Practise paragraphs- Criminology
AC1.5
Moral panic
Moral panic is when panic is caused within society after the media represents a crime in a
distorted and exaggerated way. This could put pressure within the authorities. The media
may overreport crime which may lead to the public being in fear as they believe the rate of
crime is higher than it is, however many types of crimes have declined by 50% or more. An
example of moral crime is the incident occurred with Mods and Rockers in the 1960s. the
media embellished the way they represented this by their headline being ‘wild ones invade
seaside- 97 arrests’. Yet only 24 arrests were made. They used the word ‘battle’ to encourage
the story to stand out by making an overstatement of what the public is told. The impact of
media coverage caused encouragement of views and constant interviews. This created an
environment for more crime to be made and pushed for the public to turn up. This created
extreme panic within society, making them fear about them getting involved. This is an
example of ‘deviance amplification spiral’ when the media reports the crime and draws the
public into it. This therefore encourages the amount of crime occurring. Another example of
moral panic is covid 19. This made the public overreact in what could occur next. This has a
positive impact as it makes people more aware and will put precautions in place such as
CCTV. Yet this is a negative as it makes people panic and increases anxiety levels and mental
health issues.
Changing public concerns and attitudes
Public concerns and attitudes are where the public become concerned with different types
of crime, often about what is reported the most. This is most likely due to the way the media
portrays it and stereotypes on who is likely to commit it. An example of this is terrorism as
they found that Muslims and Islam’s were negatively portrayed in newspaper articles.
Newspapers used them as being mugshots to suggest that Muslims belong to a separate
group and are criminals. As well as this they’re reported as being a threat and terrorists
which creates a link in readers minds. the impact of this changes the publics views and
attitude towards Muslims making them fear them. 21% of the public admit to holding a
negative view on Muslims. In some cases this has positive effects of crime as there has been
an increase in certain crimes, there has been a prevention scheme put in place.
Perceptions of crime trends
Perception of crime trends is where most of the public believe the amount of crime is
increasing. Some crimes may have false beliefs due to them being represented incorrectly or
embellished. An example of this is that public perception of crime trends has increased even
though actual crime rates have decreased. 72% of people believed crime had increased
nationally from what they have seen on the media, however 43% believed crime increased
locally. Therefore, people presume crime is on the rise when it isn’t, causing inaccurate
viewpoints as when the media over reports crime and types of victims. This makes the public
believe they fall under the category of being a victim which is typically seen as the women
and the elderly and the victims being young males. This has positive impacts as the crime
AC1.5
Moral panic
Moral panic is when panic is caused within society after the media represents a crime in a
distorted and exaggerated way. This could put pressure within the authorities. The media
may overreport crime which may lead to the public being in fear as they believe the rate of
crime is higher than it is, however many types of crimes have declined by 50% or more. An
example of moral crime is the incident occurred with Mods and Rockers in the 1960s. the
media embellished the way they represented this by their headline being ‘wild ones invade
seaside- 97 arrests’. Yet only 24 arrests were made. They used the word ‘battle’ to encourage
the story to stand out by making an overstatement of what the public is told. The impact of
media coverage caused encouragement of views and constant interviews. This created an
environment for more crime to be made and pushed for the public to turn up. This created
extreme panic within society, making them fear about them getting involved. This is an
example of ‘deviance amplification spiral’ when the media reports the crime and draws the
public into it. This therefore encourages the amount of crime occurring. Another example of
moral panic is covid 19. This made the public overreact in what could occur next. This has a
positive impact as it makes people more aware and will put precautions in place such as
CCTV. Yet this is a negative as it makes people panic and increases anxiety levels and mental
health issues.
Changing public concerns and attitudes
Public concerns and attitudes are where the public become concerned with different types
of crime, often about what is reported the most. This is most likely due to the way the media
portrays it and stereotypes on who is likely to commit it. An example of this is terrorism as
they found that Muslims and Islam’s were negatively portrayed in newspaper articles.
Newspapers used them as being mugshots to suggest that Muslims belong to a separate
group and are criminals. As well as this they’re reported as being a threat and terrorists
which creates a link in readers minds. the impact of this changes the publics views and
attitude towards Muslims making them fear them. 21% of the public admit to holding a
negative view on Muslims. In some cases this has positive effects of crime as there has been
an increase in certain crimes, there has been a prevention scheme put in place.
Perceptions of crime trends
Perception of crime trends is where most of the public believe the amount of crime is
increasing. Some crimes may have false beliefs due to them being represented incorrectly or
embellished. An example of this is that public perception of crime trends has increased even
though actual crime rates have decreased. 72% of people believed crime had increased
nationally from what they have seen on the media, however 43% believed crime increased
locally. Therefore, people presume crime is on the rise when it isn’t, causing inaccurate
viewpoints as when the media over reports crime and types of victims. This makes the public
believe they fall under the category of being a victim which is typically seen as the women
and the elderly and the victims being young males. This has positive impacts as the crime
