AC 1.5 - Impacts of Media Representations

What is Public Perception?

The collective belief, attitude, or view that society holds about a specific person, organization, issue, or event (crime).

Positive and Negative Impacts of the media:

Positive

• Can raise awareness

• People feel safer (knowledge)

• Public can help with on-going cases

• Could prevent potential criminals (e.g. FBI funding movies to make police look good)

Negative

• Moral Panic

• Can cause sterotypes

• Can affect punishments (if crime was in the public eye, the law may make an example out of them with a harsher punishment)

• Encourage the wrong ideas

• Negates privacy

• Can make crimes look ‘good’ (breaking bad)

• Exaggerate intensity/ frequency of crimes

• Can create public bias

• Misinformation

What is Moral Panic?

It occurs when a condtion, episode, person, or group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. - defined by Stanley Cohen (Folk Devils and Moral Panic - 1973)

The media exaggerates the level of and the risk of becoming a victim of a crime

What is a Folk Devil?

The person or group (supposedly) causing the moral panic → Deviants (Gypsies, Transgender, Hippies, Biker Gangs)

What are the Changing Public Concerns/ Attitudes?

• Violent crimes are hugely over represented because of higher report rates

• This creates fear and public concern → (Terrorism causes fear of travelling - planes/trains)

• (Islamophobia - caused by media representations → has been the cause of many crimes against Muslims)

• Media also sensationalises many sexual crimes

What are Perceptions of Crime Trends?

• Actual crime rates are simply wrong.

• Crime survey of England and Wales is better because it is a survey with a random selection of the public (Have you been involved in a crime?) and the data is extrapolated out to match the rough population → therfore it’s more accurate

• Based on media, people thinkcertain (over represented) crimes are increasing in frequency due to increased coverage when this isn’t necassarily the case.

How do we Stereotype Criminals?

• Certain crimes are associated with certain groups

• Lomborso (1835-1909) - Psychiatrist → he thought criminals could be identified via appearance/ features

• Stereotypes are largely based off of media reports.