AC 1.5 Write Up – Impact of Media
Representation on the Public Perception of
Crime
Always Relate to the brief.
Moral Panic
Moral panic is used to make the public think an issue is worse than it actually is. This may bring about a
more severe reaction to the issue and people involved often want unreasonable justice. A sociologist
called Stanley Cohen suggests that a moral panic occurs when a condition, episode, person, or group of
people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. One of the first moral
panics that occurred was in the 1960s. This was with the media’s portrayal of the clashes between Mods
and Rockers. The media portrayed the event in a sensational way, with lawless gangs fighting. Another
example is more modern and was a reaction to many terrorist attacks. The media depicted the attacks in
a way that resulted in much Islamophobia. Islamophobia is dislike or prejudice against Islam or Muslims.
Moral panic may cause punishments to be harsher than deserved. A case study for this type of crime is
the London 2011 riots. There are many contrasting reports on this topic, but it is said that the riots were
sparked by the death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan on the 4 th of August. Duggan was shot dead by the
police in Tottenham. These were the biggest riots in English history. By the 9th, the civil unrest had
reached Birmingham, Manchester, and Wolverhampton. The police levels rose from 3000 to 16000, and
3000 arrests were made with 5 deaths. During the civil unrest, the people threw bottles at patrol cars
and became increasingly violent. However, it is said that the unrest and moral panic was started by
university students. The costs had just risen, and the shops were being looted for supplies during the
riots. The media decided to pin it all on underprivileged kids.
Changing Public Concern
Over time, the public changed their concern levels regarding crime types. In the past, people have been
concerned about the violence between rivals (like the Mods and Rockers) but, recently the focus has
shifted to being more concerned with terrorism and knife crime. The concerns about terrorism were
particularly heightened by the Manchester bombings in 2017. The impact of changing concerns and
attitudes reflect on the policing and government priorities. There are some negative repercussions from
the change in public concerns. One repercussion to the concern about terrorism is there were large
amounts of Islamophobia being displayed. This is when Muslims are the victims of public attacks
because of their religion. For example, with the growing concerns about knife crime, the knife amnesty
policy was implemented. This meant that people could surrender their illegal knives without facing
criminal action. The aim of this was to get more knives off the streets and out of the hands of young
people who felt they had to have one to feel safe. This resulted in the created of the Knife Angel.
Created by Alfie Bradley, the sculpture is made of 100,000 surrendered knives and is there to highlight
the negative effects of violent behaviour. The angel is meant as a catalyst for change and to
commemorate those who have lost their lives to this type of crime.
Representation on the Public Perception of
Crime
Always Relate to the brief.
Moral Panic
Moral panic is used to make the public think an issue is worse than it actually is. This may bring about a
more severe reaction to the issue and people involved often want unreasonable justice. A sociologist
called Stanley Cohen suggests that a moral panic occurs when a condition, episode, person, or group of
people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. One of the first moral
panics that occurred was in the 1960s. This was with the media’s portrayal of the clashes between Mods
and Rockers. The media portrayed the event in a sensational way, with lawless gangs fighting. Another
example is more modern and was a reaction to many terrorist attacks. The media depicted the attacks in
a way that resulted in much Islamophobia. Islamophobia is dislike or prejudice against Islam or Muslims.
Moral panic may cause punishments to be harsher than deserved. A case study for this type of crime is
the London 2011 riots. There are many contrasting reports on this topic, but it is said that the riots were
sparked by the death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan on the 4 th of August. Duggan was shot dead by the
police in Tottenham. These were the biggest riots in English history. By the 9th, the civil unrest had
reached Birmingham, Manchester, and Wolverhampton. The police levels rose from 3000 to 16000, and
3000 arrests were made with 5 deaths. During the civil unrest, the people threw bottles at patrol cars
and became increasingly violent. However, it is said that the unrest and moral panic was started by
university students. The costs had just risen, and the shops were being looted for supplies during the
riots. The media decided to pin it all on underprivileged kids.
Changing Public Concern
Over time, the public changed their concern levels regarding crime types. In the past, people have been
concerned about the violence between rivals (like the Mods and Rockers) but, recently the focus has
shifted to being more concerned with terrorism and knife crime. The concerns about terrorism were
particularly heightened by the Manchester bombings in 2017. The impact of changing concerns and
attitudes reflect on the policing and government priorities. There are some negative repercussions from
the change in public concerns. One repercussion to the concern about terrorism is there were large
amounts of Islamophobia being displayed. This is when Muslims are the victims of public attacks
because of their religion. For example, with the growing concerns about knife crime, the knife amnesty
policy was implemented. This meant that people could surrender their illegal knives without facing
criminal action. The aim of this was to get more knives off the streets and out of the hands of young
people who felt they had to have one to feel safe. This resulted in the created of the Knife Angel.
Created by Alfie Bradley, the sculpture is made of 100,000 surrendered knives and is there to highlight
the negative effects of violent behaviour. The angel is meant as a catalyst for change and to
commemorate those who have lost their lives to this type of crime.
