Criminology Unit 1.5
Explain the Impact of Media Representation on the Public Perception of Crime
Key Impacts to Examine
Moral panic
Changing public concerns and attitudes
Perception of crime trends
Stereotyping of criminals
Levels of response to crime and types of punishment
Changing priorities and emphasis
How the media report crime and criminals can have a major impact on :
How much crime people think there is
Whether they believe it’s getting worse
How much of a threat they believe it to be
This impact can have a ripple effect, as people can pressure the police, courts or government to act
on the perceived problem
Crime Control Policies: Crime control policies refer to the laws, regulations and other
governmental actions that are designed to reduce criminal acts. Because public safety is a key
responsibility of government, policy makers at the federal, state and local levels are involved in
formulating and implementing crime control policies.
Moral Panic: Moral panic refers to the fear spread among many people, that some evil threatens
the well-being of society. Moral panic is typically caused by the exaggeration of media
representation. A present example of moral panic is terrorism and Islamic extremism. Moral panic
concerning terrorism and Islam extremism may have established from the terrorist attac ks by an
Islamist terrorist group, on the Twin Towers. As a consequence of media representation , such as
the widespread of television news, awareness within social media etc. the attac ks ma y have been
the origin of prejudice against Islam. An example of a crime control polic y that had been passed
after the terrorist attack against the Twin Towers is the Patriot Act, which aims to deter and p unish
terrorist acts.
Changing Public Concerns & Attitudes: Public concern changes over time, often in response to
things like media reporting and moral panics. Recently crimes like knife crimes and terrorism have
received a lot of publicity and therefore there is a lot of public concern over this .
Explain the Impact of Media Representation on the Public Perception of Crime
Key Impacts to Examine
Moral panic
Changing public concerns and attitudes
Perception of crime trends
Stereotyping of criminals
Levels of response to crime and types of punishment
Changing priorities and emphasis
How the media report crime and criminals can have a major impact on :
How much crime people think there is
Whether they believe it’s getting worse
How much of a threat they believe it to be
This impact can have a ripple effect, as people can pressure the police, courts or government to act
on the perceived problem
Crime Control Policies: Crime control policies refer to the laws, regulations and other
governmental actions that are designed to reduce criminal acts. Because public safety is a key
responsibility of government, policy makers at the federal, state and local levels are involved in
formulating and implementing crime control policies.
Moral Panic: Moral panic refers to the fear spread among many people, that some evil threatens
the well-being of society. Moral panic is typically caused by the exaggeration of media
representation. A present example of moral panic is terrorism and Islamic extremism. Moral panic
concerning terrorism and Islam extremism may have established from the terrorist attac ks by an
Islamist terrorist group, on the Twin Towers. As a consequence of media representation , such as
the widespread of television news, awareness within social media etc. the attac ks ma y have been
the origin of prejudice against Islam. An example of a crime control polic y that had been passed
after the terrorist attack against the Twin Towers is the Patriot Act, which aims to deter and p unish
terrorist acts.
Changing Public Concerns & Attitudes: Public concern changes over time, often in response to
things like media reporting and moral panics. Recently crimes like knife crimes and terrorism have
received a lot of publicity and therefore there is a lot of public concern over this .
