5.7 the media and crime

The media as a cause of crime

Hypodermic syringe model = the audience is passive and is directly influenced by them

Banduras Bobo Doll experiment

  • children watched an adult act violently towards a bobo doll

  • Found they behaved similarly towards the doll once the adult had left

  • However there may have been demand characteristics as its in a lab

Jamie Bulger

  • was tortured and murdered by two 10 year old boys

  • They were inspired by a horror film

Desensitisation

  • media violence leads to desensitisation, meaning people become less shocked by violence so are more likely to do it themselves

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  • Merton, ‘the American dream’ is promoted through the media, this can lead to people turning to crime (strain theory or subcultural theory)

  • Also Marxists suggests it creates false needs, this is the criminogenic nature of capitalism

Evaluation of media as causing crime

  • Most consume violent media without turning to crime

  • Some would argue we have been sensitised rather than desensitised. So we are less likely to act in a violent way

  • Pluralists and postmodernist, audiences are active

Deviancy amplification

  • Cohen argues that the media doesnt cause crime, but it amplifies crime by labelling, folk devils and moral panics

  • E.g 2011 riots, it started peaceful then escalated into riots and criminal behaviour. The media turned them into folk devils and creating moral panics, this had a snowball effect. Increasing criminality, then increasing reporting

Evaluating deviance amplification

  • lots of evidence to support this theory, the 2011 riots and the 2016 killer clowns

  • Suggests that the media wants to encourage law abiding citizens to commit crime, which isnt very credible. For example in the 2011 riots, the majority of those arrested already had previous convictions. So it didn’t make them deviant, they were already criminals

The new media and crime

  • Globalisation has led to cybercrime

  • This facilitates: identity theft, cyber bullying, fraud, terrorism

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  • Hall suggests that moral panics and folk devils are used to serve the interests of capitalism. So the proletariat turn on each other, rather than the bourgeoise