Assess the view that the media as a cause of crime. (21)

There is concern that the media have a negative effect on attitudes, values and behaviour - especially of those susceptible to influence, such as the young, the lower class and the educated. Recently rap lyrics and computer games such as Grand Theft Auto have been criticised for encouraging violence whereas before horror comics and films were held responsible for criminality.

According to social learning theory, the media provides deviant role models - resulting in ‘copycat’ behaviour. Ericson et al found that 45-71% of quality press and radio news was about various forms of deviance, whilst Williams and Dickinson found British newspapers devoted 30% of their news space to crime. As crime makes up such a large proportion of the news, it is easy for individuals to imitate the crime or behaviour. Though horror and crime films have age restrictions, the internet makes such films easily accessible to anyone and therefore those at an impressionable age (usually adolescents), are exposed to the violence portrayed in which they then imitate. Sue Palmer argues childhood is becoming toxic and children are committing more ‘adult’ crimes from their exposure to violence on the internet and through films. The murder of Jamie Bulger committed by John Venables and Robert Thompson, has been linked to the boys re-enacting scenes from the film ‘Child’s Play 3’. Similarly, the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre in April 1999 allegedly had been playing violent video games before the shootings. However, many argue there are more important factors in the makings of a criminal mind. Biological explanations include damage to the prefrontal cortex which impair the individual’s ability to make good choices. Others argue violent films act as a deterrent to the viewers and in fact inspire people not to act in a criminal manner as the criminal is almost always punished. Bandura et al however provides evidence for social learning theory as they found children exposed to aggression displayed more than those who were not. However, these findings lack validity as the artificial setting may affect natural behaviour. It is also difficult to measure the long-term effects.

The media causes crime by transmitting knowledge of criminal techniques. We also know that terrorists need media coverage to spread their messages, create fear and recruit members. Jetter compared headline-grabbing terrorist attacks with those that occurred during a bigger story, such as a natural disaster, and found a clear link between the number of articles devoted to the initial terrorist incident and the number of follow up attacks over the next few weeks. According to Jetter, one additional New York Times article about attack in a particular country increased the number of follow up attacks in the same country by between 11% and 15%. It was found suicide missions receive significantly more media coverage, which he believes could explain their increased popularity among terrorist groups. Jetter argues “media coverage of other events that are causing more harm in the world should not be neglected at the expense of media marathons discussing the cruelties of terrorists”. For example, 7,123 children die everyday due to hunger-related causes, compared with 42 people a day from terrorist attacks. Some may argue however, that terrorism needs to be reported. One reason is that people have a right to know what they are up against in order to avoid certain places, as their lives may potentially be at risk. It is also wrong to sugar-coat something as serious as a threat.

Another way in which the media may cause crime is through labelling. The media identify a group as a folk devil, being a threat to societal values, and then presenting that group in a negative, stereotypical way. This leads to the groups internalizing the label and then conforming to their negative stereotype, resulting in a self fulfilling prophecy. The media’s exaggeration and reporting leads to an amplification spiral and in fact leads to more of the offending behaviour. This is evident in Stanley Cohen’s study, Folk Devils and Moral Panics. He examines the media response to conflicts between 2 groups of working class teenagers, the mods and the rockers, and the way in which this created a moral panic. Although the dispute was only minor, Cohen argues that the media’s portrayal of events produced a deviance amplification spiral by making it seem as if the problem was getting out of hand. This increased control responses from the police which produced further stigmatisation and a further deviance amplification spiral. However, McRobbie and Thornton argue moral panics are less influential in society today. The media has developed since 1972 when Cohen’s study was carried out, the internet has desensitised people to violence.

Marxist argue to some extent that media can cause crime. For example, they argue crime may be the only way the working class can obtain the consumer goods encouraged by capitalist advertising resulting in utilitarian crime such as theft. Marxists however argue the main cause of crime is capitalism and the media is purely a function within it that helps contribute to maintaining class inequality. Functionalists reject the view that the media is the cause of crime. Merton says crime is a result from the strain to anomie. When individuals are unable to achieve the goals society encourages legitimately, they become frustrated and resort to the criminal means of getting what they want. Merton’s view explains why lower-class crime rates are higher, because they have the least opportunity to obtain wealth legitimately. However, he doesn’t explain violent crime, only utilitarian crime. His explanation couldn’t account for state crime either, such as genocide or torture.