List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Jared Rosenberger
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Media representations of offenders have varied over time; the rise of television media was an era in which offenders were depicted as active decision makers who committed deviant acts to attain their desires. Overtime, this image evolved into the current depiction of offenders as animalistic and inherently evil white males of upper socioeconomic status who are animalistic. Throughout the life of television media depictions of have ignored offender race, gender, and socioeconomic status, creating constructed realities that do not adequately reflect offenders in the United States. Thus, it is important to study how media depicts crime, criminals, and the criminal justice system. The purpose of this study is to analyze how offenders are represented in media. Data utilized for this study consists of a quantitative content analysis of the portrayal of victims on the television series Law and Order, which was collected over the course of three years by a four person research team and includes information on over twenty seasons of the show. Ten episodes were chosen based on a random sample design from all episodes in seasons 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20. Using this method the data spans the length of the series. Through analyzing this data, I hope to gain greater insight about how media depictions construct offenders. Data from Law and Order will be compared to data on real life offenders to examine how media representations differ from reality.
Location
Large Ballroom, Curris Center
Start Date
April 2016
End Date
April 2016
Media Representations of Offenders in Televison Series "Law and Order"
Large Ballroom, Curris Center
Media representations of offenders have varied over time; the rise of television media was an era in which offenders were depicted as active decision makers who committed deviant acts to attain their desires. Overtime, this image evolved into the current depiction of offenders as animalistic and inherently evil white males of upper socioeconomic status who are animalistic. Throughout the life of television media depictions of have ignored offender race, gender, and socioeconomic status, creating constructed realities that do not adequately reflect offenders in the United States. Thus, it is important to study how media depicts crime, criminals, and the criminal justice system. The purpose of this study is to analyze how offenders are represented in media. Data utilized for this study consists of a quantitative content analysis of the portrayal of victims on the television series Law and Order, which was collected over the course of three years by a four person research team and includes information on over twenty seasons of the show. Ten episodes were chosen based on a random sample design from all episodes in seasons 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20. Using this method the data spans the length of the series. Through analyzing this data, I hope to gain greater insight about how media depictions construct offenders. Data from Law and Order will be compared to data on real life offenders to examine how media representations differ from reality.