Public Debates Over Criminal & Deviant Behaviour (AQA GCSE Sociology)

Media coverage of crime

• The media reflects public concern about crime but their coverage also fuels it due to over-reporting (deviancy amplification)

• The media plays a role in agenda setting by deciding on the focus of public debates and discussions about crime and deviance

  • TV news and newspapers do this by focusing on some new stories but excluding others

  • This influences the issues that the public sees as social problems

• News values are general criteria which media gatekeepers (e.g. journalists, editors and owners) use to determine whether an event is newsworthy and fits in with their readers or viewers

  • Crime is considered by editors to be newsworthy, particularly if the following aspects are involved:

    • Children, e.g. murder of

    • Violence, e.g. knife crime

    • Celebrities, e.g. drunk driving, drugs

    • Graphic images, e.g. terrorist attacks

• The media intensify public concerns about law and order as

  • studies of news reports show that violent crime is over-represented

  • the media exaggerate an issue by over-reporting it (media amplification)

  • the media exaggerate the crime risks faced by particular groups, e.g. women, children and older people

  • the media over-report crimes that are committed by certain groups (e.g. ethnic minorities, young people) which leads to negative labelling

• As certain crimes are disproportionately covered in the media, people tend to think they occur more frequently than they do

Increasing awareness

• On the other hand, media reporting can increase awareness of certain crimes

• This leads to greater publicity and more effective interventions, such as

  • knife amnesties in local areas

  • campaigns, such as the Reclaim These Streets campaign following the death of Sarah Everard in 2021

  • social media campaigns appealing for witnesses

Concerns about youth crime

• Teenagers' antisocial behaviour is viewed as a problem because it causes fear and harms community life

  • Vandalism and graffiti are seen as costly in economic terms

  • Violence and teenage knife crime are costly in terms of lives lost and devastation within victims families

• Youth crime frequently makes the news and is viewed as a social problem that needs addressing by politicians and policymakers

  • One way in which antisocial behaviour has been addressed is by giving people over 10 years of age antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs)

    • However, ASBOs can be seen as a status symbol among young people so this policy has been counterproductive

• Young offenders are society's main folk devil, resulting in a moral panic

  • This leads to young people becoming scapegoats who are blamed for society's problems

Sentencing

• When someone is found guilty of a crime, they are sentenced

• Sentences imposed can vary depending on the seriousness of the crime, e.g.

  • a discharge for a minor offence, such as theft

  • a fine

  • a community sentence where the offender may have to avoid an area, wear a tag, stick to a curfew and do community service

  • a prison sentence for the most serious offences, such as murder

• There are public concerns over the lack of clarity about sentencing policy, e.g.

  • it is unclear why some prisoners are released early

  • some prison sentences are seen as not tough enough

  • sentences do not punish prisoners effectively or fairly

  • sentences do not repair the harm caused to victims of crime

• Another concern is whether vulnerable groups who have not committed serious or violent offences should be imprisoned at all, such as:

  • young people

  • people with mental health issues

The prison system & the treatment of young offenders

• According to functionalists, prisons enforce dominant norms and values of society by publicly punishing those who deviate from the norm

• Prisons are effective as they act as a deterrent; they keep the public safe from offenders

• However, there are major issues facing prisons currently, such as

  • overcrowding

  • cuts in prison staff numbers

  • levels of mental health problems, including suicide and self-harm among prisoners

  • difficulty with reintegration into society following the release of offenders

  • lack of rehabilitation and high reoffence rate

• There are concerns over how young offenders are treated in the CJS, such as

  • young adults dying while in custody

  • levels of suicide and self-harm in young offender institutions

  • levels of violence in young offender institutions