SOC 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Karla Homolka, Folk Devil, Moral Panic
24 Oct 2016
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Week Three – SOC 1500 – September 20th - Media Deceptions of Crime
Read Chapter 1 (pages 11-31) and Chapter 3 (pages 64-68)
Media Portrayals of Crime and Canada
• In media accounts of crime, crime is defined primarily as events associated with personal
fear and risk in which violence is not only commonplace and are too soft on criminals.
• Crime is depicted in the mass media as an ever-present part of our culture
• Treatment and presentation of crime
o Public knowledge about crime and justice is derived largely from mass media
o The way crime is portrayed in the media differs from how crime is measured, etc.
• The public relies on media as their primary source of information
• The news about crime that travels through interpersonal networks is more likely to
induce fear to the public rather than news that travels over the airwaves of mass media
• Media is capable of distorting public understanding about crime and its control
Crime and Moral Panics
• Moral panic – is defined a condition, episode, person or group of persons
emerges to become defined as threat to the societal values and interests
• Crack cocaine made headlines – responsible for the amount of deaths and overdoses
o For this topic to become a moral panic, evidence must be available to call
into question the factual basis of the claims that are being made
Moral Panics in Canada
• Folk devil – by Stanley Cohen in his study of the moral panic surrounding the mods and
rockers subcultures. He suggests that society creates a gallery of social types to show its
members which roles should be avoided and which roles should be emulated.
• Levels of violence that have increased by 40% in Newfoundland
o Moral panic was caused by uncritical examinations of stats and media attention
• Pedophilia in British Columbia
o Illegal to produce, make or distribute child pornography not illegal for private use
▪ Sharpe, child pornographer and a pedophile
• Nasty-girl phenomenon – an idea perpetrated in the mass media that a new breed of
female criminals has emerged and is being portrayed as on the rise; form of folk devil.
o Ex: Karla Homolka was imprisoned for 12 years in connection to the sexual
murders of two Ontario teenage girls and events surrounding the beating death of
a teen from BC by seven female teens (public anxiety around girl violence begins)
▪ Sharp rise in violent crime by young female offenders has to do with
minor assaults (slapping, pushing) than damaging crimes such as murder
Conclusion
• The moral panic framework shows how the media in conjunction with various claim-
makers can amplify/distort the risks posed by certain types of criminals and crimes
• Images of crime in the media cannot be assumed to represent fully social reality crime
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week three soc 1500 september 20th - media deceptions of crime. Read chapter 1 (pages 11-31) and chapter 3 (pages 64-68) Moral panics in canada: folk devil by stanley cohen in his study of the moral panic surrounding the mods and rockers subcultures. Conclusion: the moral panic framework shows how the media in conjunction with various claim- makers can amplify/distort the risks posed by certain types of criminals and crimes. Images of crime in the media cannot be assumed to represent fully social reality crime. Impact of the media: public knowledge about crime and justice largely comes from mass media, the way crime is portrayed in the media differs from empirical accounts, media portrayals can fuel moral panics. Limitations of the moral panic perspective: audiences are comprised of individuals, media deceptions are not homogenous, too little attention is given to the medium (tv, pointing out that something is a moral panic often has limited effect.
