This country is obsessed by crime!
Crime and celebrity seem to make up our desire list when it comes to bedtime reading. In terms of empty-headed celebrities I can almost see the attraction..., the craving for the unachievable 'American' dream.
The ridiculous notion that people such as the Beckhams have some kind of rich, valuable existence that we don't have because we have to work for a living. We want the jets, the bling, the holidays, and the nonsensical Hello magazine existence that in reality doesn't even exist for those contained within their glossy pages. But what is the reason for the obsession with crime? The obsession with crime is harder to fathom.
Crime is damaging, frightening and affects people's lives in horrible pervasive ways. Yet it is the common currency of newspaper headlines whose editors are more than happy to provide endless details of violent acts, in the hope it that gets us hooked and wanting to know more. Crime, like sex, is selling newspapers. We can't help ourselves; look at say our ghoulish interest in the `escapades' of Jack the Ripper. we as a nation seem to want to know every sickening details of every crime, and the tabloids are more than happy to oblige.
During the Soham case last year, the area was overwhelmed with an influx of tourists on the trail of the child killers. Is this not the sickest thing you have ever heard? Who wakes up in the morning and decides they want to go to a village torn apart by the abduction and murder of two girls? Why do we find crime so fascinating? We watch horror movies because it gives us an adrenaline rush to be scared out of our wits, but when it comes to being scared for real, I can't see the attraction. I don't want to lie awake at night wondering if every noise downstairs is not actually the cat playing around, but in fact an armed burglar come to rob me of my favourite possessions and murder me in cold blood in the process.
The tabloid newspapers are constantly talking about the crime rate. Murder, rape, violent crimes are all portrayed on the front pages suggesting that it is an every day occurrence for the majority of the population. This is not to say it doesn't happen at all. Nottingham has its fair share of nasty happenings that badly affect people's lives. I don't want to belittle the experience that some people have, but we shouldn't have to live under the shadow of crime all the time.
The fact is that the fear of crime far out weighs the actual risk of crime. The British Crime Survey has found that the fear of crime is drastically affecting people's behaviour. 85% of older women never leave the house after dark because they are too scared to open their front door. This is a massive number of people who are living in fear when they do not necessarily have to. However, this fear is not sexy enough to sell newspapers; anxiety is not a tangible enough emotion for us to turn to page 4 for more details.
Myth and reality are, as usual, not related in terms of fact. Young males are statistically the people most at risk of becoming victims of violent crime, but the media rarely seem to portray them as possible victims. No one takes the trouble to advise young people how to stay safe and reduce any danger they put themselves in. We are too busy blaming the young for terrorising the old.
The media has to take responsibility for affecting people's lives in this way. They are creating a nation of people who are living in fear. We are scared of being burgled, robbed on the street, having our identity stolen when we pay for food in a restaurant. Yet we lap up all the crime stories we can get our hands on.
The media glamourise crime. The Kray twins have become a part of a British culture that we almost seem to be proud of. It is astonishing; how can we be proud of people who were violent thugs that ruled an area with fear, intimidation and torture. Is it just the rose tinted glasses we assume when looking at the past? We don't find the drug gangs in Nottingham very glamorous. Those living in an area where a 14 year old girl gets shot probably wouldn't want to see the 'glamour' of street gangs in a film or buy the paperback version in the airport bookshop.
 The point is that the media needs to wake up to the damage they are causing. They are playing on people's fears; the presenter of Crime Watch is always telling people 'don't have nightmares' but people are. The reality is that violent crime and anti social behaviour are on the decrease. Now that is a headline that is not sexy enough to sell. When you are lying awake wondering if anyone is going to nick your car tonight, thinking that it is statistically unlikely is not going to be a rational way of calming your fears. What would help is if you could switch on the TV or read a paper just occasionally without being told that Britain is a crime-ridden hole. The truth is that the media is our worst nightmare. Its out of proportion focus on all things bad really does make you fear the things that go bump in the night. |
People who are most frightened of crime Changes in people's behaviour Assault |
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
