AC 1.5 Explain the impact of media representations
on the public perception of crime
IMPACT :
Moral Panic - exaggeration and an irrational response to a perceived problem in our
society. Some of the earliest moral panics happened in the 1960’s during the mods and
rockers gang fights. These were two conflicting groups, mods - wore designer suits, while
rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Some fights between the mods and rockers
broke out and resulted in the situation being shown on the tv. This situation was taken out of
proportion and used by the media to fear monger the general public to believe that the youth
are a massive problem and we as members of the public should be scared. (Changing
public concerns and attitudes).
Another example of moral panic would be in relation to the killer clown craze in 2016. This
mass hysteria was ignited by the overreporting of sightings of people dressing up and
scaring people by wearing clown costumes. These people were identified as folk devils and
many people feared that they were dangerous and out to kill or kidnap civilians. In reality,
they were not causing any massive harm but the idea that these clowns were attempting to
lure children into the woods grew more and more popular.
Why accurate media coverage is necessary:
When inaccurate statistics are purposefully shown in the media they can cause the viewer to
create harmful stereotypes about certain ethnic minorities. For example, the media in the
crime reports, they claimed that 72 percent of assaults were carried out by black people,
when according to NYPD data it was only about 49 percent.
Folk devil - a group of people identified by the media as someone we should fear, as
someone who goes against our moral code.
The cyclical nature of moral panic
1. A crime gains the attention of the media and a certain group of individuals is blamed
for the incident
2. Then, agencies of protection such as the police force respond to the situation
3. The media reports more and more and the deviance is amplified further, causing
increased irrational social reaction.
4. Exaggeration of the situation, symbolism of what these ‘devil’s in disguise’ wear, and
the prediction of what else these deviant individuals will do.
5. The issue becomes redefined and it spirals all over again
Metropolitan Police tweets may have cause an increase in young people carrying knives
The metropolitan police account on twitter was posting many images of seized knives. It is
estimated that the local police forces posted around 1,176 images of knives.Exposure of
these images to the general public caused people to be worried about what may happen to
them if such a large community of people was carrying knives. This encourages people to
carry knives due to concerns for their safety, additionally it may encourage tennagers to
carry knives because it's ‘cool’.
on the public perception of crime
IMPACT :
Moral Panic - exaggeration and an irrational response to a perceived problem in our
society. Some of the earliest moral panics happened in the 1960’s during the mods and
rockers gang fights. These were two conflicting groups, mods - wore designer suits, while
rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Some fights between the mods and rockers
broke out and resulted in the situation being shown on the tv. This situation was taken out of
proportion and used by the media to fear monger the general public to believe that the youth
are a massive problem and we as members of the public should be scared. (Changing
public concerns and attitudes).
Another example of moral panic would be in relation to the killer clown craze in 2016. This
mass hysteria was ignited by the overreporting of sightings of people dressing up and
scaring people by wearing clown costumes. These people were identified as folk devils and
many people feared that they were dangerous and out to kill or kidnap civilians. In reality,
they were not causing any massive harm but the idea that these clowns were attempting to
lure children into the woods grew more and more popular.
Why accurate media coverage is necessary:
When inaccurate statistics are purposefully shown in the media they can cause the viewer to
create harmful stereotypes about certain ethnic minorities. For example, the media in the
crime reports, they claimed that 72 percent of assaults were carried out by black people,
when according to NYPD data it was only about 49 percent.
Folk devil - a group of people identified by the media as someone we should fear, as
someone who goes against our moral code.
The cyclical nature of moral panic
1. A crime gains the attention of the media and a certain group of individuals is blamed
for the incident
2. Then, agencies of protection such as the police force respond to the situation
3. The media reports more and more and the deviance is amplified further, causing
increased irrational social reaction.
4. Exaggeration of the situation, symbolism of what these ‘devil’s in disguise’ wear, and
the prediction of what else these deviant individuals will do.
5. The issue becomes redefined and it spirals all over again
Metropolitan Police tweets may have cause an increase in young people carrying knives
The metropolitan police account on twitter was posting many images of seized knives. It is
estimated that the local police forces posted around 1,176 images of knives.Exposure of
these images to the general public caused people to be worried about what may happen to
them if such a large community of people was carrying knives. This encourages people to
carry knives due to concerns for their safety, additionally it may encourage tennagers to
carry knives because it's ‘cool’.
