media Flashcards
what is the fictional media perception of crime
-criminals - supervillains, stupid, psychopaths
-victims - female helpless, male vigilante, ethnic majority
-police - super intelligent, always get the bad guy
what are factual media representations of crime
-criminals - underclass, ethnic minorities, young, men
-victims - missing white woman syndrome, selective reporting
-police - corrupt, brutal, racist, incompetent
what are news values?
-immediacy of the story
-dramatisation
-personalisation
-higher status of the focus
-simplification
-unexpectedness
-risk
-violence
what was kidd-hewitt and Osbourne’s perspective on media distortion of crime?
-driven by need of a spectacle
-dramatisation
-engaging because people are both repelled by the activities but also fascinated
what did postman say about media distortion of crime
-mixture of entertainment and sensationalism, leading to ‘infotainment’
what did Surette say about media distortion of crime
-law of opposites
-media shows direct opposite of official statistics
-eg focuses on murders when most UK crime is poverty based and minor
-also portrays women as most likely to be victims, but stats show men aged 19-24 are
what is the functionalist (/pluralism) perspective on media influences on crime?
-reporting crime maintains social solidarity
-crimes reflect what people are most concerned about, which creates demands which the media meets
-diff media reports crime in diff ways
-they’re not all dominated by a single ideology pushing an agenda
what is the marxist perspective on media influences on crime?
-reflects ideology of ruling class
-under-reporting of upper class crimes
-working class crimes are over-reported
-reporting of crime is used to maintain control over powerless groups
what is the feminist perspective on media influences on crime?
-reinforces stereotypes of women
-women as victims
-underreporting of violence against women (DV)
-highly critical of reporting sex crimes against women to provide entertainment
what is the Interpretivists perspective on media influences of crimes?
-media is a social construction
-media is a moral entrepreneur determining who is labelled as deviant and who isn’t
what is the postmodernist perspective on media influences on crime?
-baudrillard - media creates reality, people dont understand crime beyond what they get from mass media
what is the hypodermic syringe model?
-suggests media audiences are passive recipients of media messages, arguing they’re acted on mindlessly
what are the 6 ways media causes crime?
-imitation
-school of crime
-arousal
-desensitisation
-deprivation
-glamorisation
how does imitation cause crime?
-people copy what they see in media, eg college students who acted out GTA scenes
how does school of crime cause crime?
-teaches criminals how to hone their skills and learn to be less detectable
how does arousal cause crime?
-increased adrenaline and endorphins leads to more risky behaviour
-eg increase in traffic crimes on the opening weekend of fast and furious
how does desensitisation cause crime?
-lowers peoples levels of shock values, no longer horrified so can commit it
how does deprivation cause crime?
-left realism and strain theory
-unobtainable ideas of lifestyles eg made in Chelsea
how does glamorisation cause crime?
-glamorised view leads to people wanting to replicate it
what is missing white woman syndrome?
-most common type of media victim is white middle class women as they fit stereotypes
what is a moral panic?
-an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as threatening the moral standards of society
what is the fear of crime cycle?
1-media causes a fear of being a victim
2-spend more time at home
3-consume more media
4-generate more fear
1
examples of modern moral panics
-black muggings in the 70s
-HIV and aids in the 80s
-islamic terrorism in the 2000s
what is the deviancy amplification spiral in relation to media
1-activity gains media attention
2-agencies of control respond
3-deviance becomes amplified
4-exaggeration, symbolisation, prediction
5-problem becomes redefined
what are mcrobbie and Thorntons criticisms of the moral panic theory
-frequency (no longer noteworthy)
-context (used to create folk devils, now there are many viewpoints)
-reflexivity (some groups try to create moral panics for their benefit)
-difficulty (less certainty today about what is ‘bad’)
