2.2.7 Crime and Deviance: Crime and the media

Question 1

Media representations of crime

What are Felson’s two identified fallacy’s about the media representation of crime?

Answer 1

• ‘age fallacy’ - presents criminals and victims as older, and more middle class (perhaps to exaggerate risk of victimisation as that is the most likely demographic reading).
• ‘dramatic fallacy’ - the media overplay extraordinary crimes.

Question 2

Media representations of crime

What are the main media misrepresentations of crime?

(3)

Answer 2

• Over-represent violent and sexual crimes.
• Exaggerate police success
• Exaggerate risk of victimisation, e.g to women.

Question 3

Media representations of crime

How do Cohen and Young describe the social construction of news?

Answer 3

• Argue that news is not discovered, but manufactured.
• The outcome of certain stories being selected.

Question 4

Media representations of crime

What are ‘news values’ and what are some examples?

Answer 4

• ‘news values’ are a certain criteria that journalists and editors use in order to decide whether a story is newsworthy.
• e.g dramatisation, personalisation, violence, no moral grey.

Question 5

Media representations of crime

What is Surette’s ‘law of opposites’ in terms of fictional representations of crime?

Answer 5

• Fictional representations of crime are often the opposite of official statistics, but similar to news coverage.
• E.g property crime is under-represented while violence, drugs, and sex crimes are over-represented.

Question 6

The media as a cause of crime

What are some ways in which media content might cause crime and deviance?

(5)

Answer 6

• Imitation - providing deviant role models leading to ‘copycat’ behaviour.
• Desensitisation to violence.
• Transmitting knowledge of criminal techniques.
• Advertising - stimulating desires for unaffordable goods.
• glamourising crime.

However, little evidence that exposure to media violence has an effect on audiences.

Question 7

The media as a cause of crime

What do Schlesinger and Tumbler argue about media causing fear of crime?

And what’s the alternative argument?

Answer 7

• The media exaggerates the amount of violent crime and exaggerates the risk to certain groups. e.g the elderly, young women.
• Found that tabloid readers expressed greater fear of going out and night and becoming a victim.
• However, it could be argued that those fearful of crime stayed home and therefore read and watched more. Therefore, fear of crime could cause more media use rather than the other way round.

Question 8

The media as a cause of crime

How do left realists Lea and Young argue that the media increases crime rate?

Answer 8

• Increases the sense of relative deprivation, especially in modern society where even the poorest have media access.

Question 9

Moral panics

What are the steps of a moral panic?

(5 steps)

Answer 9

• The media identify a group as a ‘folk devil’ or threat to societal values.
• The media negatively stereotype the group and exaggerate the problem.
• Moral entrepreneurs (e.g politicians) condemn the behaviour of the group and call for a ‘crackdown’.
• This creates a self fulfilling prophecy as more focus on a crime mean more of that crime is detected.
• As this identifies more deviants, calls for even tougher action create a deviance amplification spiral.

Question 10

Moral panics

What were the main three elements to the media over-reaction of the mods and rockers? (Cohen)

Answer 10

1. Exaggeration and distortion - the media exaggerated the numbers and the seriousness, distorting the picture.
2. Prediction - the media predicted further conflict and violence would result.
3. Symbolisation - the symbols of the mods and rockers were negatively labelled.

Question 11

Moral panics

What were the two main ways that the media’s portrayal of events (mods and rockers) produced a deviance amplification spiral?

Answer 11

1. By making it appear the problem was getting out of hand - led to increased control and further stigmatisation
2. By defining the two groups and emphasising their supposed differences - led to more youths adopting these identities and drew more in for future clashes.

Question 12

Moral panics

What are the main criticisms on cohen’s theory about the media creating moral panics

Answer 12

• Cohen doesn’t explain why the media are able to amplify some problems and not others.
• Cannot explain why panics come to an end.

Question 13

Moral panics

What is the functionalist perspective on moral panics?

Answer 13

• functionalists see moral panics as a way of responsing to anomie.
• By dramatising the threat, the media raise collective consciousness.

Question 14

Moral panics

What is the neo-marxist perspective on moral panics?

Answer 14

• Neo-marxists (e.g Hall et al) believe that moral panics serve capitalism.
• E.g moral panic over black people ‘mugging’ served to distract attention from the ‘crisis of capitalism’

Question 15

Global Cybercrime

What are Wall’s four categories of cybercrime?

Answer 15

• Cyber-trespass e.g hacking
• Cyber-deception e.g identity theft
• Cyber-pornography
• Cyber-violence e.g text bullying

Question 16

Global Cybercrime

Why is policing cybercrime difficult?

(2)

Answer 16

• The large scale of the internet.
• Global nature poses problems of jurisdiction

Question 17

Global Cybercrime

How does digital technology aid surveillence?

Answer 17

• ICT provides police with greater opportunities for surveillence and controlling.
• CCTV cameras, electronic databases…