media and crime Flashcards
Summarise the relationship between the media and crime for Cohen?
mods and rockers, studied two youth subcultures in 60s
mods and rockers seen as folk devils of time.
created a moral panic regrading this group and led to deviance amplification
Summarise the relationship between the media and crime for Hall?
study i the 70s criminals were type casted as the “black mugger”, justified authoritarian policing style, response to the crisis of capitalism, divided the w/c due to racial differences
How does the media represent crime?
media overrepresents violent and sexual crimes, only make up 3% crimes.
media portrays criminals as older- Felson, the age fallacy
media overplays unusual crime-Felson, the dramatic fallacy
criminals are seen as clever and daring- Felson, ingenuity fallacy
Why has the media changed its crime focus since the 60s?
Schlesinger and Tumber- 60s focus was on murder and petty crime.
90s- was drugs, child abuse etc
change was due to abolition of death penalty and higher crime rate meant that crime had to be “special” to get coverage
How does coverage of rape distort the true nature?
Soothill and Walby- coverage of rape focuses on identifying a “beast” or a “ sex fiend” often by labels.
distorted picture of rape one of serial attacks by psychopathic strangers, most cases the perpetrator knows the victim
What are the news values?
criteria by which journalists and editors decide whether a story is newsworthy enough to make it into the news (they are gatekeepers)
What makes something more newsworthy?
immediacy- breaking news, dramatization-exciting, personal interests- individuals, higher status-celebrities, simplification- criminal and victim can be easily spotted, novelty- unusual, risk- creates moral panic, violence
What does Surette say about fictional criminals?
claims that fictional criminals follows a “law of opposties”
What are Surette’s “laws of opposites”?
property crime is underrepresented
real life homicides are from brawls and disputes rather than calculated greed
fictional sex crimes committed by psychopathic strangers, rather than acquittances
fictional villains are m/c, high status and white males
fictional law enforcement usually captures the criminal
How is desensitisation a cause of crime through the media?
violent images no longer a shock to consumers because it is now normalised. Means that crime becomes normalised, everyone commits it.
How can we evaluate desensitisation
idea of hypodermic syringe ( idea that media injects us with messages and we are complicit) is x necessarily true
How is imitation a cause of crime through the media? how can we criticise?
implies that people will commit crimes to replicate what they see in media, for example, GTA
evaluate- most studies suggest that violence in TV and video games has a small impact on deviance from the viewer
it ignores the social and psychological causes of crime
How is knowledge a cause of crime through the media? How can we criticise?
criminals are getting lots of knowledge from media about how to get away w crime
evaluate- deterrent, if we see people get away with crime
How is glamourized crime a cause of crime?
Fenwick and Hayward- crime is packaged and marketed to young people as a romantic exciting cool and fashionable cultural symbol
crime glamourised, Kate moss and “heroine chic” encouraging people to be as skinny as druggies.
How can we criticise galmoursed crime?
people can reject this, this theory treats people as if they are puppets and we can not determine the right choice
How is capitalist values a cause of crime through the media?
lots of films in media are about stealing and getting money, this encourages greed and thus greed drives crime
How can cybercrime be a cause of crime through the media? How can we evaluate?
Jewkes- identifies categories of crime caused by the media- cyber and trespassing, cyber violence, cyber pornography
means crime is easier to commit/ more windows for crime to occur
evaluate- we can use technology to catch criminals, more provisions in place
How is the fear of crime a cause of crime through the media? how can we evaluate?
Schlesinger and Tumber- more TV people watch, the higher their fear of becoming a victim of crime leads to risk society and therefore crime
evaluation- could say that people who fear crime more watch more crime tv, opposite way than S and T
What would a functionalist think?
media reporting of crime reinforces value consensus and defines boundaries.
What would a Marxist think?
the ruling class control the media, they do not report on crimes like white collar crime and corporate crime
What would a left realist say?
Media helps to make sure that relative deprivation is present and stays relevant
What would a subcultural theorist think?
media helps to define and perpetuate the subcultures that could develop
What would a post-modernist think?
Risk society, media creates fear and panic which means people carry weapons to protect themselves, this leads to crime.
