2. Crime as a Postmodern Spectacle
Kidd-Hewitt and Osborne (1995) see media reporting of crime increasingly driven by the need for a 'spectacle'.
Crime and Deviance Chapter ?: Role of Media
Spectacles are engaging because audiences become both repelled by the activities but fascinated at the same time.
Kooistra and Mahoney (1999) argue that media coverage of crime is increasingly a mixture of entertainment and sensationalism (what Neil Postman calls 'infotainment').
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3. Postmodernist Theory on Media and Crime
Postmodernists see the media as a crucial player in our perception of crime (regardless of whether this perception is accurate or not).
Crime and Deviance Chapter ?: Role of Media
They highlight how the media present crime with a mixture of entertainment and sensationalism ('infotainment').
The ultimate expression of this is crime expressed as a spectacle.
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4. Lyng (1990) - Edgework Young males seek pleasure – like risk taking
Their thrill is gained from acting in ways that are on the edge between security and danger (edgework)
Eg) car theft and joy riding, gangs searching out violent confrontations
Young men through such ‘edgework’ are ‘accomplishing masculinity’…proving they have control over their lives (Miller – autonomy’

5. The night-time economy
Hobbs (2000)
Last 15 years – growth in leisure economy – clubs/pubs etc
Huge numbers of young people out in public ‘in a narrow time band’ – in the search for pleasure
Taylor (1999)
Development of nocturnal economy is linked to globalisation (as traditional economy declined and leisure economy grown in derelict urban settings)

6. Postmodernist ideas about masculinity
EXPLANATION
KEY ARGUMENT/POINTS/
THINKERS
CRITIQUE
Postmodernist ideas about masculinity
Loss of traditional manual jobs in recent years. These helped working class men express masculinity
Growth of night-time leisure economy that many men can gain legal employment from, criminal opportunities & express masculinity
Winlow – study of bouncers in Sunderland showed this (similar to Illegitimate Opportunity Structure)
No real structure for men to pursue a career in crime
Organised criminal subculture emerging in nightlife economy – violence is a way to earn a living
Reputation and employability depends on their body capital
Body – symbol of worth – looking the part – sign of masculinity..(the sign is all – geek gets muscle and tats!)