Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which the media may cause crime (10 marks)

As Item A suggests, the media presents ‘a number of different lifestyles… which some audiences may see as attractive’. Left Realists, Lea and Young, argue that the media increases relative deprivation, among marginalised groups. The media present images of a materialistic ‘good life’, as a goal to strive for. Groups who cannot afford material goods turn to crime as an alternative. This is significant as it suggests the media is a cause of crime because easily influenced individuals become attracted to unaffordable goods, which are constantly advertised, which they need to use illegitimate means to achieve. This can be supported by Merton’s strain theory.Further, the media may cause crime as it desensitises the audience, for example, rap lyrics and computer games are criticised for encouraging violence. Violent imagery in the media normalises it. A prime example of this is the James Bulger case: two 10-year olds abducted, tortured and killed the two-year-old child, in 1993. Arguably, violence and murder influenced the murderers. This suggests that the media may be a cause of crime, as it transmits ideas into passive audience. This can be supported by the ‘hypodermic syringe model’, a theory which assumes ideas transmitted in mass media products are automatically ‘injected’ into the minds of the audience. However, multiple studies about the negative effects of the media have found that exposure to media violence has a small and limited negative effect on audiences.