Media + crime

• Moral panic = exaggerated over-reaction by society to a perceived problem driven by the media
• Folk devil = a person/group deemed as a threat to societal values
• Cohen (mods + rockers) :

  • Examined the disturbances between 2 groups of working class teenagers
  • Mods - smart dress + rode scooters
  • Rockers - leather jackets + rode motor bikes
  • Groups created disorder by smashing windows + throwing stones
• Cohen (deviancy amplification) :

  • Argues that media's portrayal of events produced a deviancy amplification spiral
  • Made the problem seem like it was spreading + getting out of hand
• Stages of a moral panic:

  • Media identify a folk devil
  • Media presents the group in a negative stereotypical fashion + exaggerate problem
  • Police + politicians condemn the group + it's behaviour
• Materialism :

  • Media presents images of the perfect life
  • Increase greed +wants
  • Leads to experience of material deprivation = leads to committing crime
  • Eg - kardashians
  • Tiktok, instagram = constant exposure
• Desensitisation:

  • Media exposes people to violent crimes regularly
  • Some argue this exposure = people less sensitive to those crime, so more likely to commit them
• Imitation:

  • Sometimes viewers will attempt to imitate crimes they see
  • Refered to as copycat crimes
  • Eg - jack the ripper copycats
• Arousal :

  • Violent + sexual imagery in media may stimulate potential criminals
  • May become a factor in them turning to crime
• Knowledge :

  • People can learn criminal techniques through the media
  • Using media to communicate + search
  • Or watching TV shows + learn from them
  • Eg - Vera, CSI, Bones, Silent witness
• Ditton + Duffy (over-representation of violent + sexual crimes) :

  • 46% of Media reports were on these crimes
  • Make up 3% of crimes recorded by police
  • Eg - Georgia Harrison from love island
  • Stephen Bear jailed 21 months for sharing sex tape on onlyfans
• Felson (over-represent criminals + victims as older + middle class) :

  • Age fallacy
  • Most crime is committed by wc people ages 15-20 (ONS)
  • 90% of all crimes committed against over 65's = fraud (eg - pension scams)
  • Grenfell Tower had huge coverage when victims were working class (Eval)
• Exaggerate police success:

  • Police = major source for crime stories
  • Want themselves to be presented in a positive light
  • Media over-represents violent crime = which is easily solved compared to property crime
  • Hardly ever makes the news
  • Eg - MET police success on drug crackdown with 1000 charges in a year
• News values :

  • Simplification
  • Personalisation
  • Dramatisation
  • High status
  • Novelty + unexpectedness
  • Immediacy