Crime & the media

Question 1

What key patterns have been identified of the medias role in shaping public perceptions of crime?

Answer 1

• media overrepresent violent crimes > Ditton & Duffy show how violent & sexual crimes are disproportionately reported compared to their actual occurrence in OS
• media exaggerates victimisation >to women, white people & upper class
• media exaggerates police success > want to present them in a good light

Question 2

What do sociologist argue about news values & crime coverage?

Answer 2

• The distorted portrayal of crime in the media results from the way journalists and editors select stories > news is a social construction/manufactured > Cohen & Young
• Crime reporting follows “news values” – criteria determining what makes a story newsworthy > represent the manufacturing of the news
  Key News Values
• Immediacy – ‘Breaking news’ makes crime appear urgent and dangerous
• Dramatisation – Sensational stories attract more attention.
• Personalisation – Focus on human-interest aspects rather than social causes
• Risk – Crimes that create fear (e.g., terrorism) are more newsworthy
• Violence – More violent crimes receive more coverage

Question 3

What is also argued about fictional representations of crime?

Answer 3

• the media does not just report on crime; it also shapes perceptions through fiction, TV, films, and books often reinforce myths about crime.
• fictional representations of crime follow what Surette calls the ‘Law of Opposites’ > opposites of OS
• e.g. Property crime is underrepresented in fiction
• Violent and sexual crimes are overrepresented
• Fictional criminals are often psychopaths or masterminds
• Fictional cops usually get their man

Question 4

Evaluation of news values and fictional representations of crime

Answer 4

• both in the news and in fiction, certain groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, w/c or young people) are often portrayed as more likely to engage in criminal behavior > stereotypes can lead to racial profiling, discrimination, and a generalization of criminality to whole groups of people
• Some crimes are either ignored or underreported in both fictional media and news coverage, e.g. white-collar crime (fraud, corruption) & corporate crime are often overlooked in favor of more sensationalized portrayals of street crime
• Left realists argue that while media distortions exist, they also highlight real risks making the public more cautious

Question 5

In what ways may the media cause crime & deviance?

Answer 5

• imitation > by providing deviant role models in which people may copy
• desensitisation> repeated exposure to violence may make people less sensitive to its consequences > more likely to engage in it
• transmission of criminal techniques > the media teach individuals how to commit crime
• portraying police as incompetent
• Schramm > television is neither harmful nor beneficial for children

Question 6

Evaluation of media being a cause of crime

Answer 6

• ignores the positive of media effects > some research suggests violent media can reduce crime by providing a safe outlet for aggression (catharsis theory)
• structural factors like poverty are likely to be more significant than the media in causing crime

Question 7

How does the media cause a fear of crime and what research supports this?

Answer 7

• the media exaggerates the amount and severity of crime > causing the public to perceive crime as more common and dangerous than it actually is
• This is particularly true for vulnerable groups, such as women & the elderly, who are often portrayed as victims in media coverage
  research to support these claims:
• Gerbner et al found that heavy TV viewers (watching 4+ hours a day) had greater fear of crime.
• Schlesinger & Tumber > found that tabloid readers and those who watch TV news frequently experience more fear of violent crime (e.g., physical attacks, muggings)
• However, it acknowledges that fear of crime may not always be caused by media—people who are already fearful may consume more crime-related content

Question 8

Evaluation of the media causing fear

Answer 8

• postmodernists > people are active consumers of media & do not passively accept media narrative > audiences interpret messages

Question 9

How may the media cause crime? (relative deprivation)

Answer 9

• argues that media promotes materialistic values and high-status lifestyles, increasing relative deprivation (feeling deprived compared to others)
• this frustration can lead to crime, particularly among poorer and marginalised groups
• supported by Lea & Young > argue that mass media has created a “standardised image of lifestyle” based on consumer goods and wealth e.g. leisure, fun
• as a result , Unemployed & low-wage workers feel excluded from this ideal > lead them to commit crime as a way of achieving status or acquiring goods as their opportunities to achieve legitimately are blocked (Merton)
• media instrumental in setting the norm & promoting crime

Question 10

Evaluation of the media, relative deprivation and crime

Answer 10

• supports Merton’s strain theory
• ignores non material causes of crime e.g. violent crimes or hate crimes are not motivated by consumerism
• not passively influence by the media

Question 11

What do cultural criminologists argue about how the media may cause crime?

Answer 11

• they argue that the media doesn’t just report crime but actively creates & markets crime as a desirable commodity
• Hayward & Young> in a media saturated society the distinction between reality & crime becomes blurred > media turns crime into something to be consumed as a spectacle
• e.g. gang assaults are performed for the camera knowing they’ll go viral (thrill & attention) > leading to more deviant behaviour
• crime is also turned into a marketable product by corporations e.g. Hip-hop music, fashion brands, & advertisements use crime-related imagery to sell products > Fenwick & Hayward – argue that crime is ‘romanticised’ & sold as ‘cool, exciting & fashionable’
  e.g. Hip-hop culture often links criminality (gang culture, drug dealing) with material success (money, jewelry, designer clothes)
• while counter cultures are packaged & sold e.g. graffiti being the market of deviant urban cool

Question 12

Evaluations of cultural criminology on media and crime

Answer 12

• supported by Baudrillard’s hyperreality > the media does not simply reflect crime but creates a distorted view eventually being taken as a reality
• ignores the real causes of crime
• too deterministic > not everyone who listens hip hop or buys rebellious fashion will engage in crime > may see it as a form of identity expression rather than a push towards criminality

Question 13

What is a moral panic and what does this lead to?

Answer 13

• A moral panic is an exaggerated societal reaction to a perceived problem, often fueled by the media
• The concept, developed by Stanley Cohen in Folk Devils and Moral Panics, highlights how certain groups are demonized as folk devils, which reinforces public fears due to being presented in a negative light by the media & moral entrepreneurs condemning their behaviour > leading to state crackdowns

Question 14

What did Cohen find from his analysis of moral panics and the medias influence on the mods & rockers and what did this lead to?

Answer 14

• Stanley Cohen’s study Folk Devils & Moral Panics examined how the media sensationalized conflicts between two youth subcultures, the Mods and Rockers, at British seaside resorts
  Key Aspects of the Media’s Role in the Moral Panic:
  1. Exaggeration & distortion– The media exaggerated the level of violence & destruction, using sensationalist headlines > Even minor scuffles were framed as riots
  2.Prediction– The media assumed more violence would occur in the future, creating further public anxiety
  3. Symbolisation – Mods & Rockers became symbolic folk devils, with their clothing (e.g. leather jackets), hairstyles, & scooters becoming associated with deviance
• This moral panic led to increased policing & harsher measures against youth subcultures, reinforcing the deviance amplification spiral—where media exaggeration leads to more crackdowns, alienating the group further & pushing them into more deviant behaviour

Question 15

Evaluation of the idea of moral panics

Answer 15

• Supporting Evidence – Research on media reporting (Hall et al) shows how moral panics reinforce social control, For example, the “mugging crisis” in 1970s Britain was exaggerated to justify heavy policing of Black communities
• (PM CRITIQUE) McRobbie & Thornton argue that modern audiences are more skeptical & do not always accept media-driven moral panics uncritically > today’s media landscape includes social media & alternative news sources, allowing for counter-narratives that challenge moral panic
• peoples fear of crime is rational > assumes societal reaction is a disproportionate over reaction

Question 16

How do functionalist see moral panics?

Answer 16

• seen as ways of responding to the sense of anomie created by change > by dramatising the threat to society in a form of a folk devil the media raises the collective consciousness & reasserts social control when central values are threatened