The Media and Crime

    OCR
    GCSE

    Candidates must analyse the dialectical relationship between media representations and criminal behaviour. This study necessitates a critical evaluation of how media constructs crime (social constructionism), the application of news values (Galtung and Ruge), and the theoretical debate regarding media as a criminogenic agent versus a reflection of social reality. Mastery requires synthesis of Marxist, Interactionist, and Pluralist perspectives regarding agenda setting, moral panics, and the transition to new media landscapes.

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    Objectives
    4
    Exam Tips
    3
    Pitfalls
    3
    Key Terms
    4
    Mark Points

    What You Need to Demonstrate

    Key skills and knowledge for this topic

    • Credit explicit use of interactionist terminology: labelling, master status, self-fulfilling prophecy, and folk devils.
    • Award marks for contrasting official crime statistics (OCs) with media representations (e.g., the over-representation of violent and sexual crimes).
    • Responses must link 'News Values' (Galtung and Ruge) to the selection and presentation of crime stories.
    • Higher-level responses must evaluate the concept of 'Moral Panic' (Cohen) using both the original Mods/Rockers study and contemporary applications.

    Marking Points

    Key points examiners look for in your answers

    • Credit explicit use of interactionist terminology: labelling, master status, self-fulfilling prophecy, and folk devils.
    • Award marks for contrasting official crime statistics (OCs) with media representations (e.g., the over-representation of violent and sexual crimes).
    • Responses must link 'News Values' (Galtung and Ruge) to the selection and presentation of crime stories.
    • Higher-level responses must evaluate the concept of 'Moral Panic' (Cohen) using both the original Mods/Rockers study and contemporary applications.

    Examiner Tips

    Expert advice for maximising your marks

    • 💡When discussing 'News Values', do not just list them; explain how 'immediacy' or 'dramatisation' leads to the exclusion of white-collar crime.
    • 💡In 12 and 24-mark questions, juxtapose Marxist views (media as ideological control) against Pluralist views (media reflects audience demand).
    • 💡Use the 'Deviancy Amplification Spiral' to explain the *consequence* of media reporting, not just the reporting itself.
    • 💡Ensure specific sociologists (Cohen, Young, McRobbie) are cited to move from common sense to sociological analysis.

    Common Mistakes

    Pitfalls to avoid in your exam answers

    • Confusing 'moral panic' with general public fear; failing to identify the element of disproportionality or the role of the media as moral entrepreneurs.
    • Describing the plot of fictional crime dramas rather than analyzing the sociological implications of the representation (e.g., the 'fallacy of dramatic reality').
    • Asserting the 'Hypodermic Syringe' model as an absolute fact without acknowledging active audience approaches or Uses and Gratifications theory.

    Key Terminology

    Essential terms to know

    Likely Command Words

    How questions on this topic are typically asked

    Identify
    Describe
    Explain
    Discuss
    Evaluate
    To what extent

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