Unit 1 - AC1.5 - Explain the impact of media representations on the public perception of
crime (6 marks)
moral panic:
Stanley Cohen defines a moral panic as “an exaggerated, irrational overreaction by society to a
perceived problem.” Research shows that the media exaggerate levels of serious crime and the risk
of becoming a victim. This is especially true for newspapers, television and radio content. It starts
with the media identifying a group as a folk devil or threat to society's values, exaggerating the
problems' real seriousness with sensationalised reporting. The media, politicians and other
respectable figures condemn the group's misbehaviour and call for a ‘crackdown’ by the authorities.
however this can amplify the scale of the problem that caused the panic originally and make things
worse. A real life example is the mods and rockers, two groups of working class youths. It was one of
the first moral panics that occurred in the 1960’s with the media's portrayal of the clash between
mods and rockers. The media portrayed it in a sensationalised way with lawless gang fighting. The
media overreaction created a moral panic which involved three elements: exaggeration and
distortion of the numbers involved and the seriousness of the event across headlines, prediction of
further violence, symbolisation of the mods and rockers like clothes, bikes, were negatively labelled.
One headline was “wild ones invade seaside - 97 arrests'' when there were actually only 24 arrests.
Moral panic and the media can produce a deviance amplification spiral which is a process where
attempts by the authorities to control deviance produce more deviance. The impact of a moral panic
is to make the public believe the issue is worse than it is and it can lead to harsher punishments and
unreasonable desire for justice.
changing public concerns and attitudes:
The impact of changing concerns and attitudes reflects on policing and government priorities. over
time, the public has been concerned about multiple different types of crime. Most recently, the
threat of terrorism has caused a high level of concern to the public. For example, in response to acts
of terrorism, the government may raise the threat level, for instance, from the severe to critical
following concerns after the Manchester attack in 2017. Islamophobia also has an impact on the
public's attitude towards terrorism. This is when muslims are the victims of attacks just because of
their religion. newspapers often used police mugshots to portray muslims and also print letters from
readers and articles by columnists with extremely negative views of muslims.
perceptions of crime trends:
the public's perception is that crime is on the rise. when the medici report a high volume of crime
stories, it impacts the public and gives them a false belief about the amount of crime. the difference
between the local and national figures is significant. the media especially give a lot of coverage to
violent crimes and thr tabloids report it in a highly sensationalised and alarmist ways. this gives the
public the idea that crime is increasing. the impacts of the public perception of s rising crime rate are
anxiety and stress about beckoning a victim of crime and the subsequent repercussions. one impact
of the perception that crime is increasing is an increased in fear of becoming a victim. for example,
over reporting of crimes against children like abductions and sexual abuse may make parents fearful
of allowing their children to go out unsupervised. however, children are more at risk of harm from
family members rather than from children. on the other hand, some people perception of increased
crime is accurate and this fear may be based on personal experience rather than media
representations.
stereotyping of criminals:
a stereotype is an oversimplified generalisation or label applied to a person or group of people. For
example, in the usa, many members of society view criminals as young black men, and in the UK,
young people are seen as thugs, chavs, etc and they are labelled as juvenile delinquents who go
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