topic 6 - role of the media in deviant youth subcultures

Question 1

define folk devils, cohen 3

Answer 1

1. ‘social types’ that serve as ‘visible reminders of what we shouldnt be’
2. when the media reports on deviant behaviour they construct a narrative which features the folk devil as the villain
3. folk devils were the mods and rockers

Question 2

what was cohens research on folk devils based on 2

Answer 2

1. media storm over a violent clash between 2 youth subcultures on a beach in england in 1964
2. newspapers published articles referring to the event as a ‘riot’ and ‘day of terror’

Question 3

what 3 stages did cohen say the media took when reporting on folk devils

Answer 3

1. symbolisation= folk devil portrayed in one singular narrative, appearance and overall identity oversimplified to be easily recognisable
2. exaggeration= facts of the controversy surrounding the folk devil are distorted or fabricated to make the subculture appear immoral
3. prediction= further immoral actions on the part of the folk devil are anticipated

Question 4

recent examples of folk devils, alexander 3

Answer 4

1. asian youth have become ‘the new asian folk devil’
2. stereotypes of muslim boys changed from being passive and hardworking to portrayed as a threat to society
3. viewed as aggressive and at high risk of being radicalised bc the media exaggerates stories about their involvement in riots

Question 5

recent examples of folk devils, fawbert 4

Answer 5

1. examined newspapers and found that hoodies became a common term to describe young ppl involved in crime in the 2000s
2. in 2004, only 1 article in the whole of the UK used the term to describe a young thug
3. however in 2005, tony blair vowed to clamp down on anti-social behaviour and young ppl banned from wearing hoodies in certain shopping centres
4. hoodies became a symbol of mischief, sales of it increased as young ppl realised it annoyed ppl in authority

Question 5

moral panics, cohen 5

Answer 5

1. media reporting creates anxiety amongst the general public about the behaviour of a particular social group presented as ‘folk devil’
2. puts pressure on the authorities to control the issue and discipline the group
3. media concern is out of proportion to any threat to society posed by the group
4. study of ‘mods and rockers’ cohen claimed the media produced exaggerated reports about the extent of violence between the 2 groups, causing concern among the general public
5. police responded by being more likely to arrest youths from either subculture or deviant behaviour

Question 6

moral panics, stuart hall 3

Answer 6

1. neo-marxist, sees moral panics as serving an ideological function
2. early 70s, british capitalism experienced a ‘crisis of hegemony’, proletariat openly challenging the gov and power held by the bourgeoisie bc the public was seeing the failures of capitalism due to inflation and rapidly rising unemployment
3. news stories created a folk devil of black youths as muggers, served ideological purpose of turning white wc against black wc. divert attention away from mismanagement of capitalism and black ppl were scapegoated

Question 7

moral panics, young 4

Answer 7

1. ‘drug takers’ study, example of how moral panic resulted in a deviancy amplification spiral. he shows how the interactions between a group of hippies and the police produce more crime than less
2. hippies were a small subculture in notting hill, who were largely law abiding but occasionally smoked marijuana. altho the drug taking was low, the media sensationalised this and increased public pressure for the police to target them
3. hippies become part of a moral panic and their subculture membership is their master status, results in members of society being hostile towards them due to their drug use, more central part of their identity
4. as media coverage grows, relationship between hippies and the police become more distrustful to each other, hippies deviance amplified till the stats become a ‘crime wave’

Question 8

deviancy amplification spiral, wilkins 3

Answer 8

1. deviancy amplification spiral is when behaviour that starts as a minor deviance is amplified into more serious forms of criminal deviance due to the intervention of control agencies like the police and mass media
2. when an incident becomes the focus of the media, other similar stories that normally wouldnt make the news fall under this new media focus and become newsworthy
3. reports can make the action seem cool, leading to more ppl trying it

Question 9

deviancy amplification spiral, murphy 3

Answer 9

1. media encouraged violence at football games thru blatant forms of glorification of hooliganism
2. e.g= publishing of ‘league tables of hooligan notoriety’ where they ranked teams in the order of how many of their fans were arrested for football hooliganism
3. a chelsea fan appearing in court charged with carrying a razor said in his defence that he had ‘read in a local newspaper that the west ham lot were gonna cause trouble’

Question 10

evaluation, mcrobbie and thornton 3

Answer 10

1. groups depicted as ‘folk devils’ are no longer as marginalised as they previously were
2. media is much more pluralistic now, so some news platforms allow those being negatively represented the chance to fight back against
   those tryna stigmatise them
3. media is more fast-paced now and the amount of accessible content is larger. as a result, folk devil representations often fail to develop into full-blown moral panics as audiences move on to new stories quicker

Question 11

evaluation, kitizinger 2

Answer 11

1. sociologists have over-estimated the power of the media and failed to consider active nature of audiences
2. points out how audiences dont automatically accept what they consume and questions the ability the media has to influence our behaviour and perceptions of others

Question 12

evaluation, durkheim 4

Answer 12

1. ‘degradation ceremonies’ served to reinforce social norms
2. degradation ceremonies are when criminals are publicly humiliated to remind others what punishment they’ll receive if they commit the same crime
3. therefore, the media often publicises when ppl are arrested and punished in order to discourage others from doing so
4. suggests that behaviour which has been labelled as deviant is unlikely to spiral bc individuals wouldnt wanna risk the same punishment