Selected Research Papers in Social Change, Education, Labour Market, and Criminology Volume II

Table 3: Connection between missing objectivity and certain crimes Crime Missing objectivity: article Missing objectivity: headline

Arson 0.04 0.06* Burglary/theft -0.13*** -0.16*** Assault 0.15*** 0.11*** Sexually oriented crime 0.06* 0.08** Murder 0.14*** 0.12***

n = 1535; * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Table 2 shows the importance of the news value on the influence on the objectivity of an article. Common crimes which happen virtually on a daily basis are mostly reported in an objective way, whereas sensational crimes which occur very seldom mostly correlate significantly with lacking objectivity. Generally speaking, the more common a crime, the more objective the article. This means that a spectacular crime such as murder is handled very emotionally. Uncommon crimes account for a lot of space in the newspapers, whereas the majority of petty crime is published in small articles. Violent crimes are generally published in large articles whereas burglary or theft correlate significantly with short articles (r = .22***) and small headlines (r = .22***). Hence the analysis showed that the influence of the news value on the design and format of an article can be verified.

4 r: * p<0,05, ** p<0,01, *** p<0,001

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 136

5.4 Crimes

As a next step the frequencies of the various crimes presented in the newspapers were compared with their appearance in the official police statistics from 2006. A comparison of both sets of data can demonstrate which role the news value has and establish whether the newspapers are more likely to report about uncommon crimes.

Burglary and theft top the list with about one-third (32.1%) of the total number of crimes reported. These are followed by (armed) robbery with 9.2%, traffic offences with 8.7% and wilful damage to property with 8.7%. At first glance it seems that the newspapers present quite a realistic image of criminal and antisocial behaviour, but comparing the results with official police data shows that reporting is distorted. Violent criminal acts in particular are significantly overrepresented in media reporting whereas common crimes are underrepresented.

Table 3 shows that daily crimes such as burglary or theft are significantly underrepresented in the newspapers whereas spectacular crimes such as robbery or arson are overrepresented by a high factor. Especially the proportion from 3.9 to 0.03 in murder leads to a very strong distortion between reporting and reality. Despite reporting and reality being nearly the same in some cases, there is a gap overall. Other studies (see Scharf et al., Derwein) came to the conclusion that violence is quite present in newspapers, too.

If we compare the different types of newspapers and their reporting about violent crimes we can observe a concentration in the weekly press. This type of newspaper reports more often about crimes with a connection to violence than the other newspapers, whereas coverage of property crimes in weekly newspapers is significantly lower. In general the number of articles with a reference to violent crimes is between 36% (free press) and 48.6% (weekly press), depending on the newspaper.
Table 4: Comparison with official statistics Reporting Official statistics Crime absolute % absolute %

Antisocial behaviour 30 3.9 - - Damage to property 62 8.1*** 9.973 13.2 Drugs 37 4.9 3.230 4.3 Arson 43 5.7*** 265 0.3 Traffic offences 66 8.7 7.479 10.1 Burglary/theft 244 32.1*** 32.349 43.0 Sexually oriented crime 13 1.7*** 512 0.7 (Armed) robbery 70 9.2*** 210 0.3 Assault 74 9.7 6.072 8.1 Murder 30 3.9*** 21 0.03

n = 761 (some crimes not listed); * p<0.01, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.001

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 137

5.5 Offenders

The media's distorted image of reality can likewise be found in the analysis of the offenders, too. All the collated data deviates markedly differently from the official statistics (see Figure 1). Referring to these results it is important to mention that in some cases differences between the newspapers and the official statistics are due to different data collections. In the eyes of the police, an Austrian citizen is an Austrian citizen, regardless of whether they have a foreign background or not, whereas the press can take a different approach. The police's understanding of the age of a young offender is a similar case. Child offenders cannot be charged in the same way as adults, but newspapers have the opportunity to talk about young criminals.

Nevertheless, the media's picture still does not represent reality. Female offenders are significantly underrepresented whereas offenders of foreign origin are highly overrepresented. In most cases the newspapers mention Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavian states or Africa as the foreign origin. Thus the newspapers create an image of a typical offender who is a male teenager with a foreign background.

Significant gender differences are found when various crimes are compared. When the newspapers report about criminal and antisocial behaviour the number of male offenders is higher nearly every time. In most cases the difference is highly significant. Some crimes, such as arson or (armed) robbery, are committed in very small numbers or not committed at all by women. The number of female offenders compared with official police statistics is, with one exception (Linzer Rundschau), significantly lower. A more detailed view of the origin of the offenders shows that both daily newspapers and free newspapers mention foreign origins notably more often.

With regard to delinquent subcultures, the analysis showed that the crimes committed and the location of a crime deviate somewhat from the whole data. Crimes such as burglary/theft (52.9%) or antisocial behaviour (17.6%) are higher, but due to the low frequency, the results are largely insignificant.

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 138

Figure 1: Offenders

60

50

40

30

20

10 56.8

31.9 28.4

19.5

8.722.2Newspapers Statistic

s0 Female*** Age <21* Foreign origin***

* p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Table 5: Delinquent subcultures Crime Subcultures in % Total in %

Burglary/theft 52.9*** 32.1 Antisocial behaviour 17.6 3.9 Murder 1.0 3.9

n = 73; * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Furthermore, subcultures commit 39.7% of their crimes in one of Upper Austria’s urban areas (Linz, Wels, Steyr). However, this value is not significantly higher. Overall, 34.3% of the crimes are committed in these three major cities.

5.6 Victims

The newspapers differentiate between companies, the general public or single persons as possible victims. Some 40% of all victims are single persons and a marginal majority is male. In most cases the victim of the crime is a company and nearly 10% of the crimes are committed against the general public. Approximately every fourth article has no reference to the victim. These values can be seen in Figure 2.

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 139

Figure 2: Victims

30 27,225,3

25

20

1510

5 Male Female Company General public No advice 20,6

18

8,

90 Male Female Company General public No advice

As mentioned above, in about 40% of all cases the victim was a single person. If these persons are classified into several groups of different ages, most victims are between 22 and 60 years old. The total figure of this group amounts to 42%. Compared to the real number of persons belonging to this group in Upper Austrian Society (55%), people at the age of 22 to 60 are unlikely to become a victim. Another 30% are aged between 15 and 21 whereas the real number of persons in this age living in Upper Austria is only about 7%. Older people, in Upper Austria about 22% of the total population, who are most afraid of being a victim of an offence, account for merely 17% of victims. The number of persons aged 60 or above within the population is 22%. In about 12% of all cases the victims are children (Upper Austria: 16%). (see Statistik Austria, 2011)

5.7 Causes of criminal and antisocial behaviour and measures

The following sections discuss the causes of criminal and antisocial behaviour and measures to avoid crime. Table 5 gives us an initial overview of how often either causes or measures were mentioned in the various newspapers. Various items including common criminological theories and approaches were created for this purpose. According to Akers and Sellers, the criminal justice system and the underlying policy is guided by common theories to avoid crime. (see Akers/Sellers, 2004: 11f) Additionally, a number of previous studies (Carroll et al., Oswald/Bilsky, Furnham/Henderson) were also included.

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 140

Table 5: Mention of causes and measures of crime Causes Measures Newspaper absolute % absolute %

Daily newspapers 344 26.9 240 18.8 Free newspapers 41 22.0 26 14.0 Weekly newspapers 27 38.6 20 28.6 Total 412 26.9 286 18.6

* p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

Table 5 shows that in about one-quarter of all the articles at least one reference to the reason was found. In 18.6% of the articles the newspapers tried to offer some advice about measures and solutions to avoid criminal and antisocial behaviour. Furthermore, the analysis shows that weekly newspapers report more often about causes and measures than daily or free newspapers.

To measure reported causes of delinquency a total number of 23 items were developed. These 23 items cover various theories of delinquency such as Merton’s theory of anomie, Pearlin’s theory of stress, Cohen’s theory of delinquent subcultures, Hirschi’s social bonding theory or rational-choice approaches.

In general, all items used to measure causes of criminal and antisocial behaviour can be divided into two big groups. The first group looks for the causes throughout society as a whole. The second group focuses on the offender as a person. As Table 6 shows, an absolute majority of 64.6% of the newspapers selected prefer reasons which can be explained by personal and individual desires. Society, on the other hand, is shown to be responsible for the criminal and antisocial behaviour in only one-third of the articles. No significant differences between daily, free or weekly newspapers were noted.
Table 6: Tendency of causes in % Person Society Newspaper absolute % absolute %

Daily newspapers 221 64.2 123 35.8 Free newspapers 18 66.6 9 33.4 Weekly newspapers 28 68.3 13 31.7 Total 267 64.6 145 35.4

n = 412; * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001

One quite important point was the evaluation of measures offered in the media. These measures may influence political decisions to fight criminal and antisocial behaviour and therefore the presentation of possible solutions in mass media is important. In 18.6% of all articles the newspapers offer some advice on how to handle criminal and antisocial behaviour and which measures should be implemented to do so. Nineteen items were constructed for the purposes of evaluation. These items can be divided into three larger categories: restrictive measures, liberal measures and personal responsibility.

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 141

Most mentions (nearly 50%) were presented as restrictive measures. When the newspapers report measures they call for crime prevention programmes such as law and order policy, additional police or electronic monitoring and surveillance systems. Compared with this extremely high frequency, liberal measures accounted for a mere 15.3%. Liberal measures include, for example, the rehabilitation or integration of the offenders or a strengthening of the family bond. According to criminologists, the long-term effect of liberal measures is higher but newspapers seem to prefer rapid and easy answers which will not solve crime problems in a lasting way. It is interesting to note that liberal measures are offered most when the offender is either female (r = .15***) or a child (r = .13***). Personal responsibility had a value of 37.1%.

Table 7: Differences between newspapers in measures in % Newspaper Liberal measures Restrictive measures Personal responsibility

Daily newspapers 15.3 47.5 37.2 Free newspapers 3.3** 56.7 40.0 Weekly newspapers 31.8 36.4 31.8 Total 15.3 47.6 37.1

* p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

As Table 7 shows there are considerable gaps between the different types of newspapers and their demand for crime-fighting measures. The free newspapers, for example, focus mostly on restrictive measures to protect the population whereas liberal measures with long-term effects are, significantly, more or less not represented. The most liberal sort of newspapers seems to be the free weekly local press, but bearing in mind the very low total number of counts, these results do not deviate significantly from the total survey.

6 Summary and conclusion

In summary, the reporting of criminal and antisocial behaviour in Upper Austrian print media does not reflect the true situation. The analysis showed that about one-third of all articles are neither neutral nor objective. The more spectacular a crime, the longer the article and the greater the probability of lacking objectivity. Furthermore, the newspapers significantly report more often about uncommon crimes compared to their occurrence in reality. Both phenomena may be explained by the news value among other reasons.

Although the newspapers present no typical victim, they do offer a typical offender in the form of a young male person of foreign origin. Although it is difficult to compare reporting with police statistics, the gap between both sets of data is highly significant.

Newspapers mostly concentrate on the offender himself when looking for the causes of criminal and antisocial behaviour. Only one-third of the respective

Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour in Upper Austrian Print Media 142

articles favour social explanations and no significant differences were found in the newspapers analysed. Nearly 20% of all the articles featured suggestions on how to avoid crime in the future. The measures were divided into liberal and restrictive measures. The latter appeared in nearly every second article. Personal responsibility accounted for 37.1% of the measures offered by the press.

All in all, the reporting of criminal and antisocial behaviour in major newspapers in Upper Austria could be improved. A necessary objectivity is lacking in many articles and this distorts society's perception of reality. This could in turn lead to public opinion which then supports the wrong measures in dealing with crime.

References
thAkers, R. L., Sellers, Ch. S. (2004): Criminological Theories. Introduction, Evaluation, and Application. 4 Edition. Oxford University Press Inc.: New York. Carroll, J. S., Perkowitz, W. T., Lurigio, A. J, Weaver, F. M. (1987): Sentencing Goals,

Causal Attributions, Ideology and Personality, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 52, No. 1, 107 – 118.

Derwein, C. (1995): Wie wird Kriminalität in der Presse dargestellt, ist die Darstellung wirklichkeitsfremd, und gibt es Entsprechungen im Vorstellungsbild der Bevölkerung. Dissertation: Frankfurt am Main.

Friedrichsen, G. (2004): „Unheilige Allianzen“ und die Macht der Bilder: Einige Bemerkungen zur zunehmenden Emotionalisierung der Kriminalberichterstattung, in: Walter, M., Kania, H., Albrecht, H.-J. (Hg.): Alltagsvorstellungen von Kriminalität. Individuelle und gesellschaftliche Bedeutung von Kriminalitätsbildern für die Lebensgestaltung. LIT Verla: Münster, 199 – 207.

Fritz, I., Klingler, W. (2006): Medienzeitbudgets und Tagesablaufverhalten, in: Media Perspektiven, Jg. 10, 4/2006, 222 – 234. thFrüh, W. (1998): Inhaltsanalyse. Theorie und Praxis. 4 Edition. UVK Medien Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.: Konstanz.

Giddens, A. (1999): Soziologie. 2Furnham, A., Henderson, M. (1983): Lay theories of delinquency, European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 13, 107 – 120. nd Edition. Nausner & Nausner: Graz-Wien. Golser, K. (2006): Ethik im Journalismus bzw. Ethik der Information. Download:

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in: Walter, M., Kania, H., Albrecht, H.-J. (Hg.): Alltagsvorstellungen von Kriminalität. Individuelle und gesellschaftliche Bedeutung von Kriminalitätsbildern für die Lebensgestaltung. LIT Verlag: Münster, 137 – 156. Krippendorff, K. (1980): Content Analysis. An Introduction to Its Methodology. The Sage Commtext Series: Pennsylvania.

ndMerton, R. K. (1974 [1957]): Sozialstruktur und Anomie, in: Sack, F., König, R. (Hg): Kriminalsoziologie. 2 edition. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft: Frankfurt am Main, 283 – 313.

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Oswald, M. E., Bilsky, W. (1991): Subjektive Theorien über Kriminalitätsursachen und richterliche Schuldzuschreibung, Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform, Jg. 74, Heft 3, 129 – 145.

Pearlin. L. I. (1989): The Sociological Study of Stress, Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, Vol. 30, 241 – 256.

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Wilke, J. (2002): Pressegeschichte, in: Noelle-Neumann, E., Schulz, W., Wilke, J. (Hg.): Publizistik Massenkommunikation. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag: Frankfurt am Main, 460 – 492. Wilms, Y. (2004): Bericht „Alltagsvorstellungen von Kriminalität“: Ein interdisziplinäres Symposium an der Universität zu Köln, 21.-23. Februar 2002, in: Walter, M., Kania, H., Albrecht, H.-J. (Hg.): Alltagsvorstellungen von Kriminalität. Individuelle und gesellschaftliche Bedeutung von Kriminalitätsbildern für die Lebensgestaltung. LIT Verlag: Münster, 523 – 542. Weber, M. (1997 [1911]): Zu einer Soziologie des Zeitungswesens, in: Gottschlich, M., Langenbucher, W. R., (Hg): Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft. Ein Textbuch zur Einführung. Braumüller Verlag: Wien, 138 – 144.

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V. Miscellaneous

145

146

Maria Swia tkiewicz-Mos ny / Aleksandra Wagner

1Social Representations of the Energy Crisis in the Polish Press A Research Report

1 Introduction

The subject of the present research – social representations of thinking of the energy crisis in the Polish press – has several reasons behind it. First of all, we have observed the appearance of the notion of ‘crisis’ in social debate over the last few years in relation to macro-phenomena of social life. ‘Crisis’ functions as a kind of keyword in utterances of politicians, scientists, economists and journalists. They mention a crisis of culture, science and education, and more and more often financial and economic crises are discussed. This clear presence of the crisis notion in the media lets us suppose that it is common enough to function in recipients’ awarenesses and co-create their ‘life world’, becoming an element of context of everyday actions and decisions taken. We can observe a vivid discussion related to the problems of energy, which result from the shrinking natural resources, the increased demand for energy and political instability in the countries rich in raw materials. The discussion is held on many levels, starting from everyday life, where it is connected to rising costs of energy or the need to replace traditional bulbs with energy-saving ones. On the national level we can observe the defining of the energy crisis in macroeconomic categories and international politics (being dependent on one supplier, diversifying energy sources). The above issues are reflected in a scientific thought and have rich technical and economic literature, but are seldom undertaken in a sociological reflection.

What is more, systematic reports on planned or undertaken diagnostic, preventive and reconstructive measures in relation to the energy crisis appear in social communication. The issue of the power industry has been gaining importance globally for the last few years. Poland is actively taking part in problem-solving activities which will soon affect its citizens and their quality of life. A lot is going on in the technological field. The government has taken a decision on building nuclear power plants: organisations like the National Atomic Energy Agency (Panstwowa Agencja Atomistyki) or scientific-technical consortium Centrum Atomistyki (Atomic Energy Centre) are working actively, and in the south of Poland a Cluster of Clear Energy (Klaster Czystej Energii) has been created, based on a cooperation between the local council and industrial and scientific institutions. The European Technological Institute has appointed the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow to coordinate one of the world’s first Knowledge and

1 Some of the results were published in Zeszyty Naukowe WSZIB, 2010.

Maria Swia tkiewicz-Mos ny / Aleksandra Wagner 147

Innovation Communities in the field of sustainable energy (Polish centre CC Poland Plus). It seems then that ‘the energy crisis’ is not being ignored, but that attempts are being undertaken with regards to the purposeful and directed problematisation of the connected phenomena. Moreover, Poland is becoming a significant actor in international cooperation for the sake of the prevention and solution of widely understood problems in the power industry. However, it seems that technological development is not accompanied by social reflection, although experts themselves have repeatedly stressed the need to conduct social research in this area.

2The issues of the energy crisis are present in the public discourse, but the approach towards its problematisation seems different in different groups of senders, and sometimes even within the same group of politicians or scientists. It can become an element of a specific persuasive strategy oriented towards achieving different objectives – e.g. the use of ‘the energy crisis’ by politicians often aims at creating the sense of threat in order to increase group coherence, support a programme or realise specific party interests. The method of problematising the issue may consist in creating different political, economic or ecological contexts. The code of communication, seemingly the same, is based on different meanings. Groups of senders are different not only when it comes to their interests, but also have fundamentally different states of knowledge on the problem in question.