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British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on April 8, 2004
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The British Journal of Criminology 44:595-610 (2004)
British Journal of Criminology 44(4) © the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD) 2004; all rights reserved

From Imitation To Intimidation

A Note on the Curious and Changing Relationship between the Media, Crime and Fear of Crime

Jason Ditton, Derek Chadee, Stephen Farrall, Elizabeth Gilchrist and Jon Bannister*

* Department of Law, University of Sheffield, UK; ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad; Department of Criminology, Keele University, UK; School of Health and Social Sciences, Coventry University, UK; and Department of Social Policy, Glasgow University, respectively. The authors are indebted to John Eldridge, Sarah Eschholz, Barrie Gunter, Jodi Lane and two anonymous British Journal of Criminology referees for helpful comments on an earlier draft. Communications to: jasonditton{at}lineone.net.

Although a connection between media reports and dramatizations of crime and peoples' fear of crime is intuitively attractive, an actual relationship has been discovered surprisingly infrequently. This study (which analyses the quantitative responses of 167 respondents, and the qualitative responses of a sub-sample of 64 of them) is no exception. The qualitative material indicates that respondents' perceptions and interpretations are more important than the frequency of media consumption and/or any objective characteristics of media material.

"It is not easy to make people afraid" (Altheide 2002: 59).


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