Fear is an emotion, our emotions are based on our actions and those of others. Fear of crime has perpetuated the paradox of fear of risk that is prevalent in all societies, regardless of actual levels of crime and safety. "Fear of crime can be considered contagious because social interaction is the mechanism through which fear is shared and chronically worried populations are created. Even those who have never been victims of crime can be seriously worried about it" (Curiel, 2017). The media generates fear of crime; The media's socially constructed distorted view of crime results in higher levels of fear of crime among populations, despite the fact that these media representations very rarely reflect or represent the outside world. An important comparison that needs to be drawn to answer the question posed in the title is that between the research carried out to study the impact/effects that the use of violent video games has on individuals. There is a distinct relationship shared between playing video games and watching violence on television, because both involve individuals watching depictions of otherwise unrealistic violence unfold before them. Social media is another sphere through which fear of crime is generated through the media, as fear of crime depends on a number of different social factors ranging from race, age, gender, income, 'instruction; to understand whether the fear of crime is generated by the media or whether it is an inevitable consequence of living in late modern society, it is very important to take these other factors into account; in order to produce a complete answer to the question. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The corruptive nature of the media has been an issue that society and philosophers have grappled with since early Greco-Roman times. Plato set a precedent for a society that would later devolve into debates about the consequences of watching too much television and playing violent video games. He set this precedent by making clear that some plays and poems could have a negative impact on young people and should, therefore, be burned (Ferguson, 2010). In the 1930s, social research was commissioned based on links between film viewing and aggressive behavior (Ferguson, 2010). This research set a precedent for all future research on this topic, as studies were found to lack control groups, as well as a difficulty in measuring levels of aggression. The fear of crime exists outside the realms of social demands and instead is a condition rooted in the human psyche. Levels of crime and safety within any society are obvious predictors of levels of fear of crime, furthermore, predictors could be factors such as past experiences, demographic factors and perceptions of insecurity; which has recently emerged as a social problem. Jean Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality will be carefully considered in answering the question posed in the title. Fear of crime and hyperreality are associated as Surette (1998) argues that fiction is closer to news than to reality, a statement based on a study conducted by Mandel (1984) who established that between 1945 and 1984 over 10 billion crime thrillers have been produced. Cultivation theory is often used to explain the effects of exposure to certain media and was introduced in the 1970s by George Gerbner. Gerbner's research concluded that a strongexposure to media content could, over a long period of time, influence individuals' attitudes and behaviors toward being "more consistent with the world of television programs than with the everyday world" (Chandler 1995). Findings from Dowler (2003) indicate that “viewing cop shows is significantly related to fear of crime and perceptions of police effectiveness.” Dowler goes on to mention that regular viewers of crime shows are more likely to "hold negative attitudes toward police effectiveness, although" regular viewers of crime shows are more likely to fear or worry about crime. Similarly, regular viewers of crime films are more likely to hold negative attitudes toward police effectiveness, although a bivariate analysis indicated that newspapers as the primary source of crime news and hours of television viewing did not are significantly related to fear of crime, punitive attitudes, or perceptions of the police. effectiveness." Fear of crime and the mass media share a relationship that depends on their audience (Heath and Gilbert, 1996). Dowler (2003) reported that local crime news "increased fear among those who lived in the area reported, while news of non-local crime had the opposite effect" (Albany.edu, 2018). News of local crime has the effect of increasing the fear of crime in the occupants of high crime neighborhoods, furthermore, the research also clarified that individuals who watch a lot of crime-related television and live in high-risk neighborhoods also had higher levels of fear of crime than their counterparts who did not (Dowler, 2003). impact on them. Individuals with prior experience of involvement in crime before watching crime-related television would not be fearful of them afterwards, whereas an individual who has no prior experience of involvement in crime would be more fearful. after watching particular news programs or television series. Liska and Baccaglini, 1990). Gerbner et al (1980) found that "the relationship between fear of crime and the amount of television watched was greatest for women and whites"; Gerbner (1980) also indicated that "women, whites, and older people are more likely to be afraid of crime"; despite their lower chances of being victims of it" (Dowler, 2003). Since only a small percentage of individuals have had direct experience of violent crime, the remaining number of individuals without any prior experience have been found to exhibit systems of beliefs that describe the world as worse than it is, resulting in the fear victimization paradox (McQuivey 1997). fear victimization paradox exists regardless of the likelihood of involvement in crime the likelihood that an individual is very likely to be involved in a violent crime “a truck driver in the middle of the night; a rest stop, his fear of crime may not be high because he thinks he has control over that situation" (Sandman 1993; Sparks and Ogles 1990). Vanderveen (2003) postulates that "men usually think they can handle it . Women feel more vulnerable", in reality, however, men are more likely to become victims of crime (Bureau of Statistics and Research 1996). Past research has suggested that crime information presented in the form of facts and figures have no influence onperception of crime by that individual, furthermore, that the influence of the media is only one of many factors to take into consideration when analyzing the prevalence of fear of crime, both on an individual and social basis (McQuivey, 1997). a greater fear of becoming a victim of crime “because they believe they are more vulnerable” than younger members of society (Carcach et. al., 2001). possibly taking them as easy victims since they are less likely to be able to defend themselves (Carcach et. al., 2001) confirmed his previous research on those individuals who watch more television than average showed a "rate of fear towards higher environment" than those who watched less. More recently, Dowler (2003) reaffirmed that even when factors such as race, age, sex, income, education, and marital status are taken into account, individuals who watch more crime shows tend to show a significantly higher rate of fear of crime (Dowler, 2003 ). 2003). Dowler then found that hours spent watching television news had no significant relationship with higher levels of fear of crime (Dowler, 2003). “Hyperreality serves as a pretext for socio-political regression” (Miller, 1997). Eco (1987) assumes that the fantastic order of Disneyland is the opposite of the rest of the world, depicting a seemingly real world when in fact the United States and the rest of the world as a whole are actually hyperreal simulations. An example of this “perfect crime” (Baudrillard, 1995): In 2004, two English children, who grew up on cartoons, actually climbed into a bear cage and were mauled to death. By the 1970s the crime or detective drama had replaced the Western for mainstream prime time television fare (Doyle, 2006). The line between crime entertainment and crime information has become progressively more blurred in recent years (Dowler, Fleming, & Muzzatti, 2006). About half of the newspaper and television stories that people come into contact with are about crime, justice, or deviance (Doyle, 2006). Mass media influences the way people look at crime; and as a result, the images offered to the public look different from those based on facts and figures, represented by the government (Doyle, 2006). (Surette, 2006) goes on to point out that crime in the media has been structured so that it is portrayed in a way that appears informative and realistic in nature. The research appreciates that "the images people see on television are at odds with the world they see" and, as a result, people's "perceptual understanding of crime in the media and real life is distorted"; people then fall into a hyper-realistic state where their idealistic conception of reality, represented by the media; it replaced the real one (Miller, 1997). Flatly (2010) indicated that, in contrast to the steady decline in crime since 1995, people still tend to believe that it is increasing. Public confidence in increasing levels of crime, as already mentioned, can be directly related to increasing levels of media portrayal of crime. Fear of crime is something that can be used as a tool as some level of fear of crime is desirable to inspire problem-solving action and inspire the fearful to take precautions; “an exaggerated public perception of crime-related risks can also lead to serious distortions in public spending priorities [and decision-making]” (Bureau of Statistics and Research 1996). Functional fear is a tool used by the masses for self-preservation purposes, albeit often.