Media

Question 1

Moral panics - Cohen (1972)

Answer 1

E - Cohen argues in his study of mods and rockers the media exaggerated and distorts crime creating fear and leading too social overreaction.
E - Leads to harsher social control measures and demonstrates how the media can create moral panic by identifying a group as folk devil with these influencing public opinion, increase fear of crime.
E - Critics argue too deterministic as it assumes all audiences react uniformly to media portrayals of crime.

Question 2

Deviancy amplification spiral - Cohen (1972)

Answer 2

E - Cohen found mods and rockers conflict led to an increased public anxiety, police crackdowns, further deviance reinforcing the spiral.
E - By labelling certain groups as threats, the media fuels public concern and policy responses that worsen problems rather than solve.
E - McRobbie & Thornton (1998) argue in todays media, moral panics are less effective as audiences are more skeptical - media coverage is diverse.

Question 3

Fictional representations of crime - Surette (1998)

Answer 3

E - Surette argues that crime, criminals and values follow ‘the law of opposites’ meaning they are the opposite to OS and similar to news coverage e.g. property crime is underrepresented while violence, drugs and sex crimes are over represented and fictional ops usually get their man.
E - Contributes do a distort action of crime as audiences are more frequently exposed to traumatic, sensationalized and unrealistic forms of criminal behavior. Surette claims this can lead to the public overestimating the threat of violent crime developing a fear.
E - Greer and Reiner argue it overlooks diversity of crime narratives and audience interpretations in media.

Question 4

News values & Crime coverage - Cohen & Young (1973)

Answer 4

E - They argue that crime is socially constructed through selection of stories based on news values such as dramatisation and personalisation.
E - The selective reporting reinforces dominant ideology about crime , making certain crimes appear criminal and vulnerable.
E - Hall (1978) argues news values are not just about audience appeal but serve idealogical functions such as moral panic.

Question 5

Fear of crime - Gerbner (1994)

Answer 5

E - Gerbener found heavy TV viewers are more likely to believe they will be victims of crime - ‘mean world syndrome’.
E - These heightened measures cause moral panics and increased pressure on policymakers to implement type of crime control measures.
E - Sparks (1992) critics this as they argue that media affects on fear of crime are complex and shaped by personal experience not all audience accept media narratives

Question 6

Cybercrime - Jewkes (2003)

Answer 6

E - Jewkes argues the internet has created new forms of crime such as hacking, identity theft and online fraud
E - These studies highlight how digital technology has transformed criminal activity, making crime more global and difficult to police.
E - Thomas & Leader (2000) argue coverage of cyber crime, often reinforces, moral panic, focusing on online predators, while ignoring state surveillance and corporate cybercrime.