This document is for anyone in year 12 - criminology unit 1 ac1.5 (EXAM BOARD - WJEC). This clearly explains how the public perception of crime is changed due to the different ways the media represents crime.
AC1.5 – Explain the impact of media representations on the public perception
of crime
Moral panic:
Moral panics is the disproportionate public fears about something which might threaten the
moral values of society. This fear is created by the way media represents a crime and how
they might put the emphasis on a certain detail. The public will believe that only a certain
thing is the cause of crime or that only certain crimes are happening.
A good example of a known moral panic is the ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’. These are two
conflicting groups created by the youth in Britain during early/ mid 1960s and 1970s. Soon
after the media started covering their fights, the public saw them as very dangerous and
troublemakers. The individuals within these groups admitted to committing these crimes
because of boredom. Many of the attacks the mods bought upon the rockers was because of
their style. The rockers usually used motorbikes as their staple piece of fashion to portray
their look. They also wore leather jackets and motorcycle boots which was seen as
“protective gear”. The rockers based their fashion sense on ‘rock and roll’ artists such as
Marlon Brando. On the other hand, the mods wore clean cut outfits such as suits. The mods
preferred music genres such as soul, rhythm and blues and beat music.
When the first attack took place in 1964, the media has presented this to the public in such a
way that it has created a great fear to the public of the youth. The newspapers described the
‘wars’ between the two groups as “disastrous proportions” when in reality they were
nowhere near that bad. These outbreaks between the groups did include some violence but
not as much as the media made it out to the public. The exaggeration of how only the youth
was involved made the public believe such thing. In reality only 17% of rioters were under 18
and the rest were 18 and above.
Changing public concern and attitudes:
The media could affect public concerns in many ways. For example, the most powerful way
of doing that is through symbolism, prediction, exaggeration and repetition.
As something is being repeated a lot, that will implement that phrase or number into
people’s minds. Individuals will automatically think about that certain thing. For example, all
the movies created about domestic violence towards women will take the focus off of the
fact that domestic violence can happen to men too. Therefore when men say they are in a
violent relationship their concerns are laughed upon or just not listened to.
Also, there has been a rise in concern in leaving the house at night. Typically women are the
ones most concerned about this. Women have been seen as weaker and more vulnerable
for a long time and we have also been sexualised by men. We have been able to give them
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