NCJ Number
40931
Date Published
1975
Length
191 pages
Annotation
THIS ANALYSIS OF 37 MEDIA ARTICLES ABOUT A FRENCH PRISON HOSTAGE SITUATION WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE DIFFERENT IMAGES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THE PRESS AND THE IDEOLOGICAL STANCE OF THE MEDIA.
Abstract
IN THIS QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS, ARTICLES WERE DRAWN FROM EIGHT PARIS DAILY NEWSPAPERS AND SIX FRENCH WEEKLY MAGAZINES. TO FACILITATE THE ANALYSIS, ALL ARTICLES CHOSEN WERE ABOUT THE 'CLAIRVAUX INCIDENT', IN WHICH TWO PRISONERS TOOK TWO HOSTAGES, AND DEMANDED THEIR RELEASE IN EXCHANGE FOR THE HOSTAGES. THE SITUATION RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF THE HOSTAGES, AND THE INMATES WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH. BASED ON A CONTENT ANALYSIS, THE ARTICLES WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR IMAGE OF THE FUNCTION, THE SYSTEM, THE TRIAL, AND THE ACCUSED. FROM THIS, A FIVE-PART TYPOLOGY WAS ESTABLISHED TO SHOW THE VARIOUS IMAGES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THE PRESS. THE CLASSIFICATIONS WERE 1) JUSTICE AS VENGEANCE; 2) JUSTICE AS SOCIAL PURIFICATION; 3) JUSTICE AS SOCIAL REGULATION; 4) JUSTICE AS AN INJUSTICE; AND 5) JUSTICE AS AN IDEOLOGICAL APPARATUS. A SECOND, MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE ACTUAL STRUCTURE OF THE ARGUMENT PRESENTED IN EACH ARTICLE WAS ALSO UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE VARIOUS IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONS OF THE PRESS VIS-A-VIS THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. RESULTS OF THIS ANALYSIS ARE REPORTED IN THE FINAL SECTION. --IN FRENCH...DMC