Crime and Society free essay sample

Bessant amp; Watts, (2007) post-modernist theory states that the mass media is â€Å"simply an enormous factory for manufacturing illusions. †(p. 447) In other words that the audience are essentially mindless drones that act as sponges and will soak up all fallacies and untruths. (Bessant amp; watts, 2007) This theory suggests that people are unlikely to think critically about what they see and hear because what is presented is generally just accepted at face value as truth and the manipulation to great. An example of this manipulation is seen in Germany’s propaganda and in particular Hitler’s speeches, in which â€Å"His propaganda experts created an environment in which both the individual and the group lost their identities and were fused into a homogeneous mass. †(Levyatan 2009). Hitler’s aim was to create a â€Å"robot-like following†(levyatan 2009), an audience that wouldn’t think critically or question the mass genocide to come. This was mostly accomplished through careful manipulation of the German public through well thought out techniques designed to illicit a certain response. Levyatan 2009) For example Hitler’s speeches could start out quite dull creating a sense of boredom designed to create complacency only to conclude with a strong conclusion, dramatisation and a sense of immediacy. Chibnall discusses similar techniques that are used by the mass media. Listed below are eight ‘new values’ used often when reporting crime. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) The first four are immediacy, dramatisation, novelty and titillation. These techniques aim to control and entertain the public. The media’s focuses on reporting mostly exciting, sex and crime driven stories. Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) They choose to report them as everyday and individual events that have just happened rather than explaining any historical or social contexts. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) As a result the audience can believe that this kind of crime is very common and often doesn’t understand the reason or the underlying relationships between victim and offender. The last four are personalisation, simplification, conventionalism and structured access. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012)These techniques are designed to really connect with the listeners and viewers. The media chooses to write stories about people its audience can already personally relate too such as high profile individuals. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) Then takes complicated and unfamiliar facts, simplifies it and puts it into familiar contexts that the general overall public can understand. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) Then finally, cites state officials and police officers to give their story credibility. (Hayes amp; Prenzler, 2012) Unfortunately the result is that the public is less likely to question what they are being shown or have heard and mass media consumption leads to exposure to violence which is inflated and simplified. Below are two case studies that explore the relationship between the media and fear of crime. The first is Curtis’s study of ‘Jack the Ripper and the London Press (2001) in which he explores how powerful the written word could be in London and its ability to drum fear into the masses. (Marsh amp; Melville, 2008) He believed the press coverage during the police search for ‘the Ripper’ was responsible for the public’s growing fear. (Marsh amp; Melville, 2008) That the newspapers exaggerated and built on the stereotypical views of the people and how They viewed the east end of London. Marsh and Melville (2008) said it was see as â€Å"a crime and disease ridden, uncivilized jungle. †(p. 3) Curtis’s study indicates that there is definitely a possible link between the media and its fear of crime. However, a survey done in Trinidad shows a distinct lack of relationship between media and crime. (chadee amp; ditton, 2005) The survey consisted of asking the public different questions about crime. It looked at their views and fears of crime and compared it to the amount and different types of media they were exposed too. chadee amp; ditton, 2005) The results concluded that there did not appear to be an obvious relationship between what the people had seen and heard about crime and their views and feelings on the matter. (chadee amp; ditton, 2005) The variation in results would suggest that other variables are at play, perhaps the cross-cultural differences or social context needed to be explored . The Trinidad study concluded that perhaps people in this cul ture viewed the media unreliable, or the news reports were unmemorable and that the frequency of the reports was unreliable. chadee amp; ditton, 2005) The overall evidence; Hitler’s propaganda campaign and the mass hysteria encouraged by the London press explored by Curtis would seem to support the idea that consumers really are susceptible to the media’s influence. It would suggest that listeners and viewers are indeed incapable of seeing through the subtle and effective techniques harnessed by the media. However, the survey done in Trinidad; accessing the lack of relationship between the media and fear of crime clearly indicates that this is not always the case. This suggests that outside social factors need to be taken into account such as a person’s media consumption, how the media is viewed within that culture and the outside social influences on the individual, such as family and friends. To conclude, the fact then remains that despite the overall evidence because other variables have to be accounted for at all it would seem to refute the post-modernist concepts that the public are unable to reflect on what they see and hear within the media.