The relationship between media consumption and fear of crime among citizens of Tehran

Document Type : Research Article

Author

PhD. Of Sociology, Graduated from the University of Tehran, Iran, Tehran

Abstract

Introduction: Most people consider crime to be an important social issue. Crime and the media are two issues that have received much attention in recent years, independently and at times in many countries, in the field of different has followed.
Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between media consumption and fear of crime. The main question of the research is "What is the relationship between media consumption and citizens' fear of committing crime in crime-prone areas of Tehran?" In this regard, a series of hypotheses were prepared based on theoretical and experimental literature, demographic characteristics of individuals and media consumption and fear of crime. Thus, with regard to the effects of media images on delinquency, it is not a question of whether media coverage has consequences. Rarely has anyone denied these works. The main agenda is to untangle the complex and complex interrelationships of media content and other dimensions of social structure in the formation of criminal behavior.
Method: The research method is survey method and a questionnaire was used to collect data. The statistical population is young and middle-aged citizens in Tehran. According to Cochran sampling, out of 600 samples, 545 people answered the majority of questions completely.
Results and discussion: Findings from the study show that among all types of crimes, respondents said that "fear of stealing at home alone at night" was the most frightening crime. In terms of media consumption, the majority of Tehran citizens reported watching an average of one to four hours of television a day. Given the independent effect of socio-demographic variables on fear of crime, the findings are largely consistent with previous literature. Only gender was significantly related to fear and confirms the research hypothesis. Unlike the United States, Tehran citizens are less affected by the "mean world syndrome" due to their high spiritual and religious capital, because in the Qur'an and hadiths about explaining the truth of the world and its characteristics, as well as the role of the world in building the Hereafter. Accordingly, the violent content of the mass media convinces viewers that the world is more dangerous than what has happened. This phenomenon is one of the main results of planting theory. And enjoying happiness in this world and the hereafter, many guidelines have been proposed.
Conclusion: According to the results of the study, after controlling the standard multiple regression analysis models with the demographic-social characteristics of the sample, two significant relationships did not appear between watching crime series and Internet news. Of the six media variables and five control variables, only gender was significantly associated with fear of crime. In fact, the relationship between the media (television, radio, newspapers and the Internet) and citizens' fear of crime was investigated based on Gerbner's theory of planting. However, the result is contrary to the planting theory of Gerbner et al.

Keywords

References

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