer 30

Property crime is under-represented while violence, drugs and sex crimes are over represented

While real life homicides mainly result from brawls and domestic disputes, fictional ones are product of greed

Fictional sex crimes are committed by psychopathic strangers