to do

• find example of news/moral panic stuff
• look on metropolitan police site for statements about scanning/stop and search
• look at official statistics site again and gather some examples

ASBO kids- media moral panic?

Statistics and 'Why Kids Kill'

The documentary on channel 4, Why Kids Kill, was broadcast on 8/2/08. It was very usefull as it raised a lot of questions, though there are some flaws that i must bear in mind. In particular, i have to bear in mind that it is coming from the perspective of the reporter, or channel four. I therfore must be critical when watching it. It uses a lot of statistics in order to back up its points, however these are a mixture of official statistics interspersed with dispaches own research stats. This appears to make their research more credible. I would be interested in writing to the researcher in order to find out more about the research they carried out. This may help me with my own primary research.

The statisics given in this section of the program are:

• In 2006-07 there were 15 homocides and 8344 violent crimes (met police)
• 1 in 4 of violent crimes in Lambeth were commited by teengers (london borough of Lambeth crime and disorder audit 2004)
• 1 in 10 youths aged 11-15 has carried a knife (2004 survey of 11000 school children for government office for london)
• Knives were used in 2 out of 3 of teenage killings in the uk in 2007, (dispatches own research)
• 1 in 5 teenage killings in UK involved guns (dispatches own research)
• 1 in 17 london youths 11-15 has fired a hand gun (2004 survey of 31000 school children for government office for london)
• 1 in 4 london gun crimes commited by a youth ages 17 or under in 2007 (metropolitan police)
• A MAC-10 submachine gun is 'believed' to have been used by teenagers in 4 london killings in the past 14 months (press and police reports)
• 3 out of 5 teenage killings in the UK in 2007are believed to be gang related (dispaches own research)
• Youth gang members are 2 or 3 times more likely to be victims and perpertraitors of violent crime (average figures from current academic research)
• 1 in 10 london youths ages 11-15 belong to a gang with it's own territory (2004 survey of 11000 school children for government office for london)
• 8 years ago there were aprox 5 gangs in Lambeth, now there are aproximately 30
• It is thought that each large housing estate in Brixton has its own gang
• Robbery is the most common trigger for serious violence in 56% of cased (dispaches own research)
• Lambeth has more robberies thatn any other london borough
• 3 out of 5 teenage killings took place in 20% of the most deprived areas (dispaches own research)

I will conclude this later, i need food now :-)

Media Magazine - how to make sense of audience theories

These notes are taken from an article published in Media Magazine, 17/12/03, pages 52-55

The approach you take to audience theory, and therfore your opinions and conclusions, are dependant on who you are, what you are investigating, and why you are researching.

• Audience research tries to find evidence to support and argument, while audience theory simply describes different ways of thinking about audiences.
• When carrying out research, it is important to bear in mind and assumptions you have made as a researcher, for example, you may have assumed the effects theory, when trying to find out the reactions to a particular program by different members of a group. In this example, you would be assuming that the program has a different effect on each person.
• Assuming an audience theory is not a problem, but it is important to acknowledge this and identify the resulting downfalls or implications for your research.

Effects theories.

• Effects theories are not purely about sex, violence and the issues seen during the censorship debate. There are other less publicised theories, below are some examples
• Right wing - Popular culture, programmes such as Big brother, Trisha, have a negative effect on peoples psychological and mental well-being, as they seek to dumb-down television.
• Left wing - The media is controlled by those in power, the texts within it, therfore seek to keep the power difference, by placing importance on people higher up in the class system, eg. the prime minister, the royals, where as normal people are given less emphasis. This theory says that the effect of this is to reinforce the powerful image of these people, and keep the powerless in their place. I thought this was particularly relevant to my work, as i could investigate the idea that coverage of youth crime, and its connections with single parents, and working class families seeks to reinforce their position in the class system, by making them appear deviant and out of controll to the general public. This Theory also links in with my reading on moral panics, as it sees the press, and the media as having the power to affect public perception, and potentially cause panic, or concern about the subject.

I havent completed the article yet, there is more to come later on.

Audience theory

Below i have summarised what i have read about different audiences theory. While they are not all relevant to my project, it is important to know about all of them so i can comment on why i have chosen to focus on certain ones.

The Hypodermic needle model

• People are directly affected by the media they consume
• They are passive
• The producers of texts are very powerful
• Focuses on negative effects and not positive
• Focuses on women and children, the vulnerable
• Doesn't take into account active viewing and the different ways people use and enjoy the media.

Cultivation theory

• The more an audience consumes parts of the media, the more they develop certain kinds of views about the world. These, many are concerned will be false views.
• An example is, coverage of crime in Crimewatch feeds the perception that crime is increasing
• Acknowledges that people can obtain some views of the world from television
• Notes that the media is an important feature of social lives.
• The influence of these is not measured against the influence of the wider world
• There is more crime in the world for reasons other than the media

Desensitisation

• Exposure to too much fictional violence, desensitises people to real life violence.
• Draws attention to the fact that there is a lot of on-screen violence
• Asks the question of how much exposure to on-screen negative behaviour people and children should have
• It is very difficult to prove long-term effects
• Can one stimulus cause such a huge problem?

Modelling or copycatting

• Kids/people will copy behaviour or actions they see on screen/in the media
• Plays on the insecurities of parents
• Leads to limiting children's viewing of television/consumption of the media.
• Short-term effects are measurable, but long-term ones are not so easy to monitor

Uses and Gratification theory

• People 'read' the media differently according to their personality, upbringing and their position in society.
• The media will affect people if it: confirms or enhances their role or image
• It will not affect their beliefs that have accumulated from life experience
• The audience is thought to be thoughtful, intelligent and able to distinguish between fact and fiction.
• Explores the ways in which the audience use the media
• Life experience is more important and relevant than media experience
• Media is considered as a source of pleasure and therefore a good thing
• It is considered that audience power arguments at made at the expense of the questions of media power or the power of certain texts
• Some theorists have claimed that the media has no influence of effects, which is a little bit silly don't ya think?

Summary

I have come across different areas of each of these theories throughout my research, however some are more relevant than others. I think that the Cultivation theory and perhaps desensitisation or copycat theory are most relevant as i have raised questions over the reasons for gang behaviour, and the potential influences of male role models in the media, e.g. 50 Cent. The uses and gratifications theory will also crop up as a result of my questionnaire, as it will determine whether people mix their ideas of fact and fiction.

Moral Panics

What is a moral panic?



A moral panic is an unjustified fear of somthing which tends to find expression on a wide scale in the public arena; Blaming an object or activity for wider social evils/ills.



Typically they feature:

• Anxieties about the young and working class 'getting out of hand'


• fear of new technologies


• fear of the modern world and nostalgia for the 'golden age' in the past


• assumption of copycatting


• sex and violence: young people finding out about the adult world

Some well known moral panics from the past

• Childs Play and video nasties


• Mods and Rockers


• Internet porn

Effects on society

These moral panics cause a big reaction in society.

Action Plan

Having wasted the easter holidays i have finally decided to do some work. I seem to have half done some of the following jobs but haven't finished them so in order to see some development i plan to complete them by next wednesday.

• Summarise sociological theory on blog - haralambos
• Look on amazon for BFI book
• Read up on moral panics
• Re-view kidulthood and select a clip for focus group
• Re-view why kids kill and ross kemp and take notes
• Pick a news broadcast focussing on youth/gang crime
• Collect newspaper clippings
• Write questionnaire
• Prepare follow-up interviews