Media and crime Flashcards
(15 cards)
1
Q
Media and crime
A
- the media gives distorted image of crime e.g. overrepresenting violent crimes
- because the news is a social construction based on news values that explain the medias interest in crime
- some see media as a cause of crime through imitation and the deviance amplification of moral panics.
2
Q
The media as a cause of crime:
A
- Imitation
- Arousal
- desensitisation
3
Q
- Imitation
A
- Media provides violent roles
- People copy the behaviour
4
Q
- Arousal
A
- viewing violent / sexual imagery
5
Q
- desensitisation
A
- repeated viewing of violence
- transmission of knowledge of criminal techniques
- stimulating desires for unaffordable goods (e.g. through advertising)
- glamourising suffering
6
Q
The distorted image of crime:
A
- overrepresentation of sexual and violent crime
- exaggerates police success
- exaggerates the risk of victimisation
- overplay extraordinary crimes
7
Q
Fictional representations of crime:
A
- Fictional representations of crime follow the ‘law of opposites’ meaning they are opposite to official stats
- Property crime is underrepresented, while violence, sex and drug crimes are overrepresented
- Fictional sex crimes are caused by psychopathic strangers, whereas most sex crimes are committed by acquaintances
- Fictional villains are higher status, middle aged white males
- Fictional police usually catch criminals
8
Q
Moral panics:
A
- Cohen – the mods and rockers
9
Q
- Cohen – the mods and rockers
A
- Cohen examined medias response to disturbances between working class teenagers in the 1960’s
- C revealed that although the disorder was minor the media amplified and exaugurated this
- Producing a deviance amplification spiral
10
Q
- This resulted from:
A
- Exaggeration and disorder - Exaggerated the numbers involved, the extent of violence and damage
- Prediction – assumed and predicted further conflict
- symbolism – the symbol of the mods and rockers defined them
- The media cause moral panics nowadays with issues such as acid attacks and terrorism
11
Q
News values:
A
- Cohen
- Cohen and young
12
Q
- Cohen
A
- News is not discovered but manufactured
- Central feature manufactured news is the concept of news values
- These are criteria in which journalists and editors decide whether a story is newsworthy enough
13
Q
Cohen and young
A
- Immediacy - ‘breaking news’
- Dramatization - action and excitement
- Personalisation - human interest stories about individuals
- Higher status – celebrities
- Simplification - eliminating shades of grey
- Risk - victim-centred stories about vulnerability and fear violence
14
Q
The media, relative deprivation and crime:
A
- lea and young
15
Q
- lea and young
A
- The media presents every one of the images of a materialistic ‘good life’
- Which is the norm in which everyone should conform
- However, this simulates the sense of relative deprivation and marginalisation felt by groups who cannot afford these goods
