From Imitation to Intimidation: A Note on the Curious and Changing Relationship Between the Media, Crime and Fear of Crime

• NCJ Number: 208187
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 595-610
• Author(s): Jason Ditton; Derek Chadee; Stephen Farrall; Elizabeth Gilchrist; Jon Bannister
• Date Published: July 2004
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

After reviewing previous research on links between a person's fear of crime and exposure to media accounts and crime dramatizations, this paper reports on a study of this subject that used research methods not previously used.

Abstract

One distinction of this study was the inclusion of variables that measured long-past, rather than only immediately past, media consumption. This was done in the belief that people's general anxieties about crime may well have been stimulated long before a recent time frame for most surveys. Another distinction of this study was the selection of a subsample of those surveyed for further qualitative interviews. A total of 167 respondents were interviewed in 4 Glasgow (Scotland) sampling sites. The sites involved two outlying/inner-city and poor/affluent samples. Researchers used a "random walk" procedure to identify houses within which a person aged 16 years or over was identified and interviewed. Data from the respondents were analyzed, and each was classified in terms of their self-defined crime fears and perceptions of victimization risks. Subsequently, 64 respondents were selected for a second interview. Respondents were asked which daily newspapers they read and how often, and then they were asked which crime programs they currently watched on television as well as those they used to watch. The study found that the volume of media to which individuals were exposed may have been less important than the kinds of programs they watched with crime-related themes. Crime information that connected to viewers' judgments and opinions about personal threats and risks in real life was more likely to stimulate fear and anxiety. Even the measurement of media content, however, was not sufficient as a link to fear of crime. The viewer's interpretation and perception of that content as it applied to their personal lives and circumstances was the significant variable that linked media content to the consumer's inner response of fear. 3 tables and 59 references