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Discussion Questions

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Discussion Questions

Question 1

A lot of studies in the past have reported that fear of crime mainly originates from TV

shows and the crime that they portray (Rader, 2017). Violence portrayed in television shows has

been on the rise for the past three decades mainly because television has remained the most

influential media form in America, and other parts of the world. However, the digital age has

introduced new forms of media that have further accelerated the fear of crime, especially social

media. New studies have raised the possibility that the more time people spend on social media

apps especially Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the less safe they feel (Rader, 2017). Unlike

television programs which mostly portrayed fictional crimes shows, social media has been linked

with the spread of actual criminal occurrences all over the world. The fear sparked by real-life

events is incomparable to fictional shows on television.

Question 2

While the media has generally been credited as the main leader of fear of crime due to its

ability to spread content to millions of people all over the world within a short time, there are

other real-world factors that have also been attributed to contribute to fear of crime. For instance,

experience and peer and family groups plays a major function in developing a person’s fear of

crime (Rader, 2017). This phenomenon is linked to Aker’s social learning theory that dictates

that a behavior is learned through criminal imitations and definitions, differential association,

differential reinforcement (Rader, 2017). Therefore, fear of crime can develop through

observation of one’s physical environment.

Question 3
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A popular TV show featuring a heist is ‘Money Heist’. The program revolves around a

group of criminals who pull off some of the biggest heists in the world. The media representation

of ‘Money Heist’ has distorted the reality of the real-life representation of a heist. A heist or theft

is normally considered unlawful and dangerous theft mission that drives in the fear of crime.

However, ‘Money Heist’ portrays a group of thieves who are considered heroes not only in the

television show, but also in the actual world. This has been portrayed in different parts of the

world where people wear the heist attires and praise the characters with heroic songs.
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References

Rader, N. (2017). Fear of crime. In Oxford research encyclopedia of criminology and criminal

justice.