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Full-Text Articles in Criminology
Content Analysis In The Study Of Crime, Media, And Popular Culture, Lisa Kort-Butler
Content Analysis In The Study Of Crime, Media, And Popular Culture, Lisa Kort-Butler
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Content analysis is considered both a quantitative and a qualitative research method. The overarching goal of much of the research using this method is to demonstrate and understand how crime, deviance, and social control are represented in the media and popular culture. Unlike surveys of public opinions about crime issues, which seek to know what people think or feel about crime, content analysis of media and popular culture aims to reveal a culture’s story about crime. Unlike research that examines how individuals’ patterns of media consumption shape their attitudes about crime and control, content analysis appraises the meaning and messages …
Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear Of Crime, And Attitudes About The Criminal Justice System, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn
Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear Of Crime, And Attitudes About The Criminal Justice System, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kelley J. Sittner Hartshorn
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Research demonstrates a complex relationship between television viewing and fear of crime. Social critics assert that media depictions perpetuate the dominant cultural ideology about crime and criminal justice. This article examines whether program type differentially affects fear of crime and perceptions of the crime rate. Next, it tests whether such programming differentially affects viewers’ attitudes about the criminal justice system, and if these relationships are mediated by fear. Results indicated that fear mediated the relationship between viewing nonfictional shows and lack of support for the justice system. Viewing crime dramas predicted support for the death penalty, but this relationship was …