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Week 2 - Lec Notes (Media, Crime, Moral panic)
Criminological Theory (m900)
University of the West of England
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Week 2 Lecture Notes Media, Crime and Moral Panic
Media, crime and moral panic – topic for practice coursework.
Public fascination with crime – o Historical public fascination with crime o Crime dramas and films, Real Life Crime Books, Memoirs of Criminals and CrIme Fighters o Different mediums to document crime o Now 24 hours a day news coverage, plethora of channels, access on mobile phones o Development of citizen journalism o We as a country have a very heavy focus on crime, even throughout our history. In England, we used to have public hanging and witch trials. People used to go and watch hanging as public entertainment and was seen as an ‘event’. o Fascination with real life crime.
Methods of studying media representation of crime – Content Analysis: o This is a quantitative method (see Research Methods Lecture) looks at patterns of coverage o Calculates frequency of particular topics i., crime/violence o Counts types of crime & headlines o Said to be systematic, objective and replicable o Discourse analysis is a qualitative method (See Research Methods Lecture) o Concentrates on the language and meanings of texts, speech, documents o Considers deeper meanings and interpretations of events o Offers a more nuanced picture compared to content analysis
Mayr and Machin (2012) explore how language is used in the media and popular culture to discuss the ways in which crime and criminality are portrayed, particularly in discussions of young people.
Jewkes (2015) looks at media misogyny in her analysis of the portrayal of female offenders looking at the way in which their physical attractiveness, motherhood and mental health are focused on which, she claims, does not happen to men.
Research on crime media coverage indicates – o Crime is a staple of news coverage, particularly crimes of violence, overplays people’s chances of becoming a victim. o It is a huge focus of attention. o Certain types of crime are therefore more likely to feature on front pages, early in paper and in tweets and blogs giving the impression we are all living in more dangerous times. Need to consider 2 questions:
What is reported and what is not
How are things reported?
Newsworthiness: Factors – o Extensive literature on various factors that make events attractive or ‘newsworthy’ to Journalists (Jewkes, 2015) o Newsworthiness is shaped by news values o Immediacy o Novelty – Acid attacks. o Drama – focus on action/spectacular. o Personalisation – make the victim personal to us, we for them more. o Simplification – simplifying crime. o Titillation – Sex/Drugs/Rock and Roll sell papers, revealing the forbidden, Voyeurism. o Conventionalism o Notions of Ideal Victims and Perpetrators (see later lecture) o Historical timeframe and culture are important i., celebrity culture
Coverage of specific crimes: influence – o Coverage of specific crimes have a lasting influence on society including crime reporting. o Racist murder of Stephen Lawrence – led to Macpherson report (1999) which highlighted ‘institutional racism’ and mishandling of the case – intensified interest in racism, law and order, crime and victimization, policing and criminal justice. o Murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted paedophile in 2000 resulted in News of the World newspaper campaign to release names of convicted paedophiles living in community (Sarah’s Law). o Jimmy Saville investigation – led to an explosion in fresh accusations against those in TV and the entertainment industry. o Violence is a staple of news coverage, but newsworthiness is increased when the incident is focused through the lens of celebrity, childhood, sex, race, institutional failure and cover up – results in media currency (Davies, Francis and Greer 2015).
Moral panic and Deviancy amplification: Stan Cohen – Stan Cohen’s work Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972), defined a moral panic as when: o "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.“ o Looks at how society labels ‘rule-breakers’ o The people who threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils“ o Exaggerated reaction to groups of youths at holiday destination o Recent examples?
telegraph.co/news/2021/09/23/police-release-images-man-connection- murder-sabina-nessa/ independent.co/news/uk/home-news/sarah-everard-kidnapping-murder- women-b2025176 Sarah Everard – bbc.co/news/uk-england-london-
Stephen Lawrence – o Stephen Lawrence – the racist murder of an A Level student o At first police assumed it was ‘gang-related’ o Not provided with legitimate victim status (Race, ethnicity, gender) o Stephen’s family fought for justice o (See race/ethnicity, class, crime – later lecture)
Commissioner of London Met, Sir Ian Blair – o Accused the police of being institutionally racist o Highlighted the extensive focus on the Soham murders o Newspaper editors reported high-profile coverage of Black and Asian murder victims including Stephen Lawrence as proof they were not racist (Davies, Francis and Greer 2015) o The Conservative Daily Mail reprinted its infamous front page which risked legal action by sensationally naming and picturing the alleged killers of Stephen Lawrence
The power of the visual when featuring crime stories – o Photos of the victim, loved ones, CCTV, pictures of ordinary lives, crime scenes, CCTV (Gerrard (2004: 14) we remember in pictures – memory freeze frames o Pictures personalise, humanise and memorialise victims o ‘When you see a picture, you see the life, the potential’ cited in Chermak, 1995: 104) o Serve to highlight the innocence and loss, the unbearable knowledge of what comes next and the heinous offence o Causes a visceral response in public, resonates
Crime and institutional failings in crime coverage – o Key element in crime narrative is an attribution of blame (Chibnall, 1977) o For serious and violence crime, blame is often directed at offender o But may also be directed at society and institutions o Media interest in Stephen Lawrence, Sarah Payne, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was maintained in part by serious institutional failings – police, the courts, probation service, educational system. o The victim’s symbolic power extends beyond their individual cases forming the heart of a scandal representing wider issues and debates on public safety, social and criminal justice and the nature of society itself.
Moral panic, deviancy amplification, folk devils – o In Part A we saw how Moral panics are in essence controversies that involve arguments and social tension
o A behaviour and/or person/s become the focus of public attention and a moral panic emerges o The process often results in the creation of a folk devil
EXAMPLE OF MORAL PANIC: JAMES BULGER MURDER –
Key factors in Moral Panic: o Ordinary nature of the event (captured on CCTV) o Randomness – could happen to anyone o Abduction from shopping centre (mother was present) o The innocence of a two year old victim and his murder by two ten year old perpetrators o Green, D., 2008. Suitable vehicles: Framing blame and justice when children kill a child. Crime, Media, Culture, 4(2), pp-220.
Criminal Justice framework: Impact – o Criminal Justice framework used – focus on Deviance o In contrast, in Norway, twenty months after the Bulger murder, three six-year-old boys killed five-year-old Silje Marie Redergård outside Trondheim but the murder framed as a welfare issue (Aftenposten, 20 October 1994). o Bulger murder resulted in Abolition of Doli-Incapax i. presumption of innocence in children aged 10 – 14 years o Increased severity of criminal justice approaches to juveniles
Constructing folk devils as deviant – o A linguistic device used in the construction of folk devils is to define them as deviant o For example the Bulger killers were constructed by some sections of the media as essentially evil i. Born evil or as being made evil o ‘The murder of James Bulger was so appalling that it would be foolish to pretend the evil of his two little killers could have been averted’ o (Daily Mirror, 26, November 1993)
Threat to society – o Another rhetorical device used is to focus on society i., the folk devil is a threat to society or is due to the breakdown of society: o A Daily Mirror editorial on the Bulger murder declared, o ‘There is something rotten at the heart of Britain. A creeping evil of violence and fear. The death of Jamie Bulger has focused the nation’s attention on it. But it has been growing like a cancer for a long time’ (Daily Mirror, 22 February 1993).
Call for action – o Leads to Popular Positivism – the appeal to harsher punishments to respond to social problems o Threats to ‘ontological security’ (Giddens, 1990)
Modern day folk devils –
Week 2 - Lec Notes (Media, Crime, Moral panic)
Module: Criminological Theory (m900)
University: University of the West of England
