AC1.5: Explain the impact of media
representations on the public of crime
Assessment Criterion Mark Band 1 Mark Band 2
You should be able to: Limited explanation of the Clear and detailed explanation
Explain the impact of media impact of media representations of the impact of a range of
representation on the public perception of media representations on the
crime (1-3) public perception of crime (4-6)
AMPLIFICATION: You should be familiar with specific examples of media portrayal of
criminality and the range of impacts given. Understanding of these impacts should be based
on theories.
Content:
A detailed examination of the IMPACT needed for each of the below. Must cover them all.
Impact
● Moral panic
The way media presents crime may cause more crime which leads to a moral panic
It produces..Deviancy Amplification - When the media engages in exaggerated
reporting on specific antisocial behaviour. This informs what the public is concerned
about and what the next moral panic is. It amplifies what the perceived deviance is.
Stanley Cohen, the author of “Folk devils and moral panics” says moral panic is “an
exaggerated, irrational over-reaction by society to a perceived problem.”
Example: HIV Panic
- First cases of HIV was reported in the US
- While being gay had become legalised in 1967 in Britain, abuse and
discrimination against the LGBTQ continued throughout the 1980s/
- The virus causing AIDS was unknown which caused confusion and panic
- Further panic caused misinformation to be created through posters and ads
which made HIV seem more contractible and deadlier than it really was
- caused LGBTQ people to be discriminated against even further
Here, a folk devil was created. Fold devil starts when the media highlights a
group of people as a threat to societal values and chooses to exaggerate the
problem and/or the crime using sensationalist reporting. They then condemn
the group's behaviour and ask the authorities to call for a “crackdown”. This
amplifies the panic to another scale making things seem worse than they
actually are. This was made clear in the HIV panic with newspapers referring
to the virus as a “plague” and referring to the gay community as “ticking
representations on the public of crime
Assessment Criterion Mark Band 1 Mark Band 2
You should be able to: Limited explanation of the Clear and detailed explanation
Explain the impact of media impact of media representations of the impact of a range of
representation on the public perception of media representations on the
crime (1-3) public perception of crime (4-6)
AMPLIFICATION: You should be familiar with specific examples of media portrayal of
criminality and the range of impacts given. Understanding of these impacts should be based
on theories.
Content:
A detailed examination of the IMPACT needed for each of the below. Must cover them all.
Impact
● Moral panic
The way media presents crime may cause more crime which leads to a moral panic
It produces..Deviancy Amplification - When the media engages in exaggerated
reporting on specific antisocial behaviour. This informs what the public is concerned
about and what the next moral panic is. It amplifies what the perceived deviance is.
Stanley Cohen, the author of “Folk devils and moral panics” says moral panic is “an
exaggerated, irrational over-reaction by society to a perceived problem.”
Example: HIV Panic
- First cases of HIV was reported in the US
- While being gay had become legalised in 1967 in Britain, abuse and
discrimination against the LGBTQ continued throughout the 1980s/
- The virus causing AIDS was unknown which caused confusion and panic
- Further panic caused misinformation to be created through posters and ads
which made HIV seem more contractible and deadlier than it really was
- caused LGBTQ people to be discriminated against even further
Here, a folk devil was created. Fold devil starts when the media highlights a
group of people as a threat to societal values and chooses to exaggerate the
problem and/or the crime using sensationalist reporting. They then condemn
the group's behaviour and ask the authorities to call for a “crackdown”. This
amplifies the panic to another scale making things seem worse than they
actually are. This was made clear in the HIV panic with newspapers referring
to the virus as a “plague” and referring to the gay community as “ticking
