NCJ Number
80142
Date Published
1980
Length
512 pages
Annotation
This thesis examines television's contribution to American cultural views and interpretations of crime and justice, specifically television's depiction of crime and the relationship of viewers' attitudes with television's picture of crime.
Abstract
The thesis is divided into two parts: (1) a discussion of theory and (2) a review of previous studies and the analyses of collected data on content and on viewers' attitudes. Mannheim's notion of perspective -- that all basic cultural beliefs are anchored to the social structure and especially to the interests of a dominant political group or class -- is discussed. Mannheim's concept is applied to the English courts, the dime novel Western in 19th century America, and the gangster movie during the American depression of the 1930's. The ideas of Alfred Schutz, Kenneth Burke, Harold Garfinkel, and others are used to discuss how television crime dramas fashion characters into representatives of the personalized crime perspective by contriving a set of motives that appear relevant in explaining the actions of criminals and law enforcers. A typology of characters is generated from the theoretical discussion. Next, research on television content focusing on crime is reviewed, followed by a description of a content analysis of crime dramas. In addition, research literature on viewers' responses to television is reviewed. Findings of this study's survey of viewers' crime attitudes and media habits are discussed, with special attention devoted to the interrelationship among television viewing; content preferences; viewers' social status; and attitudes about crime, criminality, and justice. The concluding chapter mentions the ramifications of the study findings and discusses the potential for social change in television broadcasting. Footnotes, the study instruments, and over 425 references are included. (Author summary modified)