The media and crime

1. Media representations of crime:

The media gives a distorted view of crime?

P= The media gives a distorted view of crime

E= Surette> ‘the law of opposites’ – media representations are the opposite of the official statistics

Felson> media reporting about crime reinforces myths or fallacies about crime.

E= Over-representation of violent and sexual crime> Ditton and Duffy 465 of media reports were about violent and sexual crimes but made up only 3% of all recorded crime. Criminals and victims portrayed as older and more middle class than reality. Exaggerated police success in clearing up cases. Exaggerated risk of victimisation

Ditton and Duffy> found that nearly half of media reports about crime focused on murder or rape, despite the fact that these types of crimes only make up 3% of crimes recorded by the police.

A= Foothill and Walby> Coverage of rape cases consistently focuses on identifying a ‘sex fiend’ or ‘beast’, often by the use of labels such as ‘the balaclava rapist’ – resulting in a distorted picture of rape as one of serial attacks carried out by psychopathic strangers.

Certain crimes, criminals and victims are more newsworthy?

P= Certain crimes, criminals and victims are more newsworthy

E= Cohen and Young> note that news is not discovered by manufactured - Socially constructed

E= Jewkes> observes that crime is newsworthy for several reasons…

• It is bad news – negative news sells more papers and attracts larger television audiences.

• It has a human interest element – it can happen to anybody. We are all at risk of being victims of crime.

• The crime is dramatic in terms of its effects on the victim.

A= Newspapers focusing headlines on story's to distract from the real problems of capitalism e.g. Black crime and street crime of mugging in the 1970s

• Hall et al> Black criminality was used to reassert the dominance of ruling class hegemony at a time when it was under threat due to an economic and political crisis.

E= Outdated> Audiences are now exposed to a wider range of interpretations of the news and potential social problems!

The media can cause an increased fear of crime?

P= The media can cause an increased fear of crime

E= The media exaggerate the amount of violent and unusual crime, and they exaggerate the risks of  certain groups of people becoming its victims, such as young women and old people. There is therefore concern that the media maybe distorting the public’s impression of crime and causing an unrealistic fear of crime.

E= Gerbner et al> found that heavy users of television (over four hours a day) had higher levels of fear of crime.

A= Cohen= Folk Devils and Moral Panics> The symbols of the mods and rockers – their clothes, bikes and scooters, hairstyles, music etc. were all negatively labelled and associated with deviance. The media use of these symbols allowed them to link unconnected events.

E= The existence of such correlations doesn’t prove that media viewing causes fear – it is deterministic. For example, it may be that those who are already afraid of going out at night watch more TV just because they stay in more.

2. Media as a cause of crime:

The media as a direct cause of crime- Hypodermic syringe?

P= The media as a direct cause of crime- Hypodermic syringe

E= Newsome> claimed that impressionable audiences such as children or teenagers maybe negatively influenced by violent, immoral or anti-social media content. Saw the media as a powerful agent of secondary socialisation, shaping the behaviour of young people - known as the ‘hypodermic syringe’ model because media content is compared to a drug in the way that it affects individuals.

E= Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment> kids saw adults punching an inflated doll while narrating their aggressive behaviours, then these kids copied and acted out the same behaviours they had seen.

E= Greer and Reiner> note, much ‘effects’ research on the media as a cause of crime or fear of crime ignores the meanings that viewers give to media violence.

The media promotes an ‘American Dream’ increasing experiences of strain to achieve societies shared goals?

P= The media promotes an ‘American Dream’ increasing experiences of strain to achieve societies shared goals

E= Merton> ‘if we work hard we will be rewarded with status + material health’. The problem is there are insufficient opportunities for all those who work hard to achieve, this is therefore a strain between what we think we should have + our ability to achieve this legitimately. Striving to achieve the ‘American dream’ could lead to criminal or deviant behaviours.

E= 4 types of ‘deviant’ adaptation depending on whether an individual accepts, rejects or replaces approved cultural goals and the legitimate means of achieving them> innovation, retreatism, rebellion (terrorism) and ritualism

E= Marxists> Ignores the powers of the ruling class, who enforce laws in a way that criminalise the poor but not the rich

The media is an agent of capitalism used to encourage greed and consumption?

P= The media is an agent of capitalism used to encourage greed and consumption

E= Gordon> argues that media causes crime because the promotes the capitalist values of consumerism and materialism and encourages people to be greedy. This explains why poorer people commit crime because the media helps creates a ‘culture of envy’

E= Nike identity> media encouraged people to buy Jordan trainers to be the best basketball player but this led to deviance

E= Inequality has increased but the crime has been falling, suggesting that there is no straightforward link between inequality, consumption and crime.

The media increases a feeling of relative deprivation?

P= The media increases a feelings of relative deprivation

E= Lea and Young> the mass media help to increase the sense of relative deprivation among the poor and marginalised social groups because in todays society, where even the poorest have media access, the media present everyone with images of a materialistic ‘good life’ of leisure, fun and consumer goods as the ‘norm’ to which they should conform – stimulating a sense of relative deprivation and exclusion felt by marginalised groups who cannot afford these goods.

E= Widespread resentment of those in the media who are seen as receiving ‘undeservedly high rewards’ e.g. Top footballers, Reality TV stars

E= The majority of those living in deprived communities do not turn to crime.

The media promotes an image of hegemonic masculinity which some men assert through committing crime?

P= The media promotes an image of hegemonic masculinity which some men assert through committing crime

E= Katz> There is a pleasure in committing crime but this must be placed within the context of masculinity in a postmodern world where traditional forms of masculinity have been lost. Despite de-industrialisation and traditional methods of achieving masculinity being lost, the media still perpetuates that to be a man you need to be ‘tough’.

E= Masculinity of men in films, GI Joe figure> biceps got bigger

E= Men’s mental health is important and needs more awareness

The media labels and exaggerates crime creating a moral panic?

P= The media labels and exaggerates crime creating a moral panic

E= Cohen> press exaggeration + distorted reporting of the events begin a moral panic, with growing public concern + with moral entrepreneurs calling for a 'crackdown’. Deviance amplification spiral- process in which the attempt to control deviance leads to an increase level of deviance. Folk devils- opposite of the dark figure, ‘over labelled’ + over-exposed to the public view + the attentions of the authorities.

E= Fawbert> great hoodie panic that followed the ban of wearing hoodies in Blue water shopping centre. Word hoodie was used excessively in association with any negative behaviour by young people.

E= Neo-Marxists> Doesn’t explain why the media is able to amplify some problems into a panic and not others

-Cyber crime:

The growth in new communication and media technologies have led to an increasing cybercrime?

P= The growth in new communication and media technologies have led to an increasing cybercrime

E= Jewkes> the internet creates opportunities to commit both ‘conventional crime’ such as fraud and ‘new crimes using new tools’ such as software piracy.

E= Cyber-tresspass> Crossing boundaries into others’ cyber property. It includes hacking and sabotage, such as spreading viruses.

Cyber-deception and theft> Including identity theft, ‘phishing’ (obtaining identity or bank account details by deception) and violation of intellectual property rights

Cyber-pornography> Including porn involving minors and opportunities for children to access porn on the Net.

Cyber-violence> Doing psychological harm or inciting physical harm. Cyber-violence includes cyber-stalking (e.g. sending unwanted, threatening or offensive emails) and hate crimes against minority groups, as well as bullying by text.

E= Policing cyber crime is difficult because of the sheer scale of the internet and the limited resources of the police and also because of its globalised nature, which poses problems of justification.

Organised criminal global networks often focus on the following types of cyber-fraud or theft?

P= Organised criminal global networks often focus on the following types of cyber-fraud or theft

E= This is because they offer attractive rewards for minimal investment and low risk

E= Identity theft> acquiring personal data in order to steal from victims’ bank accounts and credit cards.

Hacking> illegally gaining access to online banks or businesses for financial gain, or to gain information to further political goals. For example, in 2015, the Islamic State claimed to have hacked into the US military and government database.

Online scams> extorting money. For example ‘phishing’ (sending bogus money-transfer requests).

Viruses> infecting computers with viruses that criminals will only remove when the owner pays a fee.

E= New information and communication technology (ICT) also provides the police and state with greater opportunities for surveillance and control of the population.