Understanding the Impact of Media on Crime Perception, Behavior, and Radicalization

1.1 List 4 sources of data about crime and or victimisation relating to England and Wales.

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales is the most reliable and important source on data on crime statistics (Office for National Statistics, 2019).
• Home Office Police recorded crime data is the next important source of crime data (Office for National Statistics, 2019).
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has provided data on victims (Office for National Statistics, 2019).
• The Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics is also an important source for crime data.

1.2 State two strengths and two weaknesses of recorded crime statistics (official statistics provided to the Home Office by the police).

Two strengths of recorded crime statistics are: easy to obtain and less expensive because the statistics are based on the records of the police; and they reflect on the performance of the police.

Two weaknesses of recorded crime statistics are: under-reporting of certain crimes, like white collar crimes or crimes against minorities (Muncie & McLaughlin, 2001, p. 42); and victim non-reporting to the police, which means that the actual crime is not always represented in police records (Box, 2002).

1.3State two strengths and two weaknesses of crime survey data.

Two strengths of crime survey data are: these are reliable in reporting long term trends of crime within the society and can reflect on crimes that are not reported in police records, such as, domestic violence incidents that may have gone unreported; and these can be influential in driving change in policy by the government (Office for National Statistics, 2019).

Two weaknesses of crime survey data are: these are expensive to conduct and these require much time and resources; and their reliability may be suspect as these depend on the reports of the individuals concerned and therefore depend on the person’s insight and honesty (Davies & Francis, 2018).

1.4 Why should we be cautious while interpreting self-report data on offending (i.e. data from surveys asking people about the crimes they have committed). Make four points.

Self-reported data on offending has to be interpreted with caution because of the following four reasons:

• Self-reported data on offending may suffer from exaggerations by the respondent;
• The respondent may knowingly or unknowingly omit details about the crime. He may be too embarrassed to reveal some details about the crime and may give a misguiding picture of the crime. Or he may forget some details of the crime;
• The interpretation itself may suffer from biases by the researcher due to the closeness to the hypothesis; and
• The respondent may be whimsical in his answering patterns, giving answers as per his mood when being questioned.

1.4.1 Give four points we need to consider when comparing data from different countries.

The following points are to be considered when comparing data from different countries:

• The definition of crimes may change from country to country, complicating the comparison of the data on the crime; for instance, legal euthanasia in one country may be described as murder in another thereby spiking murder rates in the other country (Pakes, 2019);
• Due to different understandings on crime (by the victims themselves), there may be different patterns as to reporting of the same kinds of crimes in two different countries, as is common with sex offences (Pakes, 2019);
• Compilation of statistics in different countries may be based on different methodologies, which may change the statistical information in significant ways (Pakes, 2019); and
• The ‘dark figures’ of the crimes may vary from country to country with respect of cultural differences or institutional differences; for instance, crimes against women or minorities may form dark figures in some countries (Pakes, 2019).

2.1 What do we mean by the term ‘newsworthy’? What types of crime stories are newsworthy ones?

The term ‘newsworthy’ is used to denote the news values of a particular news item in terms of interest for journalists and potential readership or viewership (Greer, 2007, p. 26). An item of news may be newsworthy if the likelihood of its being selected and prioritized by the news media is high (Greer, 2007).

The types of crime stories that can be described as newsworthy ones are those that are likely to cause sensation, such as by the scale of violence, or particular attributes of the victim or the perpetrator of the crime (Greer, 2007). Celebrity crime can also be newsworthy because of the increased celebrity culture in the society today, where viewership is likely to find the crime interesting because celebrity is involved. Signal crimes can also be newsworthy because of their impact not only on the victim or perpetrator but also the wider society, such as serial killings, or child murders (Greer, 2007). The 1993 James Bulger case is an example of the latter kind of signal crimes.

2.2 What do you mean by the term ‘ideal victim’? Who might be an ideal victim?

The ideal victim is the one that gets most sympathy from the society (Greer, 2007). Such victims may not be blamed for their victimisation as is explained under the victim precipitation theory (Ugwudike, 2015). The victim precipitation theory seeks to identify the ways in which victims may attribute to their own victimisation (Ugwudike, 2015). Ideal victims may not fall in such catagories and even if they do, they will generate such sympathy from the public that attribution is not assigned to them.

Child victims of horrific crimes may be ideal victims, such as James Bulger, where the society sympathises with the victim. In some societies, where race relations are complex, white women may be ideal victims if the perpetrator is of a different race.

2.3 How are offenders likely to be portrayed in mass media? Is this different for male and female offenders?

Offenders are likely to be portrayed in a negative light by the mass media, unless there are some appealing characteristics of the offenders, that may lead to some sympathetic reporting from some news media (Grosholz & Kubrin, 2007). For the most part, the decisions on the portrayal of the offenders in the news media are mostly value judgements by the media reporters and journalists (Grosholz & Kubrin, 2007). Crime reporting can often be disproportionate and may be influenced by what is newsworthy rather than being the accurate portrayal of the crime in the society. For example, the portrayal of youth offenders, although youth are less likely to commit crime and more likely to be victimised as compared to adults, shows that the stories of youth crime gets disproportionately portrayed and is treated to be “the stuff of news” (Grosholz & Kubrin, 2007, p. 59). Female and male offenders are likely to receive differential treatment from media. (Grosholz & Kubrin, 2007). Media tends to consider male offenders as matter of course and women offenders, particularly those who commit serious crimes as aberrations. In such portrayals, there is a tendency to focus on the idea of womanhood and how the serious women offenders, such as, serial killers, have deviated from this standard (Easteal, Bartels, Nelson, & Holland, 2015). Therefore, there is a possibility of generalisations in such portrayals in the mass media.

2.4 Using source 2A set out how the offender (Stephen Griffiths) is portrayed in the article. Why might he be portrayed in this way?

In this article, Stephen Griffiths is portrayed as a man who was lusting for blood and a desire for becoming a serial killer, with the authors of the article noting that he “idolised Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and repeatedly admitted his horrific bloodlust to psychiatrists (Brooke, Tozer, & Narin, 2010). The choice of words used to describe Griffiths is clearly set to portray him as an evil man who killed horrific crimes. The article uses value laden words like “horrific bloodlust” and “grotesque ambitions”, which go on to show him as someone who is purely evil. The father of one of the victims is reported to have used the words “evil of Griffiths”, which goes to reinforce the idea of the killer as an evil man. There is another side to Griffiths, that of someone, who has required psychiatric care since he was 17 years of age. However, this aspect of his story is glossed over with the article seemingly blaming the psychiatrists from not keeping him locked up as he was dangerous (Brooke, Tozer, & Narin, 2010). Although the article uses the term “warped mind” to describe his state of mind, it is not meant to reflect on his psychiatric history (Brooke, Tozer, & Narin, 2010).

Griffiths might have been portrayed this way because the crime by the PhD scholar seems sensational and violent, which raises the newsworthiness of the crime and increases interest in the nature of the man who perpetrated it. By focusing on the nature of Griffiths as an evil and bloodthirsty man, the article is able to sensationalise the crime and make Griffiths more interesting to the readers.

2.5 Using source 2B set out how the victim (Madeleine McCann) is portrayed in the article. Why might she be portrayed in this way?

Madeleine McCann is portrayed as a young victim of a crime (BBC, 2007). She is described as an “absolutely beautiful, wee blonde girl, blue-green eyes" (BBC, 2007). In this, the article focusses on her innocence and childish beauty. The article focusses on that aspect of the victim and that seems to be the most important aspect in victimology, because it increases the sense of sympathy for the victim. The article may be portraying the victim in this way because as a young toddler, she is an ideal victim and one that will get the most sympathy from the public. The characteristics of her being blonde and blue eyed increase these sympathies in the public that is reading the paper or news.

2.6 Using both sources in 2C are there differences in how media portray serial killers based on their gender?

With respect to Dr. Harold Shipman, the portrayal is more to show him as someone who is a good doctor but was involved in killing his clients, earning him the name “Dr. Death” by some of the patients (Shuman, 2005). Dr. Shipman is shown to have killed people who were not likely to be missed. He was a serial killer who was able to kill people by the hundreds because of his profession. Most of his victims were found fully dressed and sitting in their chairs and the claim was usually made by Dr. Shipman that they suffered from heart ailments and likely passed away due to a heart attack (Shuman, 2005). He actually killed patients by administering morphine to them. Shipman is portrayed as a killer and remorseless killer with the word “monster” being used to describe him (Shuman, 2005). The focus in more on the power he had and how he abused it. On the other hand, Beverly Allitt is called the “angel of death” (World, 2016). This contrasts with the way Dr. Shipman was portrayed. Beverly’s actions are seen more in the context of her failure to care and protect for children in her care. The words that are used for her as “cold-hearted” which may be a reflection on her lack of womanly warmth for children. The fact that she did not show any emotion is an important factor. She is also portrayed as a person who may have done what she did because she wanted attention because she may have had Munchausen Syndrome.

3.1 Using appropriate theory in what ways can mass media affect how people think about crime?

Mass media represents crime in a way that leads to moral panics because the media may portray crime to be much more severe in society as opposed to what it is. The moral panic of youth crime is an example of that because despite there being reports of youth crime decreasing in the society (Blackman & Wilson, 2014); the widespread discourse on the youth crime and constant media reporting leads to the impression that it is on the rise and something to be afraid of for the common people (Bright, 2015). Therefore, mass media can affect people in making them believe certain aspects about crime rates in the society, which may not be justified on the basis of actual statistics. Media may also impact people in thinking about crime and criminals in a certain way.

3.2 Is there any evidence that films or television programmes cause people to commit crime? Provide justifications for your answer.

One study shows that there may be short term effects of movies and television programmes, and media violence increases aggression in the short run; however, it does not conclusively point at the increase on violence and inducement of people to commit crimes in the long run (Dahl, 2009). Another study finds that there is a link between later aggression in life with exposure to violence in movies and television in a young age (Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, & Eron, 2003). These results indicate that there is a link between exposure to violence in films and television programmes and commission of crimes.

3.3 Is there any evidence that films or television programmes increase people’s fear of crime? Provide justifications for your answer.

There is evidence that films and television programmes do increase people’s fear of crime (Romer, Jamieson, & Aday, 2003). The results of a study suggest that increased exposure to televised news in particular increases the fear of crime in people (Romer, Jamieson, & Aday, 2003). It is suggested that increased viewership of such news reporting increases the perception of crime in the society, which may cause fear to increase (Romer, Jamieson, & Aday, 2003).

3.4 Critically examine the evidence that exposure to certain social media can cause people to radicalize. Provide justifications for your answer.

There is some evidence in literature that points at a positive link between social media and radicalisation of youth. A study shows a link between social media usage and radicalisation (Rowe & Saif, 2016). The study conducted data mining to find how social media users may be impacted by the ISIS messages on the social media and the videos uploaded by ISIS on the social media platforms. The study found that of 154000 users examined, 727 users exhibited signs of pro-ISIS behaviour after exposure to social media (Rowe & Saif, 2016). The study also found that a vast majority of these 727 users became activated with such behaviour during 2014 after ISIS uploaded many beheading videos online (Rowe & Saif, 2016). The study concluded that users exhibit significant behaviour divergence once they get activated, that is radicalized by the terror groups that have online propaganda on social media (Rowe & Saif, 2016). ISIS in particular has been successful in radicalising people in online environments and is very active on the social media (Awan, 2017). Users can be reached out by ISIS through videos, online messages and apps that are used to radicalise people through propaganda and ideology (Awan, 2017). However, research also suggests that the users are already sympathetic to ISIS before they interact on social media, which suggests that users may not be diverted into radicalisation through social media alone and those vulnerable to such influence may already exhibit some sympathy for such terror organisations.

3.5 Is there any evidence that social media can act as a driver or facilitate youth violence? Provide justifications for your answer.

Research suggests that exposure to social media can be a reason for youth violence in certain cases (Patton, et al., 2014). This includes bullying, gang violence, and even cases of self-directed violence. Such youth violence is perpetrated in online space to a great extent (Patton, et al., 2014). The literature on link between violence and online social media suggests that certain forms of online violence can be perpetrated by young people in online interactions, such as, cyber bullying, while other kinds of violence may be perpetrated in face-to-face encounters as well, with both kinds of violence between somewhat consequential of online events (Patton, et al., 2014).

References

• Awan, I. (2017). Cyber-extremism: Isis and the power of social media. Society, 54(2), 138-149.
• Blackman, S., & Wilson, A. (2014). Psychotic (e)states: Where anti-social behaviour with recreational drug use to signify the social problem group. In S. Pickard (Ed.), Anti-Social Behaviour in Britain: Victorian and Contemporary Perspectives. Springer.
• Box, S. (2002). Power, Crime and Mystification. London: Tavistock.
• Bright, C. (2015). Preventing youth violence and gang involvement: A review of risk and protective factors. Early Intervention Foundation.
• Dahl, G. a. (2009). Does movie violence increase violent crime? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(2), 677-734.
• Davies, P., & Francis, P. (2018). Doing criminological research. London: SAGE Publications Limited.
• Easteal, P., Bartels, L., Nelson, N., & Holland, K. (2015). How are women who kill portrayed in newspaper media? Connections with social values and the legal system. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 51, pp. 31-41). Pergamon.
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• Huesmann, L. R., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C.-L., & Eron, L. D. (2003). Longitudinal relations between children's exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992. Developmental psychology, 39(2), 201-221.
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