Crime - crime & media Flashcards
representation of crime - how are sex over-exaggerated in media
harper & hogue - sex crimes make up 20% of all crime in media but only make up 2% of crime. big stories can trigger crime e.g after jimmy saville there was a 300% of sex crimes reported
representation of crime - whats an example of sex crimes taking over the media
metoo movement - many other crimes happened during this but werent covered
representation of crime - whats an evaluation of sex crimes in the media
sexual crimes could be argued as one of the worst crimes, so perhaps it deserves focus
representation of crime - how are age and class over-exaggerated in media
media over-represents victims as older and m/c, something felson calls ‘age fallacy’, whereas stats show victims of crime more likely to be w/c (16-24)
representation of crime - what are examples of over-representation of class and age in media
2008/9 youth knife crimes were heavily covered, led to a moral panic? abt young ppl
representation of crime - whats an evaluation for class and age in the media
grenfell tower had heavy coverage and was mainly w/c victims
representation of crime - how does media exaggerate risks of being a victim
women, white ppl and higher status ppl shown to be most at risk, when its often young bme males
representation of crime - example of media exaggerating victims
metoo movement covered white high-status women
representation of crime - whats an eval for media exaggeration
is it the readers fault for making the connection between reporting of crimes and becoming a victims, not the medias
representation of crime - whats missing white woman syndrome
missing person cases involving young m/c white women often get more coverage than others
representation of crime - how are extraordinary crimes overplayed
felson - called a dramatic fallacy. crime is seen to be clever ‘ingenuity fallacy’. e.g (ao2) catch me if you can, oceans 8
representation of crime - whats an evaluation for extraordinary crimes being overplayed
theres a difference between film and news, also even if the news over-represent sexual crimes, they never say its clever
representation of crime - how does media over-exaggerate police success
police are major source for crimes stories and want to be painted in a good light e.g (ao2) media over-representing violent crime which is far more likely to be solved than e.g property crime
representation of crime -example of media coverage of police failure
sarah everard case, murderer had multiple sexual assault allegations against him but was not taken seriously by police
media as a cause of crime - how does this lead to materialism
media presents images of people with a perfect life, leads to experiencing material dep then relative dep, people may turn to illegitimate means to solve this
media as a cause of crime - whats an example of china preventing materialsim
china has ban on celebrities showing off their wealth on social media
media as a cause of crime - how does this lead to desentisitation
media exposes people to violent crime regularly, could lead to ppl feeling less sensitive abt crime n make them more likely to commit e.g violent video games
media as a cause of crime - whats an evaluation of desensitisation
exposure to violent video games doesnt make ppl less violent - data of more than 21000 young ppl across the world found no correlation
media as a cause of crime - imitation
viewers of media may attempt to recreate the crimes they see, leads to ‘copycat’ crimes e.g eddie seda killer in the 80s copied zodiac killer
media as a cause of crime - example of imitation crime
2008, several teens were arrested after crime spree , said they were inspired by gta v
media as a cause of crime - arousal
violent and sexual imagery in media may ‘stimulate’ potential criminals, lead to them committing crimes such as rape.
media as a cause of crime - what are sensation seekers (arousal)
those who have more stimulation are more prone to sensation seeking, suggesting ppl may be prone to deviant behaviour
media as a cause of crime - knowledge
people can learn criminal techniques through media by watching tv shows or communicating through media e.g breaking bad , drug crimes
media as a cause of crime - whats the csi affect (knowledge)
some tv shows such as csi changed the way jurors thought about forensic evidence, jurors may then expect more from forensic evidence in cases & can give them false confidence, influecing their choices (could lead to wrongful convictions)
media as a cause of crime - eval of knowedge
crime shows are highly dramaticised. also many criminals dont make it to a courtroom w a jury and they arent solved in a few days
whats moral panic
an exaggerated over-reaction by society to a perceived problem
stages of moral panic
media identify a group as folk devils or threat to societal values, media portrays them negatively and ‘respectable ppl’ e.g politicians condem this behaviour towards them
how does media create moral panic - exaggeration and distortion
exaggerate number of ppl involved and extent of violence / damage been done as it makes for a more interesting story
how does media create moral panic - prediction
regularly predicts further violence and conflicts will occur
how does media create moral panic - symbolisation
creates symbols for folk devils which are all negatively labelled e.g deviant subcultures as gangs
whats deviance amplification spiral
the way levels of deviance or crime can be increased by the societal reaction to deviance itself. cause a spiral of deviance
evaluation of media causing moral panic
are audience just passive recipients of what the media portrays or can they change it and how they react to it? why are some things justified as a moral panic but some other crimes r not
