Criminology Essay

How might criminology help explain one kind of behaviour of youth in Australia and the response of the media?

The issue of youth gangs has received considerable media, political and police attention in Australia in recent years. Until recently, however, there has been little research into the nature and ways of youth gangs in the Australian context. Theories of criminology, however, can be used to help explain the formation of these gangs, and the response of the media. Much of the public knowledge concerning youth groups is based upon anecdotal information and imagery constructed by the media, and can be argued to provide the public with a disproportionate or false view on the reality of the nature of youth gangs in Australia. Youth gangs have an increasingly racialised character, and today, “ethnic youth gangs” constitute the focus of media fear and loathing. In Adelaide and Perth in particular, there has also been moral panic and concern for the welfare of Indigenous young people and children being on the streets at night.

Many account of criminological, social and psychological research has been carried out to better understand the causes of youth gang violence. The assertion of the classical theory of crime is that people choose to act badly within their own free will. It surrounds the idea that people commit crime when they decide that the possible rewards from the act of crime outweighs the potential punishment. However, due to the increasing development and study of criminology, criminologists have started to consider the significance and role of structure, and its influence on deviant behaviour. A number of structural theories, such as strain (Merton 1938), anomie (Cohen 1955) and subcultural (Wolfgang & Ferracuti 1967)...

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...ny different theories, such as the strain theory (Merton 1938), the anomie theory (Cohen 1955) and the subcultural theory (Wolfgang & Ferracuti 1967) can be used to explain and better understand the causes of youth gang violence, and the formation of these gangs. The issue of youth gangs recurrently receives considerable attention in the media, with most of the public knowledge concerning these groups based on an image carefully constructed and presented to them by the media. However, when the issue of youth gangs is actually delved into by organisations such as the Standing Committee on Social Issues in the New South Wales Legislative Council, it can be seen that the image of a youth gang is infact different to the reality. Furthermore, the ‘moral panic’ created by the media can be linked to society’s recurring fear of immigrants and culturally diverse individuals.