ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the importance of studying the relationship between the mass media and crime and provides a general overview of the main research and theoretical positions that have focused on this relationship. The early attempts to theorize about the impact and effect of the mass media were mainly developed from a psychological perspective. Comments on the power of the media to influence the young, for instance, indicate a popular belief in the direct effects of the media that are similar to the ideas behind the hypodermic syringe model. In a modern mass society, where traditional forms of social control appeared to be losing their influence, the mass media were felt to be a potentially powerful force for controlling behaviour. There are great difficulties with proving the media acts as a causal factor – for instance, with regard to ‘copycat’ crimes and the problems in proving or not that a particular media portrayal caused a particular criminal act.
