Role of The Mass Media in Relation To

Crime and Deviance

By
Ola Kazeem Falodun

Introduction
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Role of media in relation to crime and deviance has been - and will always be - a very
important factor in our society. Since crime and deviance have always remain a universal
problem, media as a predominant force in modern culture, experts in the field of
psychology, mass communication and criminology will continue seeking to research and
understand the connections between media and crime for as long as crime is existing.

Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of
sources including TV, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote
not only products, but moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass
media makes possible the concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines,
and news media to reach across thousands of miles, people could not become famous. In
fact, only political and business leaders, as well as the few notorious outlaws, were famous
in the past. Only in recent times have actors, singers, and other social elites become
celebrities or “stars” as a result of mass media.

This essay will comprehensively explore the relationship between media and crime and as
well discuss some of the major theoretical positions that focus on this relationship like the
media effects theory from both a psychological and sociological perspectives. It will give
answers to numerous questions such as: Why are we so fascinated by crime and deviance?
What exactly is the relationship between the mass media and crime? How does the media
as a social control force effectively and sufficiently affect crime and the society?

Summarily, this essay will have five chapters. Chapter one will introduce the researcher to
the topic and other related issue. Chapter two, three and four of this essay which are the
main body of this work will dealt with literature review and analysis of the empirical cases.
And chapter five will give summary and conclusion to this study.

Crime and Deviance

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Crime and deviance are concepts used in everyday life and social science, e.g. Criminology,
to represent all social actions or utterances that transgress socially accepted behavioral
norms and ethical standards (Hall, 2012). They are products of a societal reaction, and as
“dynamic agents” whose autonomy is always hedged by the wider society’s mechanism of
social control (Lemert, 2000), people break rules. Unequivocally, crime is a behaviour that
breaks the formal written laws of society, and if it is committed the criminal will be arrested,
charged and prosecuted. Constructively, some actions can be illegal but not necessarily a
deviance.

Crime is restricted to actions or signs that exist beyond boundaries set by law while social
deviance incorporate crime but also includes any legal action or sign deemed unacceptable
by the social group (Hall, 2012). Deviance is behaviour which does not comply with the
dominant norms of a specific society (Bryant, 2012). If a man is seen as deviant, his action
can attract negative sanction such as avoidance and ridicule. For instance, Peter talked
loudly when he was discussing with other MA Criminology students in the university library.
This action distracted the attention of other library user. Practically, this action is legally
deviant since he is not breaking any law, but acting socially unacceptable. Peter’s action is a
“legally deviant behaviour.” Paul illegally downloads thousands of songs for his mp3 player
means Paul is a criminal because he has broken the copyright act. Obviously, Paul is not a
deviant since his action will not hurt anyone. Paul’s action is a criminal behaviour - crime.

2. 2. Differences between Crime and Deviance

Deviance has no clear-cut definition, but can only be defined in relation to particular norms,
and norms change over time. It vary according to a range of circumstance, and covers a
very wide range of behavior. Deviance is culturally relative –what is regarded as deviance in
one society or group is not necessarily so in another (e.g. consumption of alcohol is often
seen as deviant while it is illegal in Islamic countries but is seen as normal in Britain. What
may be socially acceptable in a particular group may be regarded as deviant in the wider
society. Norms vary between social groups in the same society. The place where an act
takes place may influence whether it is regarded as deviant or not. It is socially unacceptable

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for people to have sex in the street, but acceptable if it takes place between a consenting
couples in a bedroom. Fighting on the street is socially unacceptable while fighting is the
boxing ring is both socially and legally acceptable.

Crime is easy to define because the law has clearly states what a criminal act is. Crime
record – there is official statistics for crime – a set of generated figures and facts sourced
from the government and other official organizations (e.g. UN) are often used as secondary
data in conducting research concerning crime.

Media and Crime

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Media representations of crime and deviance have been a perennial cause of concern
(Reiner et.al 2002), and people are still fascinated by crime and deviance despite the fact
that they always condemn it (Hall, 2012). Mass media as a significant force in modern
culture (whether television, radio, advertising, movies, Internet, newspapers, magazines,
and so forth) play an important role in the construction of criminality and the
criminal justice system. The public’s perception of victims, criminals, deviants, and law
enforcement officials is largely determined by their portrayal in the mass media (Dowler,
2004). Experts (Hall, 2012; Dowler, 2004 and Reiner et.al 2002) argued that two competing
anxieties can be discerned in public debate, and both of these are significantly relevant in a
large research literature. One, media are often seen as fundamentally subversive; and two
they are seen as a more or less subtle form of social control. Essentially, this essay will
concisely and carefully explore the relationship between medial and crime and deviance as
discussed below.

In determining what role does mass media play in relation to crime and deviance, renowned
experts in the field of criminology, sociologists and mass communication have had series of
scholastic debates in which opinions vary as to the extent and type of influence the mass
media wields, but all sides agree that mass media is a permanent part of modern culture
(Fadul and Estoque, 2010). At this juncture of this essay the role of mass media in relation to
crime and deviance would be examined on three main perspectives: the limited‐effects
theory, the class‐dominant theory, and the culturalist theory.

3. 2. 1. Limited‐effects theory 

Limited-effect theory posits that media effect is limited or minimal in changing or shaping
people’s thoughts, attitudes and actions because of a variety of intervening variables (Baran
and Davis, 2012). It argues that because people generally choose what to watch or read
based on what they already believe, media exerts a negligible influence. After the second
World War incident, researchers began to theorise the actual direct impact mass media
could have on an individual (Wicharaya, 1995).  Paul Lazarfield and Carl Hovland (the
Methodologists) between 1940s and 50s conducted research to question this paradigm, and
to do so they created an empirical way of study in order to develop theory. Precisely, it
examined the ability of media to influence voting found that well‐informed people relied

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more on personal experience, prior knowledge, and their own reasoning. However, media
“experts” more likely swayed those who were less informed. Critics pointed to two
problems with this perspective (Baran and Davis, 2012; Nabi and Oliver, 2009; and
Wicharaya, 1995). First, they claim that limited‐effects theory ignores the media's role in
framing and limiting the discussion and debate of issues. How media frames the debate and
what questions members of the media ask change the outcome of the discussion and the
possible conclusions people may draw. Second, this theory came into existence when the
availability and dominance of media was far less widespread.

3. 2. 2. Class‐Dominant theory

Class-Dominant theory (according to Marxists) argues that the upper class controls the
economy through the corporate community (Morrison, 1995), and that the media reflects
and projects the view of a minority elite, which controls it (Barlow and Decker, 2010). The
upper class of people who own and control the corporations that produce media comprise
this elite while the lower class are the workers (Adler and Laufer, 1993). On assumption of
massive corporate mergers of media organizations, which limit competition and put big
business at the reins of media, few people then have the ability to manipulate what people
can see or hear since ownership is limitedly restricted. For instance, owners (the dominant
class) can easily avoid or silence stories that expose unethical corporate behaviour or hold
corporations responsible for their actions (Littlejohn and Foss, 2009; and Fadul and Estoque,
2010). One prominent thing about this theory is that he who pays the piper dictates the
tune.

Evidently, media houses make their money mostly from advertisement, and the bulk of this
comes from the multinational companies, the political parties and some wealthy individuals
who advertise on their media platform. On the basis of this, most Media networks target
their broadcasting at the largest possible audience because the broader their coverage, the
greater the potential commercial audience and the easier their selling air time becomes.
Thus, news media may technically shy away from negative stories about the companies
(especially the multinational companies) that place huge advertisement media network.
Television networks net millions of Euros on advertisement for companies like Nike and

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some other clothing textile companies are always carefully cautious of running stories or no
story relating to human‐rights violations concerning their customer companies on their
media network. Media watchers also constantly identify the same problem with the local
media that will not run negative news on local auto-dealers and property companies
because the bulk of their incomes are generated from auto and real estate advertisement.
The effect of this is also extended to airing negative news about ruling political party on
government owned media network. For instance, National Television Authority (NTA) of
Nigerian and AIT would not attempt to broadcast negative news concerning Jonathan-led
government in Nigeria even when their activities violated people’s fundamental human
rights.

Critics of this theory arguably counter these arguments on the grounds that local ownership
and control of news media largely lies beyond and above the reach of large corporate offices
elsewhere, and that the quality of news absolutely depends on the kind of journalists in
charge. They contend that those less powerful and not in control of media have often
received full media coverage and subsequent support. For instance, numerous
environmental causes, the anti‐nuclear movement, the anti‐Vietnam movement, and the
pro‐Gulf War movement were named (Littlejohn and Foss, 2009 and Shoemaker and Reese,
1996).

While most people argue that a corporate elite controls media, a variation on this approach
argues that a politically “liberal” elite controls media (Fadul and Estoque, 2010). They point
to the fact that journalists, being more highly educated than the general population, hold
more liberal political views, consider themselves “left of centre,” and are more likely to
register as Democrats. They further point to examples from the media itself and the
statistical reality that the media more often labels conservative commentators or politicians
as “conservative” than liberals as “liberal.”

Media language can be revealing too. Media uses the terms “arch” or “ultra” conservative,
but rarely or never the terms “arch” or “ultra” liberal. Those who argue that a political elite
controls media also point out that the movements that have gained media attention
wholeheartedly supported liberal political ideologies. Predominantly conservative political
issues have yet to gain prominent media attention, or might have been opposed by the
media. The Strategic Arms Initiative of the 1980s in Reagan administration was mainly

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introduced by faithful advocate of this view. Media quickly characterized the defence
program as “Star Wars,” by linking it to an expensive fantasy. The public failed to support it,
and the program did not get funding or congressional support in America (Adler and Laufer,
1993 and 2000).

3. 2. 3. Culturalist theory

Culturalist theory was developed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and combines the other
two sociological theories and claims that people interact with media to “create their own
meanings out of the images and messages they receive”(Fadul and Estoque, 2010 and
Doran, 2010). People view and assess the material in which they view based on their own
knowledge and experience. In a research consulted, different groups of people were asked
to explain the meaning of a particular song or video, the groups produce widely differing
interpretations based on age, gender, race, ethnicity, and religious background.
Subsequently, advocates of this theory claim that, while a few elite in large corporations
may “exert significant control over what information media produces and distributes”,
personal perspective, experience, and attitudes plays a more powerful role in how
audiences interpret the messages showcased in the media (Nzina, 2014).

Essentially, audiences’ experiences and knowledge absolutely determine how they take in
these messages, in relation to their age, income, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc.
colouring how they process media, and how they create it, as well (Coyne, 2013)

Influence of Media effects As Cause of Crime

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Media has been the main public channel of sourcing information about crime and criminal.
A vast empirical literature on the impact of media on crime has accrued over the past years,
predominantly in the fields of Psychology, mass communications and mostly criminology.
Scholars from these fields of study have been conducting research on the influences of
media effects as cause of crime in our society.

The first of its kind was dated back to the period of 1920s and 1930s which was initiated by
social scientists who developed the theory of media effects. This was introduced shortly
after the World War 1, to establish if truly “propaganda is one of the most powerful
instrumentalities in the modern world”. Since the said incidents, carrying out research to
investigate issues about mass media and crime has become a significant task to scholars of
criminology, psychology and mass communication. Importantly, this section of this essay will
concisely discuss psychological and criminological theories of media effects in relation to
crime and deviance as follows:

4. 2. 1. The psychological Perspective

The psychological research of media effect theory was called the Hypodermic Syringe Model
or Magic Bullet Theory. According to the names of this, it was believed that the media
played a direct, immediate and powerful role in ‘injecting’ or ‘shooting’ messages or images
to its audience and having the power to change, manipulate or control opinions of the
population (Jewkes, 2011; Neuman & Guggenheim, 2011). After a while, this theory lost its
appeal through election studies when the majority of the voters were not influenced by the
propaganda and it was discovered that many people were influenced more by others in
their social circles rather than the media despite the massive use of it (Lazarsfeld, Berelson
& Gaudet, 1944). In other words, it was firmly established that the media as an instrument
of persuasion and presentation did not influence every single individual in the same way
(Kirsh, 2006). Disproportionately, this led to the argument that individuals are social beings
who have free will and form their opinions and reactions based on the influence of
socialising with others (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955 as cited in Jewkes, 2011).

As a result of latest development of technological devices and new forms of mass media,
research on the effect theories continuously conducted by the behavioural psychologists in

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laboratory based experiments. Among these behavioural psychologists were J.B. Watson, B.
F. Skinner and Albert Bandura (Jewkes, 2011; and Pavlov, 1927). In an attempt to prove the
link between the effects of media images and changes in behaviour, Watson argued that the
media was one of the most powerful stimuli in modern society because people are
influenced by various forces in their environments that play a significant role as a stimuli. In
a nut shell, these studies were rooted on the basic foundation that ‘learning through the
illustrations of the media leads to the display of certain behaviour’ (Bryant & Miron, 2004).

4. 2. 2. Criminological / sociological perspective:

This is another predominant approach which also discussed the relationship between media
and crime. Some of the prominent studies of the relationship between media and crime
were originally conducted by the Chicago School research, Robert Merton’s (1938) studies
on strain theory, Durkheim (1893) analysis of anomie as well as the Marxist ideology
approaches (Davis et.al 2005). Both the Chicago School research and Merton’s approaches
studied the change in the social environment and interaction, and how these eventually
influence antisocial and criminal behaviour in people (Dowler, Fleming, & Muzzatti, 2006). In
addition to this, The change in society and transformation from a rural environment to a
more urban and industrialised community is thought by social theorists like Durkheim
(1895) and Tonnies (1905) to have caused a sense of lawlessness and lead to impersonal
communities inevitably causing a lack of respect for law and order as a result of the
influence of the media (Dowler, 2004 and Einstadter and Henry, 2006). Karl Marx’s writings
on media and power were also used in studies by Antonio Gramsci (1971) and created the
approach of the ‘dominant ideology’ in the 1960s. This theory concentrated on the social
structure and the power and influence of the media on society. Marx’s theories on capitalist
structures were developed by certain classes of theorists who created new fields like ‘radical
criminology’ which exposed many inequalities of crime, criminalisation and labelling
theories (Einstadter and Henry, 2006).

Crime has always been and always will be a current topic of interest in every society as the
mass media presents it for the purposes of both information and entertainment, thus the
coined term ‘infotainment’ (Surette, 1998; Dowler, Fleming, & Muzzatti, 2006). The fact that

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crime has the potential for being newsworthy or a topic for a TV series, is due to the fact
that it contains negative features and values which are crucial in the construction of news.
Jewkes (2011) suggests that news reporters must evaluate the value of a news story and
test to see if it meets certain news structures and elements to make it a newsworthy piece.
She further states that crime news meets most of these necessary news values which
include elements of a stories threshold, predictability, simplification, individualism, the
involvement of risk, sex, celebrity or high-status persons, its proximity, violence, graphic
images, and the involvement of children and its political or ideological value (Jewkes, 2011).
Even though, every crime news may contain most of these features, some stories may not
be explored in the mass media. That is why, as McNair (1998) states, a crime story has a
major element that brings a certain attention with it and this is the fact that it has ‘novelty’
or ‘newness’ which teaches something new to its audience. To illustrate this the
predominant theories of crime can be assembled in a simple model. For a crime to occur
there are several logically necessary preconditions, which are carefully identified to be
discussed below:

a. Labelling

In order to classify an action or act to be ‘criminal’, it has to be labelled as such. Labelling

involves the creation of a legal category, and also requires the perception of the act as
criminal by citizens and/or law enforcement officers if it is to be recorded as a crime. The
mass media has become an important factor in both processes, helping to shape the
conceptual boundaries and recorded volume of crime (Farrington and Murray, 2014 and
Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002).

Labelling theory (also known as societal reaction theory) analyses how social groups create
and apply definitions for deviant behaviour. It examines how deviant labels emerge, how
some social groups develop the power to impose deviant labels onto selected others, and
the consequences of being labelled deviant. Howard Becker is credited with the most
influential formulation of labelling theory, which appears in his work ‘Outsiders’ in 1973.
According to Becker, deviance is not an intrinsic feature of behaviour. Acts and individuals
are not inherently deviant until some social groups can successfully define them that way.

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Labelling theory here builds from the symbolic interactionist tenet that people define and
construct their identities from society's perceptions of them. Social groups project rules and
definitions onto otherwise neutral behaviours to create deviance (Ritzer, 2005).

Becker’s seminal book, Outsiders Howard Becker, helped in analysing the emergence of the
Marijuana Tax Act in the USA in 1937, and also in emphasizing the use of the media as a tool
of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its moral entrepreneurship in creating the new
statute (Becker 1963 cited in Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002). Labelling of someone as
deviant can have long-term consequences on a person's social identity, and it can be
primary deviance or secondary deviance. Primary deviance is an initial violation of a social
norm which no inference is made regarding a person's character. This includes minor
deviant acts that just about everyone does once or twice, like playing hooky from school or
work. While secondary deviance is when a person repeatedly violates a social norm which
leads others to make assumptions about that person and assign a label on him (e.g.
'criminal,' 'psycho,' 'addict,' and 'delinquent'). Secondary deviance gets such a strong
reaction from others that the individual is typically shunned and excluded from certain
social groups. How people react to or label an act depends on the reason behind it. For an
instance, when a person is responsible for the death of another, they might labelled him a
'murderer' or a 'killer'. The reaction to death in most cases depends on the circumstances.
The person responsible will be viewed differently depending on the reason, which might be
murder, war, self-defence, or an accident (Long-Crowell, 2014 and Reiner, Maguire and
Morgan, 2002).

Evidently, once a person has been labelled at a secondary degree deviance level, it is
common for that person to incorporate that label into his or her own self-concept. He
develops a stigma or powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept
and social identity. A stigmatized person may find it easier to come to terms with the label
rather than fighting it. Labelling could be retrospective or projective. Unfortunately, once
people stigmatize an individual, they find it difficult to change their opinions of the labelled
person, even if the label is proven to be untrue. They may also engage in retrospective
labelling, interpreting someone's past in light of some present deviance. For someone who
is labelled as a 'murderer’, they might be saying thing like: 'He was always a violent boy.'
Though the person in question is no more violent than his peers, people will still re-label the

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actions of his youth in light of his current label. Similarly, people may engage in projective
labelling of a stigmatized person (Long-Crowell, 2014)

Projective labelling is using a deviant identity to predict future performance of immigrant

workers or students. Some lecturers in the colleges in Europe believe since most of foreign
students have no British or Irish accent, and their pronunciation might not be clear enough
to impress the lecturers, majority of lecturers in the UK and Ireland always conclude before
the exams that most of the foreign students will graduate with poor grade. For example,
imagine that Batman is no longer considered a hero by anyone - instead, everyone thinks he
is a dangerous criminal. Similar case also happens at work (Long-Crowell, 2013 and Ritzer,
2005).

Jock Young showed that media representations amplified the deviance of drug-takers
(Young, 1971). Stan Cohen coined the influential concept of ‘moral panic’ in his study of the
part played by the media together with the police in developing a spiral of respectable fear
about clashes between ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’ (Cohen, 1972). Hall et al.’s wide-ranging
analysis of the development of a moral panic about a supposedly new type of robbery,
‘mugging’, emphasized the crucial part played by the media. Newspapers stimulated public
anxiety, producing changes in policing and criminal justice practice which appeared to
confirm the initial reports by processing more offenders: a self-fulfilling spiral of deviancy
amplification (Hall et al. 1978). Since these pioneering works many other studies have
illustrated the crucial role of the media in shaping the boundaries of deviance and
criminality, by creating new categories of offence, or changing perceptions and sensitivities,
leading to fluctuations in apparent crime (Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002).

b. Motive

Essentially, a crime will not occur unless there is someone who is tempted, driven, or
otherwise motivated to carry out the ‘labelled’ act. It is obvious that media feature in many

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of the most commonly offered social and psychological theories of the formation of criminal
dispositions. Probably the most influential sociological theory of how criminal motives are
formed is Merton’s version of anomie theory (Merton 1938 cited in Lea and Young 1984;
Dahrendorf, 1985; Young, 1999; and Messner and Rosenfeld, 2000 as cited in Reiner,
Maguire and Morgan, 2002). When discussing a hypothetical poorly integrated culture,
Merton explained that it is possible for culturally prescribed goals to overcome and
completely dominate consideration of culturally prescribed means. In his words, ‘there may
develop a very heavy, at times virtually exclusive, stress upon the value of particular goals,
involving comparatively little concern with the institutionally prescribed means of striving
toward these goals’ (Merton, 1957 as cited in Murphy and Robinson, 2008).

Mass media plays a significant role in these accounts of the formation of anomic strain
generating pressures to offend. It is pivotal in presenting for universal emulation images of
affluent life-styles, which accentuate relative deprivation and generate pressures to acquire
ever higher levels of material success regardless of the legitimacy of the means used
(Morgan, Maguire and Reiner, 2012 and Reiner, Maguire, Morgan, 2002). In addition to this,
psychological theories of the formation of motives to commit offences also frequently use
media effects as part of the process. It has been claimed that the images of crime and
violence presented by the media are a form of social learning, and may encourage crime by
imitation or arousal effects (Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002). Criminally, displaying and
featuring wealthy and popular celebrities on our media causes many youths to indulge in
crime. They want to live material life like the celebrities and politicians without knowing the
source of their wealth. Media could be misleading some times, and be the cause of crime.

c. Means

Arguably, media has often been alleged acting as an open university of crime that spreads
knowledge of criminal techniques (Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002). People, especially
the youths, are often tempted to carry out what they see in movies, on the internet and
other media network. Majority of modern crimes committed by young people in Nigeria
these days are learned and copied from the movies, internet and crime novels e.g. James
Hadley Chase, Sidney Sheldon and others. Internationally, this is often claimed in relation to

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particular causes célèbres or horrific crimes, for example during the 1950s’ campaign
against crime and horror comics (Barker, 1984 and Nyberg, 1998 cited in Reiner, Maguire
and Morgan, 2002). A notorious case was the allegation that the murderers of Jamie Bulger
had been influenced by the video Child’s Play 3 in the manner in which they killed the
unfortunate toddler (Morrison 1997). A related line of argument is the ‘copycat’ theory of
crime and rioting (Tumber 1982; Howitt 1998: 75–84; Surette 1998: 137–52). Regardless of
an excessive research and discussion of media as a tool that provide means for criminal acts,
the evidence that this is a major source of crime remains weak (Reiner, Maguire and
Morgan, 2002).

Subsequently and diligently, means followed once there is motive to commit crime.
Sufficiently, media presentation and reconstruction of crimes educates criminals about the
knowledge, techniques and the modern equipment used in carrying out criminal acts. As it is
argued by Merton in “Strain Theory”, conformity involves the acceptance of the cultural
goals and means of attaining those goals.

d. Opportunity

Having more opportunities might contribute to greater initiation of criminal acts, and more
crime opportunities are probably most important because they invite continued
experimentation and adaptation (Felson, 2006). Adequately, mass media may increase
opportunities to commit crimes by contributing to the development of a consumerist ethos,
in which the availability of tempting targets of theft proliferates (Reiner, Maguire and
Morgan, 2002). Media as a cause of criminal acts can also alter ‘routine activities’, especially
in relation to the use of leisure time, which structure opportunities for crime (Cohen and
Felson 1979). Some domestic hardware and software of mass media such as TVs, videos,
radios, CDs, personal computers, mobile phones are the common tools of crime, and their
proliferation has been an important aspect of spreading criminal motive, means and
opportunities.

e. Absence of Controls

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Motivated potential criminals, having the means and opportunities to commit crimes, may
still not carry out these crimes if effective social controls are adequately in place (Felson,
2006 and Reiner, Maguire and Morgan, 2002). Majority of people would commit crime
where and when there is no social control placed on individuals through institutions such as
law enforcement agents, schools, workplaces, churches, mosques and families (Šelih and
Završnik, 2012; and Hagan, 2013). Social control might be external (e.g. the deterrent threat
of sanctions represented in the first place by the police) or internal (the still, small voice of
conscience) – also known as the ‘inner policeman’. Regularly, recurring theme of
respectable anxieties about the criminogenic consequences of media images of crime is that
they ridicule the efficacy of both external and internal controls. Media as a cause of crime
might ridiculously undermine external controls by contemptuous representations of
criminal justice, e.g. ridiculously ridicule the law enforcement agents (Reiner et.al, 2002;
Šelih and Završnik, 2012; and Hagan, 2013).

Essentially, Reiner, Maguire and Morgan (2002) argued that serious representations of
criminal justice by mass media might ridiculously undermine its legitimacy by becoming
more critical, questioning, for instance, the integrity and fairness, or the efficiency and
effectiveness of the police. In addition to this, negative representations of criminal justice
could drastically reduce public cooperation with the system, or potential criminals’
perception of the probability of sanctions, with the consequence of increasing crime. All
things being equal, the most frequently suggested line of causation between media
representations and criminal behaviour is the allegation that the media undermine
internalized controls, by regularly presenting sympathetic or glamorous images of crimes
(Vito et.al 2007; and Einstadter and Henry, 2006). In academic form this discussion is usually
common in the psychological theories of dis-inhibition and desensitization which also
referred to in the basic foundation of the formation of motives as presented by media
(Wartella 1995: 309–12; Surette 1998) are succinct evaluations.

In sum, there are several possible links between media representations of crime and
criminal behaviour which are theoretically possible, and frequently suggested in
criminological literature and political debate. In the next section I will review some of the
research evidence examining whether such a link can be demonstrated empirically.

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 Media and Fear of Crime.
Fear of crime is a widely recognised criminological phenomenon (Cashmore, 2014), and
criminal events, at their most elemental level, are frightening (Warr, 2000). Fear of crime
has become a significant part of research in media criminology as research has determinedly
established a cogent relationship between fear of crime and media consumption. It
significantly influences the perceptions of people on crime, victimisation and criminal justice
policies (Ferraro, 1995). The reason behind focusing on this is possibly due to the fact that
many more people experience fear of crime than experience the actual criminal
victimization (Farrall et.al 2007), and it has included “a variety of emotional states, attitudes,
or perceptions” (Warr, 2000). Fear of crime in relation to media presentation of crime is
dependently determined by - what and how the media want to report the crime events -
and understanding how media institutions situate their readership (Lee, 2013). This Essay
will concisely discuss media in relationship with the following factors subject to the fear of
crime:

4. 3. 2. Media on Age

Saliently, age is one of the most prominent elements in crime reporting. The age of a
criminal absolutely determines the way in which the crime story will be produced (Surette,
2011 and Stevens, 2011). In recent time, there has been an increase in the media reporting
of violent crimes by juveniles despite the fact that only few of them are arrested yearly for
violent offences (Dorfman & Schiraldi, 2001 and Dorfman et al. 1997). Noticeably, the media
exaggeration and distortion of youth violence and crime are strongly decreasing compare to
recent pass. Older adults have also been found to report a higher fear of crime than younger
age groups despite a lower risk of victimisation (Box et al. 1988; Clemente and Kleiman,
1976; Hale, 1996). This has become known as the fear/risk paradox as most crime. Fear of
Crime statistics indicate that younger individuals, particularly male teenagers and young
adults, are most at risk of being a victim of crime (Cook and Cook, 1976; Ferraro, 1995;
Lindquist and Duke, 1982 as cited in NCC, 2009).

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4. 3. 3. Media and choice of Language

Choice of language in the news reports is also a predominant feature which adds to the
distortion the media presentation of the crime event. Kind of language used in a media
report and presentation is essentially important in constructing the consumer’s reality and
perception of crime Bailey et.al (2014). In a situation where youth violence is the main
theme of the crime reports, a particular choice of language need to be sufficiently used in
the construction of a reality and ideas regarding crimes committed by young people. Experts
(Bailey et.al 2014; Siegel, 2013; Stevens, 2011; Surette, 2011; Dorfman and Schiraldi, 2001)
argued that choice of language used by media in constructing opinions of certain groups
also leads to stereotypical labels and a distancing of ourselves and the criminals in question.
Expectedly, the effects of this style of peculiar narrative draws a picture in the consumers’
minds that young people are dangerous and that violence is so pervasive that an immediate
intervention needs to be taken.

Consequently, this will invariably leads to labelling certain groups of criminals, and
eventually creates a distinction of the ‘normal’ or ‘us’ vs. the ‘abnormal’ or ‘other’ (Bailey
et.al 2014 and Jewkes, 2008). In media report and presentation on crime, when young
people are portrayed as criminals, the language used in the reports concentrate on the
irrationality of the offense, past crimes of the youth, their victims as innocent individuals as
well as an obsession with safety and security against young people. Eventually, this leads to
the creation of binary opposites in the news discourse - e.g. good vs. evil, black vs. white,
guilty vs. innocent - which are constant comparisons of offenders and victims.

In the case of youth offenders, we see such labels like ‘brutes’, ‘monsters’, ‘animals’, ‘the
spawn of Satan’ used often, particularly if the crime is of a violent nature involving young
children (Galtung and Ruge, 1965).

4. 3. 4. Media on Youth Violence

Essentially, the age of criminal is inversely related to the popularity of his or her case in the
media. The lower the age of the criminal the higher popularity of his or her case in the
media. Pizarro et.al (2007) argued that in relation to youth violence and its portrayal in the
mass media, as the age of the offender decreases the popularity of the case in the media
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increases. Gilliam and Iyengar (1998) assert that hype-emphasis and distortion of youth
crimes, and the idea of the super predator juvenile led the media to cover any type of youth
crime as a disaster, and Roberts (2004) added that this absolutely led to changes in the
legislation in areas of bringing juveniles into adult courts, sending juvenile to adult prisons
as well as increasing mandatory minimums for offences that are committed by juveniles

Emphatically, It is more noticeable that these kind of serious crimes committed by young
children permit the media to instil fear of crime in the minds of the public which
unequivocally leads to the implementation of changes in public policies and further causes
the public to view these children as mini-monsters who cannot be rehabilitated and who
leave us all at risk (Zimring, 1998; Sasson, 1995 and Greer, 2003).

4. 3. 5. Gender

Gender and crime reporting is also another significant factor which has attracted huge
attentions of prominent scholars in regards to its portrayal in the media. Though men
commit more crime of around 80–85% compare to women, still women have largely been a
popular group whose crimes have been conspicuously exaggerated by the mass media
(Greer, 2003). Relatively, women are generally portrayed as victims of male crimes by the
news media (Comack & Brickey, 2007; Roy, 2005), the truth is that one third of crime stories
in the media are about female offenders (Marsh & Melville, 2009).

Generally, women are expected to behave and act differently from men due to their
biological and physical natures and built. Women are predominantly assumed to show
affection and tenderness in regard to their feature of giving birth, nurture and behave
maternally (Jewkes, 2011 and Greer, 2003). Unfortunately, once a female acts transgress
from the natural manner, both the behaviour and the person is socially condemned. Ann
Llyod (1995) asserted to this that women who are involved in violent behaviour transgress
both criminal laws as well as the laws of nature and thus are ‘doubly deviant’ and ‘doubly
damned’.

4. 3. 6. Media on Ethnic Minorities

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Media report and presentation of crimes committed by other ethnic groups frequently
seems to be misrepresented (Barlow, 1998; Gillian & Iyengar, 2000) and the fear of crime
coming from minority groups equally seems to be over-exaggerated as the public
automatically associates minorities to be more criminal (Mastro & Robinson, 2000).
Evidently, numerous studies empirically show that the statistics do not equally match the
depictions of the media reporting and presentation when ethnicity is in question (Dorfman,
2001; Dowler et al., 2006; Klein & Naccarato, 2003).

The effects of the media presentation of ethnicity as a cause of crime and criminality is
predominantly derived from the constructions of the ‘other’ against ‘us’ (Jewkes, 2008). Due
to media misrepresentation - certain crimes are relatively associated with certain ethnicity
groups by the public (Jewkes, 2008 and Dorfman & Schiraldi, 2001) - there is definitely be
hype-estimation of the frequency of crimes. Unwittingly, people form the idea and opinion
that ‘we’ are civilised people while other ethnic groups who are minority and unlike us are
dangerous and must therefore be quickly identified and controlled.

Consequently, racial stereotyping by the mass media has caused certain ethnic minorities
the most harm. Numerous research has conspicuously shown that when Black individuals
are in question, TV news reports and presentation are less likely to identify them by name
and are depicted when they are physically restrained or arrested, compared to white
suspects (Dixon et.al 2003; Dixon & Linz, 2000 and Linton & LeBailley, 1998). On the other
hand, when ethnic minorities are victims, they are also intentionally underrepresented in
the news compared to White victims (Pritchard & Hughes, 1997; Dixon & Linz, 2000; Romer
et al. 1998).

4. 3. 7. Media on White Collar and Corporate Crimes

White collar and corporate crimes (also known as organised crime) are also a significant
factor in which media misrepresentation and distortion plays a vital role in reporting the
crimes. Predominantly, white collar or corporate crimes and criminals are massively
underrepresented in media presentation because they are not as popular as the violent
crime committed by the ethnic minorities or young people. Experts (Tombs & Whyte, 2001)

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argued vehemently that the media reporting and presentation of conventional crimes
compared to white collar crimes are greater

They (Sutherland, 1983) asserted further that white collar and corporate crimes are
underreported and neglected by the media because they are owned by business people.
McNair (1993) also explained further that businesses and corporations have the power to
intervene into the news agenda by using their socio-economic and political influence.
Crimes that involve “upper dominant” classes e.g. white collar and corporate crimes, are
predominantly underreported and the language used for such news stories are mostly in a
positive manner. Summarily, media distortions and misrepresentation of crimes and
criminals have completely played - and seems will also play - a significant role in the future
of many criminal justice systems.

4. 4. 1. Fear of Crime and Perceived Risk

Fear of crime constitutes a topic of significant interest for criminologists and has generated
an extensive body of research. This focus is likely due to the fact that many more people
experience fear of crime than experience an actual criminal victimization. Defining “fear of
crime” has generated some controversy and no single agreed-upon definition exists. Fear of
crime has included “a variety of emotional states, attitudes, or perceptions” (Warr 2000 as
cited in Addington, 2009).

Extensively, it is argued among experts that not only crime - but also the fear of crime - is a
social problem as it may lead to decreased social integration, restriction of activities,
increased security expenses, avoidance and other strange behaviours (Ferraro 1995)

Consequently, fear of crime is a subjective phenomenon incorporating not only an

individual’s emotional concerns about crime, and the possible consequences of criminal
activity, but also their perceptions of risk and the role of the environment in eliciting fear
(NCC, 2009). Noticeably, “like criminal victimization itself, the consequences of fear are real,
measurable, and potentially severe, both at an individual and social level” (Warr, 1985, p.
238). Therefore, the fear of crime should be taken serious equally like the crime itself.

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Essentially, this essay would not be able to discuss this section comprehensively due to time
and space constraints.

4. 4. 2. Moral Panic

A moral panic may be defined as an episode, often triggered by alarming media stories and
reinforced by reactive laws and public policy, of exaggerated or misdirected public concern,
anxiety, fear, or anger over a perceived threat to social order (Krinsky, C. (2014). In another
words, it simply means an extremely exaggeration of criminal event by the media. It has
been extremely influential in Great Britain, and has been applied more recently to concern
over ‘baby-battering’ or child physical abuse (Thompson, 2013).

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 Summary & Conclusion

Indeed, this essay did not just concern itself only with relationship between media and
crime, but it also discussed other vital sub-topics in the areas of media, crime and deviance
as well as how the influence of media affect crime and deviance. The importance of media
in relation crime in our society were also equally discussed. Theories of media and crime as
postulated by the earlier theorists of psychology, mass communication and criminology
were also adequately researched on.

This essay contained five chapters, and each chapter of it were discussed extensively in
order to provide comprehensive knowledge of the topic to the readers and future
researcher who might consult this essay for reference.

It is a great opportunity for the researcher of this work to participate in an academic work
like this – because this exposed researchers to how research is been conducted in the
criminology and other related discipline – and would also help in a matter of carrying out
the main thesis at the end of this programme.

Summarily, media representation of crime will predominantly remain the significant means
of creating moral panic in the society to reduce the crime rate and as well give information
to the public.

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