Spaces of (in)security: Media and fear of crime in a local context

Abstract

Reflecting recent efforts to understand fear of crime as a locally situated process (Walklate, 1998; Lupton and Tulloch, 1999; O’Mahony and Quinn, 1999; Sparks, Girling and Loader, 2001), this article analyses the importance of two different ‘local contexts’ for shaping audience interpretation of media crime. The first of these is the home. The integration of media technologies into the moral economy of the household, and textual readings made within the context of a contested ‘politics of the sitting room’ (Morley, 1992), provide a framework for the interpretation of media crime. Second, and of most interest here, senses of community attachment associated with living in a particular locality are judged to shape the meaning and interpretation of media crime. The article draws on interviews with two households in a suburb of Manchester and argues that the impact of media crime must be considered within a framework that takes place seriously, both as a context for everyday action and as a force in shaping community identity and personal and shared senses of fear and (in)security. The article highlights the historical neglect of spatial context in studies of audience reception of media crime and argues for the need to develop more ‘place sensitive’ research into the impact of media discourses on audiences’ fear of crime.