'Conceptions of crime Essay\r'

'Conceptions of hatred ar distorted by exposure to media reportage. Discuss. This cours from coursework. inf coga ga” . â€Å"r se” . ga . â€Å"ga” . â€Å"w or”. ga . ” ” . ga . â€Å"k inga foga ” . ga . â€Å"! The media constitutes a major begin of modern edict and plays a large fibre in our lives. It is the prime source of in springation and entertainment, and b atomic number 18ly acts as a strong influence on human race belief and opinion. The media is highly influential in coae ae” . â€Å"r se” . ae . â€Å"ae” . â€Å"w or”. ae . ” ” . ae . â€Å"k inae foae ” . ae . â€Å". shaping our views upon the world in which we live.\r\nWhen it comes to umbrage, coae ae” .”r se” . ae . â€Å"ae” . â€Å"w or”. ae . ” ” . ae . â€Å"k inae foae ” . ae . â€Å". save, do the continues shown by the media leave an accurate draw of the rightful(a) This cours from coursework. inf events? The to a greater extent horrific the ex scat, the more promising it is to capture the worry of the globe, which obviously secures plenty of derive for media barons. Is our increasing trust on an institution that relies on sensationalism to stimulate profit unwise, as this could wellspring mean that the points they report lack truth?\r\nThe media reinforces social myths by set apartive report, and thus presents a distorted view of worldly concern. This could be unraveling to an increasingly misconstrued public view of current crimes. The media is a in truth powerful influence on the course in which we be absorb and how we view the world, accordingly it is important that it shows a realistic picture of what is victorious place in our purchase order, otherwise we allow make a moody perception of aspects much(prenominal)(prenominal) as crime. Is the media really portraying crime as it sincerely yours is, or is it selectively reporting the most gaudy events in order to secure audiences and at that placefore profit? It is important to understand that on that point atomic number 18 many a(prenominal) crimes that be completely ignored by the media, as they atomic number 18 not seen as ? interesting?. ordinarily only those that will capture public charge ar mentioned.\r\nThis means that the crimes that fill our screens and pages are unremarkably vehement or portentous in nature. From a functionalist perspective this underside go to a exacting function, as the deviant behaviour makes ordinary populate feel safe in the knowledge that they are morally better than the criminal, and reporting of crimes and subsequent punishments brush off also serve as a tick to others and a upright method of reinforcing the social order.\r\nHowever, there is also a certain degree of turn present in all reporting that stems from the incorporate norms and moral background of the journali st involved. It is almost inconceivable to be completely objective when reporting, and most journalists will slant their stories to appeal to the widest possible audience. This is theorized in the hegemonic sit around, and work on the basis that the majority of journalists are promising to be white, male and middle-class and will indeed bring with them to their stories their own similar set of norms and values, be this unconsciously or otherwise.\r\nThe editors will also disc over pop a selection process on the stories before they hit the public view; hence it is highly unlikely that any crime report reaches the news in an unbiased state.? Journalists also tend to use a set of stereotypes, which serve to tardily identify ? types? of good deal and reduce complexities of character to a series of ? bad guys? and ? good guys?. These loafer lead the public to make quick judgments, which may not be based on true fact.? The media? s presentation of stereotypical images can ch ange the public opinion on certain groups in society, and may create a false picture of them that may be harmful.\r\nThe groups most often portrayed as criminal are the less(prenominal) privileged and minority groups much(prenominal) as those from ethnic minorities. Because our lives are so deeply influenced by the media we begin to see the depiction of these groups as a earth, and this may cause crimes pull by other groups or individuals (such as corporate crime in the middle class) to be unnoted or seen as less serious.? In addition, the natural law can make use of the media to help maintain social order by choosing what to tell reporters, as many news stories use police accounts as a major source for their information.\r\nA good example of the media distorting aspects of crime is shown with the reporting of women involved in criminal activity. The common media portrayal of women is more resistless and much less inclined to commit crime, and when they do it is seen as less violent or shocking in nature, or as influenced by a stronger male personality, for example Myra Hindley was commonly said to have been under the influence of Ian Brady when the horrific Moors slays were committed.\r\nMedia coverage modal(prenominal)ly concent pass judgment on the most violent and shocking aspects of crime. This can often be far from the truth, and puts the public in fear when in reality there is a tiny chance of them magnetic diping victim. Listening to the news, it appears that the inelegant is riddled with serial killers and rapists however official crime statistics would show that this is not the case. nameing like this can lead to mass panic and fear across the country, and this aspect was investigated further by Stanley Cohen in his make ?\r\nFolk Devils and Moral Panics? where he studied the mid-sixties mods and rockers conflicts. The media? s handling of the fights amid the rivals groups make it sound as if Brighton was full of riots and was a very dangerous place, when in reality this was a false picture of events. However, these stories grabbed the headlines, and as a result appealed to a large audience and gained lots of attention with the public. At the moment there is lots of media coverage nigh murders in Cornwall, and about the girl who was kidnapped and murdered on Dartmoor.\r\nThe way these are reported makes people noble that there is a serial killer on the loose, when in reality there is probably superficial chance of this happening to them and they should be more interested with the more common but less ? colorful? crimes that threaten society, most of which would be much more obvious if the public were able to look at official crime statistics. This viewpoint fits in well with the idea of the media as a manipulative entity that is ideologically biased and therefore bases its selection of news on this fundamental bias.\r\nThis manipulation theory is Marxist in origin and works on the idea that the public are pa ssive and absorb the information that the media presents them with without question, and that the media consist of the ruling class who use media channels to bear on their views and opinions in society. Official statistics paint an interesting picture of the true nature of crime levels in society. It is a fact that crime rates have truly remained stable over the last year, after experiencing a period of decline. This challenges the constant media message that crime is all over and on the increase.\r\nWhen people were interviewed about crime rates many of them believed that crime was well on the increase, as result of a ? heightened degree of press coverage which particularly focused on a claimed arising in crime.? (Jon Simmons in the Home Office Report 2002).? It is a well-known fact that the media tend to accentuate aspects and types of crime that are violent or shocking, such as murder and rape, which affects the general population by creating huge worry about occurrences of violent crime when it is a statistical fact that one is over four times more likely to fall victim to burglary.\r\nAnother form of media that can, and often does, present distorted representations of crime are television shows such as The Bill, Merseybeat or reality shows such as Crimewatch. For example Crimewatch focuses on catching criminals who have elevator carried out violent crime and places little or no emphasis on occurrences of burglary or more ? normal? crimes, even though this type of crime is much more frequent.\r\nThe Bill shows many incidents of violent crime, however also tends to show other less ? newsworthy? forms of crime such as theft which is a more realistic approach. coac ac” . â€Å"r se” . ac . â€Å"ac” . â€Å"w or”. ac . ” ” . ac .”k inac foac ” . ac . â€Å".\r\nThere are a number of media influence models that enterprise to excuse the extent and nature of media influence. The manipulation theory pres ented primarily is one of these theories; however there are others that attempt to explain the media? s effect on society in different ways. The pluralist model argues that the public are not passive receptors but active participants with the power to choose and form their own opinions from the vast mixing of information presented by the media, whether about crime or about other social issues. The media only serve to reinforce the existing values that people possess.\r\nTversky and Kahneman advert that the easier it is to recall or imagine an event, the more likely we are to see it as risky or as frequent in occurrence (Tversky and Kahneman cit. 1994: 303). and so if this is correct therefore constant media coverage of violent crimes could lead us to believe that such crimes are the ones most likely to affect us. Mass media reporting can also serve as a substitute for direct experience, however research into this supports the pluralist model by showing that people are commonly active consumers and interpreters rather than passive recipients.\r\nThe issue at hand seems to be the growing difference between the way the public perceive crime and the reality as shown by official statistics. For some reason, society has a far greater fear of murder and other violent crime than is justified by the actual number of occurrence, when in reality there is far greater likelihood of incidences of burglary or car crime. So where do these fears stem from? The answer appears to be that they come from the way in which the media report crimes and how they select the most newsworthy aspects so that more cover will get sold and so viewing figures will increase.\r\nIn conclusion it is an unavoidable fact that our society is so immersed in the media that its influence is steadfastly to get away from. To a large extent, media does form our social world, however it is also true that people are active interpreters of information, and are able to utilise their own opinions on events and stories shown by the media. We are only taking in what the media offer to us not the real truth about what is happening. It is very flabby for our conceptions of crime to be distorted by the way that the media portray it, as the only information we are receiving on the events is that which comes from the media.\r\nHowever if people really are actively interpreting and thinking about the true nature of crime levels, while attempting to broaden their horizons of information, then they will be more aware of the reality of the situation and our conceptions will be far less influenced by media constructed images and opinions.\r\nBibliography Maguire, M, R. Reiner and R. Morgan. 2002 The Oxford Handbook Of Criminology New York: Oxford University Press Haralambos, M. 2000? Themes and Perspectives in Sociology? 4th edition Cohen, S and Young, J. 1973? The Manufacture Of countersign: Deviance, Social Problems and the Mass Media, London: Constable and Co Ltd.\r\n'