Media and Crime

Question 1

What does Cohen agrue about the media

Answer 1

that it helps to create the deviance it predicts or anticipates

Question 2

The Amplification of Deviance

Answer 2

1. the media presents a distorted view of the level of crime
2. this distorted view creates public concern
3. related incidents of crime and deviance are over-represented and given more prominence than they’d otherwise have
4. this keeps the issue or problem high on the public agenda
   the public want something done about the problem
5. the police are more aware or sensative to the problem, so they discover more crime
6. police records reinforce the idea that there is more crime and deviance

Question 3

The media can be viewed as a cause of crime

Answer 3

sociologists believe that violent TV shows or films, computer games and even music can have an effect on thier viewers and make them think that violence is a normal, everyday occurence.

Question 4

The media can be seen to cause crime in less direct ways

Answer 4

Left Realists argue that the media bombarded society with images of luxury products that most people can’t afford to buy. The media make it obvious that other people can afford to get these products, which increases feelings of relative deprivation. As a result, people may steal what they can’t afford, or resort to crime to make money to fund a more luxurious lifestyle

Question 5

The media can create Moral Panics

Answer 5

Cohen developed his idea about moral panics from a study of conflicts between Mods and Rockers, two groups of working class youths who clashed in the 1960s. the media exaggerated the extent of the violence.

Question 6

compared with the picture of crime we gain from o/s

Answer 6

1. the media over-represent violent adn sexual crime
2. the media portray criminals and victims as older and more middle-class
3. media coverage exaggerates police success

Question 7

The news is a social construction

Answer 7

news does not simply sexist ‘out there’ waiting to be discovered. rather it is the outcome of a social process in which some potential stories are selected while others are rejected

Question 8

What did Cohen and Young note

Answer 8

they noted that, news is not discovered but simply manufactured.