Towards an Analytical Framework on Fear of Crime and its Relationship to Print Media Reportage

This paper aims to examine the phenomenon of fear of crime and its relationship to print media reportage. Fear of crime as a concept is discussed initially, in order to justify it as a worthwhile area of investigation, and a number of statistics are then examined which show how widespread and serious a problem fear of crime is in modern societies. Following this a literature review encompassing a wide range of perspectives on fear of crime is presented, which includes four key viewpoints held by established theorists. The most significant and important part of the paper is an analytical framework on fear of crime and which aspects of print media reportage cause it. The framework highlights source credibility, the way in which the article is written and the locality of the crimes being reported as key factors in causing fear of crime amongst readerships. The way in which violent crime is reported in the print media, both in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, has long been a source of fascination for academics. Numerous studies and scholarly works have been produced that investigate any possible links between this reportage and fear of crime in the readership of newspapers. Many of these studies have, however, taken a rather narrow and limited viewpoint on the subject, only examining one side of the argument. In the course of this paper a more inclusive approach to the examination of this subject, which is how newspapers, through their reportage of violent crime, promote a fear of crime in their readership, will be adopted. A full scope of varied perspectives from a wide variety of writers on the subject will be considered. The first section of this paper will consist of a literature review that encompasses the writings of a number of theorists on this subject across a wide range of viewpoints and opinions and the second major part of this paper will take the form of considered opinions on the matter, supported by carefully selected and analysed scholarly evidence. Original opinions on this subject will then be formed into an analytical framework on fear of crime and its relationship to print media reportage that will attempt to identify exactly what characteristics of stories on violent crime cause fear in their readers. Fear of Crime in Modern Societies Fear of crime, as a phenomenon, is widespread in Britain and most Western societies. Many people see crime as a major social issue and report feelings of being unsafe in the streets, particularly in inner city areas (Mawby & Walklate, 1994). Zedner (1997) argues that people’s fears of crime far exceed their chances of being a victim of crime, leading to suggestions that the fear of crime itself is a problem and in general that worries about crime are irrational. Zedner (1997) also points out that those most at risk of assault, such as young men, express far less worries about it than those least at risk, with older people being a prime example. The 1995 British Crime Survey (BCS) showed that in England and Wales nearly a third of the respondents felt they were certain, very likely or fairly likely to be burgled in the next year, but when crime figures are examined they show that only 6% of households were burgled in 1995 (Croall, 1998). In the same survey one in six felt they were certain, very likely or fairly likely to be mugged whereas the statistical risk, as Mirlees – Black et al. (1997) point out, is less than 1 per 100. The British Crime Survey asks respondents whether they are worried, fairly worried, or not worried at all about certain types of crime. In the 1995 edition, burglary was the crime that was worried about by the most people. Mirlees – Black et al. (1997) explain that women generally worried more than men about all offences, with rape causing the highest concern. Older people and women were also shown to have much greater levels of worry about walking in the streets at night. A number of theorists have written on the subject as to what extent people’s fear of crime is irrational. In criticising early crime surveys, Realists stated that these fears were not related to the experiences of the respondents (Croall, 1998). Also, the levels of worry present amongst women concerning rape appear to be far more rational when the extent of unreported rape is taken into account (Zedner, 1997). For those sections of the population living in areas with high levels of crime, fears are more related to their perceived risk, and higher levels of fear may be realistic. Recent crime surveys have also shown that the highest levels of fear are present amongst low-income groups, paralleling their higher risk of being victims of crime (Kinsey and Anderson, 1992; Mirlees – Black et al., 1996). It is possible that the higher levels of fear held by older people and lower income groups may reflect the more severe impact of crime on these groups. Due to the greater likelihood of them being physically frail, older people may worry more about physical violence because they would take longer to recover from any attack. Additionally, those with lower incomes are less likely to take out insurance to guard against burglary, and can least afford to replace goods taken from them, leading to greater fear of being burgled. Other factors which may affect them are the nuisance value and loss of income and / or time in going through the legal process. Kinsey and Anderson (1992), state that these groups report more severe financial implications and longer lasting emotional effects. It does not seem, therefore, that their worries about crime can be dismissed as irrational. Another possibility to explain why people have a fear of crime is that they may be worried about crime in general; encompassing concerns such as moral decline, neighbourhood decline, public drunkenness or general feelings of insecurity. Worries concerning the risks faced by members of their family may also cause a fear of crime in certain people. So, rather than feeling they are personally immediately at risk of victimization, some may have worries over general levels of crime (Croall, 1998). It may also be useful to explore the extent to which worries about crime affect people’s routine activities. This can, however, be difficult to extract from general questions of feelings of safety. It may be the case that older people avoid walking on the streets at night, but this could be due to the fact they are afraid of falling in the dark or physically infirm rather than through worries about crime. Others may not go out after dark because of childcare commitments, having no car, nowhere to go or little spare money for leisure (Mirlees – Black, 1996). In the 1996 British Crime Survey only 3% of the women sampled gave crime – related reasons for staying in at night, a figure which rose to 9% amongst older people and climbed even higher in inner – city areas (Mirlees – Black, 1996). Women were also more likely to go out in a car rather than walk and go out with someone else in addition to avoiding certain streets (Kinsey and Anderson, 1992). Fear of crime is a real societal problem that affects many different social groups and sections of the population. Having established that fear of crime is a worthwhile avenue of investigation, an assessment of which particular aspects of the way in which newspapers report violent crime goes towards promoting a fear of crime in their readership will provide a useful exercise. Fear of Crime and the Media When examining the perspectives on fear of crime and its relationship to how newspapers report violent crime taken by sociological theorists it is necessary to acknowledge that a wide range of viewpoints exist. In this portion of the paper an examination of a wide range of sources that encompass a number of different perspectives will be undertaken. A prominent writer who has produced a number of articles on this subject is David L. Altheide (1991,1997,1999). Altheide discusses how fear pervades popular culture and the news media. An ongoing study conducted by Altheide demonstrated that the word fear is present in news reports in all newspaper sections of the media and transfers from one topic to another. According to Altheide, fear today is embraced and constitutes a “Major public discourse through which numerous problems and issues are framed” (Altheide, 1999: 476). Altheide discusses the way in which news, particularly news concerning crime, has become interlinked with the entertainment format which dominates many news programmes. Changes in information technology and communication methodology and delivery have influenced the way in which social issues and problems are approached. News concerning crime has been developed into a ‘problem frame’. Frames, according to Altheide, focus on what will be discussed, how it will be discussed and, most importantly, how it will not be discussed. The media treating complex events such as violent crime and its related causes and effects as problems fits neatly into the entertainment format. The driving force of commercialism brought about the entertainment format in news coverage, and through this the problem frame emerged. Any distinction between news and non – news has been bridged by entertainment criteria (Altheide and Snow, 1991). News programmes are becoming more like entertainment programmes as programming is moulded to suit a culture geared to a media logic that folds TV criteria, discourse and perspectives into everyday life. Reality TV even celebrates the stereotypes and images of news reports about crime and fear (Cavender and Bond – Maupin, 1993). Americas Most Wanted, a popular program featuring dramatic re enactments of brutal crimes, was thought by a majority of Americans to be a news program. Altheide provides another example of how crime is transformed into entertainment when he talks about how news coverage of events foreshadows future TV movies. TV news becomes, in effect, a kind of preview or advertisement for ‘coming attractions’. The Waco siege in 1993 was an example of this, as a movie dramatisation of what occurred was in production before events had fully unfolded. The time period between the occurrence of the actual event and its airing as a primetime film has been reduced to a matter of weeks or even days. Real problems such as violent crime are made interesting and newsworthy by the way in which they are approached by the news media. Murders, muggings and violent assaults are wrapped up and packaged as entertainment. This light and frivolous approach to violent crimes trivialises them and passes off the suffering of human beings as something that can be sold and profited from. Having discussed the way in which sections of the media can cause a fear of violent crime in its readers it is now necessary to move on and examine the way in which the perceived credibility of the source can play a major role in this process. Source Credibility and Fear of Crime Koomen et al. (2000) hypothesise that source credibility plays a major role in determining the levels of fear that are aroused in the reader. Background is provided to their study by drawing on a number of sources such as Bernard (1992) who used the mass media as an explanation for seasonal variations in fear of crime in France. The reduction of political activity during the French summer leads to more column inches being devoted to other news such as reports on crime. This in turn consequently leads to a maximal fear of crime being present from June to October. In short, the more the mass media report on crime, the more readers fear it. Different newspapers have different levels of crime reportage, so therefore fear of crime will vary between the readers of certain newspapers. An example of the way in which this can occur is provided by Williams and Dickinson (1993) who demonstrated differences in the amount of space and prominence given to crime, particularly violent crime, in 10 British newspapers. Consequently, these differences resulted in varying levels of fear amongst readers. When the research team conducted a questionnaire study of the same readers they found that there was a positive relationship between newspaper reportage of crime and fear of crime that appeared to be independent of any demographic factors associated with the readership. However, a number of factors may also moderate the relationship between mass media presentations of crime and fear. These factors include the randomness of the crime, the locality and sensationalism of crimes and the self – relevance and sensationalism of the presentation of crimes (Health and Gilbert, 1996; Tyler and Cook, 1984). Heath (1984) demonstrated that crime presentations which contain no information about any possible motive arouse more fear than those where a motive is discussed. Random, local crimes are frightening prospects for the reader. Also, reading about bizarre, violent crimes resulted in more fear if the crimes occurred locally. A body of social psychological research suggests that source credibility leads to attitude change (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993; McGuire, 1985). When a reader considers the message source to be more credible, they will show more interest in the message and will be more positively orientated to it, resulting in more agreement with the position held by the message. So, crime information, presented by a more credible source will be seen as valid information that cannot be explained away and must be taken seriously. If this information from the credible source has fear – arousing properties, it may consequently instigate fear. When information on crime comes from a less credible source, however, it is not seen generally to be valid or worthy of consideration. In the study conducted by Koomen et al. (2000), they hypothesised and found that the readers who were provided with an article on street robberies, and told it was published in a credible newspaper, reported more fear of robbery / crime in general than those who though the article was in less credible newspaper or those in the control group who read no article whatsoever. Additionally, those who read the more credible article were more concerned about robbery in general as a societal malaise than those who did not read the article. As was predicted by Koomen et al. (2000), the effect of the article on fear of robbery, fear of crime in general and concern about robbery as a social problem fully depended on the credibility of the source. It was also found that, women reported more fear of robbery, fear of crime and concern about crime as a social problem than men. So, after analysing the way in which the perceived credibility of a source can affect levels of fear of crime it will now be advantageous to study what impact the locality of the crimes being reported can have on the reader. The Locality of Crimes being Reported Liska and Baccaglini (1982, 1990) provide another perspective on the way the portrayal of violent crime in newspapers impacts on levels of fear. They discuss how over the last 15 to 20 years fear of crime has emerged as an important research topic. In their paper “Feeling Safe by Comparison: Crime in the Newspapers” they discuss how levels of fear can vary across macro units such as neighbourhoods and cities. The study focuses on three main points, the first of which is the extent to which the characteristics of newspaper coverage affect fear. The next point is the extent to which the characteristics of coverage mediate the effect of crime rates on fear and finally the extent to which these effects and mediational processes are contingent on social status. Other research has examined the effects of structural characteristics of macro units, such as crime rates, social disorganisation, and racial composition, on fear. Although it seems reasonable to assume that variations in the fear of crime across macro units should reflect corresponding fluctuations in their crime rates, studies made of neighbourhoods (Skogan and Maxfield, 1981; Taylor, Gottfredson and Brocer, 1984) and cities (Garofalo, 1979; Liska, Lawrence and Sanchirico, 1982) indicate that the effect of crime rates on fear is very weak. These findings are also consistent with those from studies of individuals which show that those who experience victimization, either directly or indirectly through the communicated experiences of others, experience much higher fear than those who do not. Having being unable to clearly connect fear to crime rates at either macro or micro levels, some researchers (Garofalo and Laub, 1979; Taylor and Hale, 1986 ) argue that fear of crime takes on additional properties and becomes more than simple fear, being instead associated with a psychological syndrome of anxiety, worry and nervousness, known as urban unease. The disorganization and physical / social disabilities of contemporary urban life, typified by symbols of disorder and crime, such as teenagers on the streets, abandoned buildings, graffiti, use of illegal drugs, public drunkenness and vandalism are thought to increase urban unease and consequently fear of crime. Other researchers argue that many of the above conditions are not just associated with general social disorganisation, leading to general unease and anxiety, but that they are directly associated or perceived to be directly associated with street crimes, forming a direct link to fear of crime. This argument is also made explicitly with regards to race, as Swigert and Farrell (1976) argue that public beliefs and commonly held stereotypes link those who are not white to dangerous street crime in the US. Even the mere presence of non – whites may lead some white people to believe that they are at greater risk of victimization according to Lizotte and Bordua (1980). The sample employed by Liska and Baccaglini (1990) consisted of the 26 major U.S. cities included in the National Crime Survey. Ten thousand respondents aged sixteen and over from each of the 26 cities formed the sample. In discussing how media coverage can affect levels of fear a number of points are made. Homicide stories show by far the strongest relationship to fear, with local stories increasing fear of crime and non – local stories decreasing fear of crime. It seems that coverage of crime in other cities makes people feel safe by comparison. Liska and Baccaglini (1990) state that it is important for studies into fear of crime to consider the fact that there are differences between local and non – local violent crimes being reported in newspapers. When rural residents read about homicides and violent crime that occurs in urban areas, they may feel safe in comparison. So, because crime in their area seems lower than it is in the cities, rural residents consequently experience lower levels of fear of crime. A city’s social image or reputation as crime – ridden and dangerous affects fear of crime, but initially the reputation held by a city is affected by the number of local homicide stories reported in the first fifteen pages of local newspapers. Therefore, the number and location of stories on violent crime in local newspapers affects levels of fear of crime in local residents, which in turn leads to certain cities being labelled as dangerous and crime – ridden. The next issue to be discussed will be the role played by expert’s quotes in feature articles on crime and the extent to which they play a role in causing fear of crime amongst the readership of