the media and crime Flashcards
hypodermic syringe model
believes that the media can have a direct and immediate effect on the audience. the model sees the audience as a ‘homogenous mass; as passive and believing what they see in the media without questioning the context
how might hypodermic syringe model cause crime
- new media means that violent imagery is found everywhere, and people can access it whenever they want- impossible to control
- digital tech means its interactive
- imitation; by providing deviant role models, resulting in ‘copycat behaviour’
- arousal; e.g through viewing violent or sexual imagery
- desensitisation; e.g through repeated viewing of violence
evidence of hypodermic syringe model
- newson: references to james bulger murder. asserted that violent videos could lead to violent action
- anderson: media violence increased the likelihood of aggressive and violent behaviour, both immediately and in the long term
- bobo doll experiment
- himmelweit et al: desensitisation, repeated exposure has gradual drip drip effects
eval of hypodermic syringe model
- cumberbatch: review of previous studies does not show the media causes violence
- almost impossible to avoid the hawthorne effect
- problem with how ‘media violence’ is defined
- small samples
relative deprivation
- the media has increased our sense of relative deprivation
- cultural inclusion promoted by the media - exposure to consumer goods and luxury lifestyles raises expectations. the economically excluded cannot afford this lifestyle which creates status frustration so they turn to crime e.g lewis’ example of looting in the london riots
young; bulimic society - relative dep
late modern societies are media saturated and everyone is included in consumer culture through constant exposure of advertising - intensifies sense of frustratration
evaluation of relative dep
- assumes the media has the same effect on everyone i.e that they will commit crime… fails to explain why some people who are relatively deprived don’t go on to commit crime. assumes the audience is passive and accepts the media messages about the importance of having consumer goods
- assumes all media is the same and contains the same messages about consumerism, but media does not do this
- doesn’t explain crimes such as sexual assault or rape
commodification of crime
crimes and its thrills being commodified. corporations and advertisers use media images of crime to sell products, especially in the youth market
fenwick and hayward - commodification of crime
‘crime is packaged and marketed to young people as a romantic, exciting, cool and fashionable cultural symbol
evidence of commodification of crime
- hayward and young; example of car ads featuring street riots, joy riding, graffiti and pyromania
- fashion industry and its advertisers trade on images of the forbidden ‘heroin chic’, violence against women
- graffiti being used in a ‘guerilla marketing technique called ‘brandalism’
evaluation of commodification of crime
- deterministic; assumes that the promotion of crime related merchandise makes people more criminal
- explanation ignores the way in which police is commodified both in reality (e.g nypd street wear) and fictional programmes (e.g buying brooklyn99 merch that promotes the role of police)
- hard to isolate commodification of crime from all other influences on behaviour and show it causes an increase in crime
reduction of social controls
greer and reiner suggest that, even if people are motivated to commit crime they may not do so if there is effective internal and external controls
how might reduction of social controls
media may undermine these controls by mocking the police and cjs. glamourising crime, creating sympathy for criminals, desensitizing people
evaluation of reduction of social controls
- media doesn’t change the fact you can face punishments for committing crimes
- can only explain certain crimes
cyber crime
the internet provides us with new types of crime e.g upskirting and new ways of committing crime e.g committing fraud over the internet
how can cyber crime cause crime - jewkes
the internet creates opportunity to commit both ‘conventional crimes’ such as fraud, and ‘new crimes’ using tools’ such as software piracy
how can cyber crime cause crime - wall
wall identifies categories;
1. cyber-trespass - includes hacking and sabotages such as spreading viruses
2. cyber deception and theft - including identity theft, ‘phishing’, and violation of intellectual property rights
3. cyber pornography - including porn involving minors, and opportunities for children to acess porn
4. cycberviolence - ie. cyber stalking
5. global cyber crime - poses problems of jurisdiction
evidence of cyber crime
- detica: estimates financial cybercrime such as identity theft, online scams etc cost the uk £27 billion each year.
- internet based fraud e.g ‘nigerian letters’
- cyber attacks e.g talktalk in 2015 where cyber criminals targeted its website in an attempt to steal details of customer identities and financial information
evaluation of cyber crime
- positivist victimology: we need to examine the role of victims and look at how people can try and avoid becoming a victim e.g secure passwords instead of focusing on the internet causing more crime
- cyber crime does not always lead to new types of crime being committed - it’s a new way of committing old crimes. they would still exist even if the technology didn’t e.g fraud
increases fear of crime
the media is exaggerating the extent of crime and the likelihood of becoming a victim - so people become more fearful of crime
- changes attitudes
evidence of increased fear of crime- gerbner et al
heavy users of tv (over 4 hours a day) had higher levels of fear of crime
evidence of increased fear of crime - schlesinger and tumber
correlation between media consumption and fear of crime, with tabloid readers and heavy users of tv expressing greater fear of becoming a victim, especially of physical attacks and muggings
evaluation of increased fear of crime
audience is capable of understanding the difference between reality and media reps - so its not the media itself that causes a fear of crime but rather its peoples interpretations of what they see that is the issue
moral panics
cohen- folk devils
- relatively minor disturbances between mods and rockers
media overreacted
- exaggeration and distortion
- prediction of further disorder
- symbolisation - group labeled negatively e.g biker jackets seen as sign of rebellion
