Fear of Crime
The media consequently affects the portrayal of crime, since most people who watch crime stories, tend to greater threat to crime, than those who do not watch the crime stories. The media covers very serious crime stories, which makes the viewers to feel threatened. Through watching such stories, one tends to develop inner fear, making the person to believe that whatever he or she is watching the television may happen to him or her (Bjornstrom et al, 2010). The television often delivers crime stories which are violent, and dangerous, making most people to believe that whatever they are watching is what really happens, particularly if a person is attacked. A good example is a story which has been covered in a certain state, whereby people are being butchered, and their bodies are thrown into the river (Sandstig, 2010).
When a person who has watched such a story visits the state, he or she may not be at peace, this is consequently because of the perception that the person has concerning the area. In addition, the person may not be able to live peacefully in such an area, due to the fear of being attacked, or even being butchered. Due to the fear of crime, most people may not be able to work at night or even during the day, due to the fear of being attacked (Sandstig, 2010). This consequently makes it hard for most people to be to also carry out their daily routines. This is usually caused by the feeling that crime is more prevalent than the way the statistics indicate. At the back of their minds, they tend to develop a fear mechanism, which makes them not to trust strangers, due to the fear of attacked, or even being killed.
Public fear of crime affects a person’s behavior, since it makes one to always be insecure. For instance, women tend to feel more vulnerable as compared to men, since they may not be able to protect themselves in case of an attack, or even an assault. They consequently end up being afraid of strangers particularly at night. Moreover, they may not also be able to relate with other people well, due to the fear of being attacked. Most women also tend to develop fear towards muscular men, due to the fear of being attacked (Bjornstrom et al, 2010). This is usually caused by watching a lot of crime stories, which tend to instill fear in most people. The old, and teenagers, also experience fear, which makes them to develop different behaviors, which may include avoiding to talk to strangers, or even avoiding any form of contact with strangers.
The media should be responsible for the portrayal of crime as it relate to public fear of crime. This is basically because, the media tends to cover crimes which are very serious, thus making most people to view the world as an insecure place to live in (Entman & Gross, 2008). If a person who does not watch crime stories compared to the one watches crime stories, the one never watches crime stories tends not be as afraid of crime as the one who watches crime stories. The images which the media portrays tend to stick in the minds of those who watch the television, thus making them to suffer, due to the fear of crime (Smolej & Kivivuori, 2006). The media is therefore supposed to warn the viewers, particularly if presenting crime related stories, thus making them not to develop negative behaviors towards certain peoples and having a general fear of crime.
Reference
Bjornstrom, E.S., Kaufman, R. L., Peterson, R. D., & Slater, M. D. (2010). Race and ethnic representations of lawbreakers and victims in crime news: A national study of television coverage. Social Problems, 57(2), 269-293.
Entman, R. M., & Gross, K. A. (2008). Race to judgment: Stereotyping media and criminal defendants. Law & Contemporary Programs, 71(4), 93-133. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/gtx/infomark.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&docType=IAC&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A191514426&userGroupName=minn4020&version=1.0&searchTyp
Sandstig, G. (2010). Media influences and effects on experiences of uncertainty and fear in urban public spaces. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 7(12), 66-84. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=57457328&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Smolej, M., & Kivivuori, J. (2006). The relation between crime news and fear of violence. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and CrimePrevention, 7(2), 211-227.
