Chapter 4

DEVIANCE 2.0:
THE ROLE OF
THE MEDIA
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media
 Any form of communication that targets a
mass audience in print or electronic format
(e.g., traditional to new/emerging)
 Represent one of the core pedagogical forces in contemporary society
 Define boundaries between groups, define social problems, and
shape public debates (e.g., stigmatized others  absolute
others)
 Approaches to media study/analysis:
 administrative – explores the effects of media on thoughts,
feelings, and behaviours (relates to objectivist/positivist
approaches to deviance)
 critical – explores how the media construct events, issues and
identities (relates to subjectivist/interpretive-critical approaches
to deviance)
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

Media and Individuals: Administrative

Research
 Advertising
 based on the art of persuasion
 research explores who says what to whom and with what effects
 Media Violence
 the most-researched topic in media studies
 correlational vs. experimental research
 questions remain as to whether exposure
desensitizes people to violence or whether
it stimulates feelings of vulnerability
prompting violence as a wall of protection
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media and Society: Critical Research

 Framing
 refers to the overall way that an issue is depicted in the media
 frames of race/ethnicity:
 absence or inauthentic presence, racializing the body,
and being a social threat
 implications: erased from public consciousness, voices unheard,
representations integrated into identities, and impact on policy

 frames of gender:
 femininity – feminine touch, ritualization of
subordination, licensed withdrawal, and infantilization
 masculinity – ???
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media and Society: Critical Research

 Media Ownership
 media content is intertwined with the structure of media
ownership
 trend towards media convergence, conglomeration, and
concentration
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 The Media-Deviance Nexus

 Media as a cause of deviance
 reflected in studies of media violence
 Media construct deviance and normality
 reflected in studies of media framing
 Media as a tool for deviance
 includes cyberdeviance – deviant acts involving the use of
computers
 Media as a site of the deviance dance
 reflected in varied points of view and debates within the media
(e.g., hashtag activism)
 Deviantization of forms of media
 reflected in social control efforts directed at media (e.g.,
government censorship, parental controls)
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media as a Tool for Deviance: Cyberdeviance

 Digital Piracy
 refers to the illegal copying of music, software, and video
 the internet facilitates digital piracy through:
 anonymity

 speed of transmission

 shift in mindset about “ownership”

 theorizing digital piracy:
 social learning theory and differential association

 self-control theory

 techniques of neutralization
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media Strategies
 sensationalism – media emphasize the most dramatic stories and
elements of stories
 simplification – media present issues and events in simple and
easily digestible ways
 standardization – media present stories in familiar and
predictable ways
 symbolization – media create and perpetuate stereotypes
 Deviance 2.0: The Role of the Media

 Media and Deviance/Crime

 Public knowledge about deviance and crime comes primarily from media
exposure
 Media portrayals do not reflect reality
 disproportionate focus on violence
 lack of attention to underlying causes or relevant social/political issues
 However:
 media messages and images are not homogeneous
 media consumption is an active process; the meanings and
interpretations people make of their media exposure are mediated by
their own background experiences
 Consequences of biased media exposure
include moral panics, the emergence of
a risk society, and demand for
policy/legislative change