Security & Consumerism Flashcards
How has security as we conceive it today changed over recent decades, in relation to the privatisation of security?
Areas such as parks, campuses, shopping centres, etc used to be controlled by police forces but now security comes from private companies.
How has security as we conceive it today changed over recent decades, in relation to the privatisation of public spaces?
There are fewer areas in which the police are the sole security.
Individuals are more accountable for their actions - police are not the only authority that can enforce rules.
How has security as we conceive it today changed over recent decades, in relation to generalised threats?
Public spaces now appear to contain more threats e.g. bomb threats, gun violence.
Threat levels are promoted to suggest how precarious life is this scares people into following rules.
What is the uses and gratifications theory?
It assumes the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.
How can the uses and gratifications theory be applied to security?
Security and safety is a key component of media consumption e.g. action films or police tv shows need to show that the criminals are caught and there is a happy ending - this comforts the public.
What is panopticism?
A society in which individuals are increasingly caught up in systems of power through which visibility is a key means of social control.
How does Foucault apply the panopticon to security in society?
Foucault uses Bentham’s idea of the panopticon to demonstrate the impact constant surveillance has on society.
What is the panopticon prison design?
A cylindrical building where inmates are invisible to one another, but are all visible to a guard station in the centre of the building.
Why is the panopticon an effective prison design?
Control is achieved through disciplinary power - control is constant, unnoticeable and internalised.
Inmates are not sure whether they are being watched so they must always act in accordance to the rules.
According to Goodwin (1994) what is professional vision?
“Using specialized professional knowledge to attend to and interpret events related to one’s profession.”
The way members of a profession shape events to fit their professional scrutiny - people use their jobs/identities to I make others see the way they do.
Goodwin (1994) - What is an example of when people use professional vision to benefit themselves?
Rodney King case (1991)
LAPD officers flagged and beat a black man for speeding - the police brutality was caught on camera.
However, the officers were able to use discursive practices to brain wash the judge into viewing the video the way they wanted it to be seen.
The officers were tried on charges of use of excessive force and were acquitted. Within hours of the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots started, sparked by outrage among African Americans over the verdicts and longstanding social issues.
What does Hughes (1962) mean by ‘good people and dirty work’?
Suggests the public don’t want to do the dirty of managing threats or reporting trouble makers - they believe there should be a group to do it for them.
Some of these measures to make surveillance more generalised are tedious and people don’t want the responsibility.
Mills - what is a public issue surrounding security?
Crime rates and fear of crime.
People’s fears are part of the problem - people have generalised fears of crime that are based on stereotypes not fact - these fears can lead to false accusations.
E.g. women tend to be more worried about being attacked in public when in reality, young men statistically are more likely to be victims of violent crimes.
How can relations in public involving security be applied to Goffman?
There is a disinclination to ‘make a fuss’ with the public domain - it can lead to delays, obstructions or could ‘cause a scene’.
Dislike of those who breach norms of interaction - people who interfere are looked down upon by the public - those in public may be less likely to report a security risk in fear of being wrong and wasting time.
There is also body-checking for danger and threats
- however, we are not properly told what to look for, people tend to turn to the fixed stereotype of what a threat may look like - tabloid media tends to broadcast this threat as ethnic minority males.
What does Molotch (2012) say about airport security and conformity?
Any public infrastructure (especially if it involves separate jurisdictions and intersection with commercial operators) requires common standards of procedure.
There is public conformity e.g. air travel requires minimum runway dimensions to which plane manufacturers conform.
Also implies individual conformity - air-travellers must check in at appropriate spots e.g. departure gate, luggage area.
