Date of Conferral
2020
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Criminal Justice
Advisor
Gregory Campbell
Abstract
The effects of crime-based media have long been an area of study among scholars. The problem addressed in this study is the media’s representation of how crimes are perpetrated and processed within the criminal justice system; it is difficult for society to separate and understand factual depictions from fictional portrayals. Researchers have demonstrated that media negatively influences society’s perceptions of police officers’ violent encounters with individuals, particularly African American men, but they have not established wide-ranging contributing factors. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore whether crime-based media influences society’s perceptions of others based on crime, race, and fear of crime. There were 8 participants interviewed for this study. The participants were residents of Louisiana who acknowledged being consumers and viewers of crime-based media. The theoretical framework for this study included the social cognitive theory and cultivation theory. In-depth individual interviews were analyzed through inductive coding and thematic analysis. The findings of this study indicate that participants distrust law enforcement officers, have of fear governmental control, and sense injustice and inequality within the criminal justice system. Understanding the results of the study may improve police-community relationships and minimize the perceptions of injustice and inequality among Americans.
Recommended Citation
Hatter, Sharonda Cage, "How Crime-Based Media Affect Perceptions of Crime, Race, and Fear of Crime" (2020). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 8617.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/8617
