Media As A Cause Of Crime

• There are a number of ways in which the media might cause crime and deviance. These include:

  üImitation – by providing deviant role models, resulting in copycat behaviour.üDesensitisation, e.g. through repeated viewing of violence.üBy transmitting knowledge of criminal techniques.üAs a target for crime, e.g. theft of TVs.üBy stimulating desires for unaffordable goods, e.g. through advertising.üBy glamourising offending.ü
• •The media exaggerates the amount of violent crimes.•The media is accused of creating an unrealistic fear of crime.•–Gerbner found that those who watched more than 4 hours of TV a day had higher levels of fear.–Schlesinger & Tumbler (1992) found tabloid readers and TV watchers had greater fear of being a victim of a crime
• Commodification of crime


  Crime itself is turned into a commodity that people desire, rather than just material goods
• Cultural criminologists' view

  • The media encourages people to consume images of crime, rather than just producing crime in their audiences
  • Crime and its thrills have become commodified, so corporations use images of crime to sell products, especially to the 'youth market'
• Crime commodification in media

  • Hip hop combining images of criminality with images of consumerist success
  • Crime being 'packaged and marketed to young people as a romantic, exciting, cool and fashionable cultural symbol' in music, film, advertising and fashion