Television and Attitudes About Crime - Do Heavy Viewers Distort Criminality and Support Retributive Justice? (From Justice and the Media, P 141-158, 1984, Ray Surette, ed. - See NCJ-95768)

• NCJ Number: 95775
• Author(s): L Barrile
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Television promotes a distorted and overly violent view of crime and a retributive approach to sanctioning.

Abstract

Data came from interviews with 147 persons in a Connecticut city of about 85,000 persons during 1977 and 1978. The subjects constituted a quota sample selected on the basis of class. Television viewing was related to attitudes supporting the death penalty and televised executions. It was also weakly related to attitudes favorable to the police and to the view that courts favor criminals over victims. Social status was related to content preferences, with those of higher status having less violent program and character preferences. Education was a major intervening factor in the relationship of television viewing to personalized attitudes about crime and retributive attitudes about justice. Social status variables taken collectively also had an influence, although a smaller one. While the evidence suggests that television plays an ideological role by reinforcing some misconceptions about crime, some results did not support this explanation. Process gratification studies might contribute to further understanding of these issues. Data tables and 26 references are supplied.