Theories+and+Typology

=__**Theories and Typology**__=

The media frames information about school violence in 4 ways: -i. conveying a good news – bad news theme that portrays school violence in negative terms -ii. reminding readers about one extreme case of school violence -iii. relying on emotional responses rather than more objective sources of data -.iv. presenting the threat of school violence as being unpredictable, yet blaming schools for not predicting where and when it will occur
 * Media**

Social constructionism is when how people create their reality and the world they believe to exist. This is based on their personal experiences and knowledge gained. Information is socially created by people and contains she knowledge, ideas, and and interpretations that they hold onto about reality. Groups may see the world in a specific way. There are three kinds of reality: experienced (what one has experienced on their own), symbolic (what you have no directly seen but believe to be true i.e. the media reporting and telling you something), and socially constructed (mix of experienced and symbolic). We gain of lot of information through claims makers, which are groups or people who give certain types of information about problems and subjective issues in ways that make the public accept them. Claims makers shape the views of citizens construction of reality by using the media to get their message across. They will use both factual and interpretative claims to get the public to adopt to their information and will use the most grievous examples. People will judge social social issues according to the public agenda and how the media emphasizes the problem. Claims makers concerned about violence in school use mainly subjective interpretations, because all of the studies completed on school violence indicate that youth are more likely to be killed/injured at home than they are at school. Therefore, claims makers do not have any objective facts to back up their arguments. This brings us to the reality and facts about school violence.
 * Social Constructionism **


 * The Reality of School Violence**
 * data indicates that violence is schools has not increased in any significance
 * the number of youths killed/injured per day in their community is larger than those youth who are killed/injured on or around school grounds
 * data indicates that there is a greater threat to children's safety in their homes with their families than in their school
 * youth are 3 times more likely to be struck by lightening than be killed in a school shooting
 * suburban schools have an increased change of being mentioned, disregarding the fact that urban schools experience more violence

The media uses the 'man-bite-dog' criterion, in which the media uses infrequent events more often because it is more newsworthy. Because the media only use rare events, these event are seen more common than they actually are. Media uses these rare examples, such as Columbine, as a primary way for viewers to understand school violence. The media has always focused on what is wrong within our society and 'school bashing' has become customary in which similar acts have a high chance of happening again. The media gives school violence the portrayal as a part of American Society that is inevitable and must be dealt with swiftly and effectively. To capture viewers, mass media uses emotion and empathy by interviewing parents of victims. No parent should ever outlive their child, and the media exploits this. Instead of reporting on history, social context, or research/studies that indicate frequency of events, they focus on how it would feel like to be a victim or be related to a victim. Once the claims makers have developed a public opinion on violent crime, they will exploit this, resulting in 'far-reaching' policy crusades or policies which concern individual cases. To do this, they use an emotional framework by exploiting the fears of the public. The media suggests that criminals are not always recognizable, and therefore, suggest who the public should fear. Studies have shown that while parents agree that school shooters are unpredictable, they still hold the belief that it is the school's job to find out who will turn into a school shooter. This has lead to new policy regulations in schools.
 * Media's Social Construction on School Violence**

Click here for source This image is an example of how the media uses emotional, recurring scenes to grasp the audiences attention by shocking them. Pictures of an injured girl being carried out by officials, rows of (what it looks to be) body bags, a selected image of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (conveniently displaying a firearm) in the cafeteria of Columbine, and authorities working with (what appears to be) a dead body under a white sheet. These images could be taken out of context or may not even be related to school shootings, but because they instill shock and disgust to the public, they are frequently and repeatedly used as an example of what we should be afraid of.

The mass media uses images or stories which is intended to startle, shock, frighten, or offend viewers' who violate societal values and norms. The information given can be disturbing and provide ideas that challenge the public's understanding of social order. The media uses scare tactics to sell an idea. This correlates with violent school shootings because the media expanded the reality of the situation and told audiences that there is something to fear by replaying actual scene from shootings long after the incident had taken place.
 * The Shock Effect **

The mass media gives a distorted image of criminals and victims by using the viewer's fear of crime, which leads to the viewer disregarding their own victimization risk. As presented by the mass media, 'worthy' victims are innocent, naive, trusting, and in need of protection. This ultimately describes school children as the key symbolic construct of victims. As well as being young, 'worthy' victims are also usually white and middle class, raised in good families with Christian values. Concerning offenders or perpetrators, black males are widely used because of the stigma attached to them (i.e. no values or respect for societal norms, using drugs, etc). The most common factors in news coverage consists of race and social class of victims and the location of neighbourhoods and schools. This illustrates that the type of 'worthy' victims and perpetrator stories are more sensational, and in turn, exclude wider social problems such as racism, poverty, and abuse/violence. The media will most likely not report a news story of a black male victim of violence because many people within society have already given African-American's master status's and will not sympathize for him/her. It is theorized that Columbine was so sensational because it went against the norms of society: white middle class males from good families killing classmates and then ultimately themselves.
 * Portrayals of Victims and Offenders**

Coined by Stanley Cohen, Moral panic occurs when claims makers use the mass media to stereotype people or groups as a threat to societal interests and values. In his book //Folk Devils and Moral Panic// (2002), Cohen lists that responses by society towards school violence is 1 of 7 clusters of moral panic. Society begins to question "how could it happen in a place like this?"
 * Moral Panic and Outrage**

Key elements in a moral panic:
 * 1) Someone or something is defined as a threat to values or interests;
 * 2) This threat is depicted in an easily recognizable form by the media;
 * 3) There is a rapid build up of public concern
 * 4) There is a response from authorities or opinion makers;
 * 5) The panic recedes or results in social changes

5 Indicators of Moral Panic
 * 1) Volatility - sudden concerns of a new threat to societal values from a group of people seen as deviant
 * 2) Hostility - those labeled as deviant are seen as 'enemies' of basic societal norms and values
 * 3) Measurable Concern - attention towards new threat can be measured in subjective ways (i.e. attitude surveys)
 * 4) Consensus - general agreements throughout the population that this new threat needs to be taken seriously
 * 5) Disproportionality - regard for deviants and the damage they are capable of

Out of the 3 models of moral panic, school violence is represented by the Interest Group Model. Such panics are unintentional results of moral crusades started by specific groups. These groups want the public to focus on negative morals that are threats to society.

Labeling Theory: Moral Entrepreneurs Howard Becker uses the term moral entrepreneurs or moral crusaders to explain violent school crime. The Labeling Theory is asking why people are defined as deviant, not why they commit crimes. This is based on societal reaction and those who label others as deviant. According to Becker, moral entrepreneurs have the power to create/enforce moral or ethical norms that are created into legal forms. Deviance is the result of an agreement with those who interact with the same interests. They create and apply rules against those with less social and economic power and want society to function on what they see as morally right. They do not believe that society functions on agreed upon values and norms. To accomplish this, moral entrepreneurs lead organizations and social movements to pressure authorities to use more control. Moral entrepreneurs pushing for crime issues and increasing public fear results in the decrease of health care or hunger in the public agenda
 * Moral Panic Theories**

Joseph Gusfield and Max Weber Gusfield writes that those with power control the social classes. This leads to the power group feeling threats towards social norms, and therefore creates regulations

Philp Jenkins and "Symbolic Politics" and "Politics of Substitution" Jenkin's writes that powerful groups and claims makers bring attention to a certain problem because it is symbolized by another problem.


 * This moral panic that leads to the implementation of social policies

The following link is a clip from the movie Bowling for Columbine produced by Michael Moore. In this documentary, Moore displays how claims makers, such as politicians and religious groups, are setting the blame on musical artist Marylin Manson. They believe that his music motivated the shooters in Columbine and that he is a threat. The clip shows people protesting his presence within in their state and Moore constructs an interview with Manson.

Click here for Youtube clip from 'Bowling for Columbine'


 * notice in the film, that when the politician is speaking out against Manson, there is an American flag/symbol behind him. This makes him look powerful and the audience will give him more credibility.

The youtube.com video is a good example of claims makers and moral panic because it follows the 5 indicators of moral panic. Parents, religious groups, and politicians defined Manson as a threat to societal values because of his dress, style, and lyrics. Because of his image, he is easily recognizable by the media and an easy target (his lyrics can include suicide, the devil, etc.). A rapid build up of public concern arose when his blame was splashed all over the mass media and citizens protested him having a concert in their state. Claims makers agree and tried to keep Manson from entering their state, telling people to boycott his music. Panic and social changes occurred when Manson decided to stay out of Colorado for 2 years following the Columbine shootings. The claims makers use the lyrics and images of Manson as an example of a threat to our innocent children, and therefore, to our morals and values as a society. They claim that this type of music is turning our children into violent criminals.

Moral panic, caused by claims makers exploiting fear, results in new social policies. Security measures in high schools did not become mainstream until Columbine, an event blown extremely out of proportion. Since Columbine, high schools across North America have seen an introduction or increase in: zero-tolerance policies, full time presence of police officers on school property, drug-sniffing dogs, random searches, clear book bags (or no book bags at all), ID badges, video surveillance cameras, and metal detectors. School associated deaths are rare, and studies show that policies such as security cameras and metal detectors have small effects on minimizing half or more deaths which occur.
 * Social Policies **

__**Resources:**__

Lawrence, R., Meuller, D. (2003). School Shootings and the Man-Bite Dog Criterion of Newsworthiness. //Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.// Vol. 1 No. 4.

Bracy, N., Kupchik, A. (2007). The News media on School Crime and Violence: Constructing Dangerousness and Fueling Fear. //Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice//. Vol. 7 Num. 2.

Killingback, D. (2001). The Role of Television News in the Construction of School Violence as a "Moral Panic". //Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture,// 8(3) 186-202.

Jeffery, V.(1998). Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behaviour: A Theory and Application to the Case of Ritual Child Abuse. //Sociological Perspectives,// 99-125.

Sanders, C. Class Lecture. Theories of Crime CC300 BR1. University of Wilfrid Laurier, Brantford Ontario. 18 Nov. 2010.

Surette, R. "Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies". Fourth Edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning: 2007.

Image: @http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/us-school-shoot.html

Video Clip: @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu_QKoLH8Co