crime and the media Flashcards
How does the media show a distorted image of crime compared to official stats
- the media over represents violent and sexual crime (46% about violent crime compared to 3% recorded by police)
- media portrays criminals/victims as older and more middle class, Felson calls this ‘age fallacy’
- media coverage exaggerates police success (violent crime has higher success rates)
what evidence is there for changes with the media
- widened to drugs, child abuse, terrorism etc
- 1960s focus was on murder but less interest in 1990s
- came about partly due to abolition of the death penalty and rising crime rates meant crime had to be ‘special’
what did cohen and Young argue about news values
news is not discovered but manufacturing - outcome of a social process where stories are selected or rejected
what key values influence the selection of crime stories
examples include:
- dramatization - excitement
- higher-status -celebrities
- risk ‘fear’ - risky articles to shock reader
what does Mandel argue about fictional representations of crime
over 40 years, 10 billion crime thrillers were sold
what does Surrette argue about fictional representations of crime
calls the ‘law of opposites’ argues that fictional representations of crime, criminals and victims are the opposite of official stats
what is argued about fictional representations of crime in books and novels
in books and novels
- property crime is underrepresented
- Homicides are product of greed and not domestic
- sex crimes committed by psychopaths
- cops get their criminal
what are the trends in fictional representations of crime
- reality shows depict on underclass
- there is a tendency to show police as corrupt
- victims have become more central
what concerns are there for the negative impact of crime
- computer games such as GTA has been criticised for increasing violence and criminality
- in the 1920s and 30s, cinema was blamed for corrupting youth
- in the 1950s horror comics were held responsible for moral decline
what ways are there that the media might cause crime and deviance
- desensitisation eg repeated viewing of violence
- imitation
- arousal
what did Livingstone argue about the media as a cause of crime
despite the findings on the negative impact of the media on children, people continue to be preoccupied with the effect of the media on children because of our desire as a society to regard childhood a innocent
what does research show there is a link between in fear of crime
supports the view that there is a link between media use and fear of crime. eg Gerber et al found that heavy users of television had high levels of fear and crime
what did schlesinger and Tumber argue
found that correlation between media consumption and fear of crime, with tabloid readers and heavy users of TV expressing greater fear of becoming a victim, especially a physical attack and mugging
what do left realists argue
that the mass media help to increase the sense of relative deprivation - the felling of being deprived relative to others- among poor and marginalised social groups
how does what left realists argument link to merton
This links to Merton as he argues, pressure conform to the norm can cause deviant behaviour when the opportunity to achieve by legitimate means is blocked. In this instance, the media are instrumental in setting the norm and thus promoting crime
what does cultural criminology argue
argues that the media turn crime itself into the commodity that people desire. Rather than simply producing crime in their audiences, the media encourage them to consume crime, in the form of images of crime
What do Hayward and young see modern society as
see modern society as a media- saturated society, where we are immersed in the ‘media scape’ - an ever explaining tangle of fluid digital images, including images of crime
How is crime used to sell products
corporations and adversities use media images of crime to sell products especially in youth market
How do Fenwick and Hayward describe crime
‘crime is packaged’ + marketed to young people as romantic, exciting, cool, and fashionable cultural symbols
what is brandalism
a ‘guerilla marketing’ technique to sell everything from theme parks to cars and video games. Companies use moral panics, controversy and scandal to market their products
How does designer labels link to deviance
designer labels valued by young people as badges of identity now function as symbols of deviance eg some pubs and clubs refuse entry. Brands become tools of classification for consuming profiles of potential criminals
what is a moral panic
an exaggerated over reaction by society to a perceived problem driven by the media. The media identify a group as folk devils and present them in a negative way. Moral entrepreneurs then condemn their behaviour. This can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy, creating a deviance amplification spiral
what did Cohen argue about mods and rockers
wrote a book about folk devils and moral panics
examined the medias response to WC teenagers at English seaside resorts
what are mods and rockers
mods - smart dressers and scooters
Rockers- leather jackets and motor bikes
* small scuffle between them but the media overreacted
what does Cohen argue that he analogy of a disaster, where the media produce an inventory of what happened creates
contained three elements:
- distortion: exaggerated the numbers involved and damage day of terror
- prediction: assumed further conflict
- symbolism: clothes and bikes associated with deviance
what does Cohen argue that the medias portrayal of events produce
produced a deviance amplification spiral by making it seem like it was getting out of hand. increased controlled response + stigmatisation.
The media further amplified the cycle by defining two identities which led to more people joining, encouraged polarisation
why are media definitions important
media definitions are crucial in creating a moral panic as people rely on this information of things they haven’t experienced
what does Cohen argue about moral panics in wider context
- ## moral panics occur at times of change, reflecting anxieties results of a boundary crisis eg affluence after the war
How do functionalists see moral panics
as a way of responding to anomie, raises collective conscience when values are threatened
what do neo marxists argue about moral panics
Hall- distracts attention from the crisis of capitalism and divide the WC eg crisis of mugging.
Example: asylum seekers, dangerous dogs
what are the AO3 for moral panics
- who decides what is propriate reaction/panicky
- why do panics not go on once started
- late modernity: McRobbie and Thornton - moral panics are now routine, little consensus about what is deviant
what is argued about cyber crime
arrival of the internet has led to fear of cyber crime
what does Wall argue about crime
argues that there are 4 types of crime
- cyber trespass- hacking and sabotage
- cyber deception- identify theft
- cyber porn- access for children
- cyber violence- stalking and bullying
what else does new information and greater technology allow
also provides opportunities for greater surveillance from police
