Violence and Men

1. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY Violence and Men SOCI0067: Crime and the Media Lecture 6 Dr. L. Cho, PhD E-mail: Lifcho@gmail.com

2. Individual Journals FAQ • Q1. How many journals do I have to do?A1.You must do the first and last weekly journals (that is, Week 1 and Week 13). As for the remaining weeks, choose six of them to write journals on. You should end up with 8 journals in total. • Q2. Is there a difference between a journal and a mini-essay?A2.Yes, a journal is a lot more personal in its style of writing and thus, thoughts may be more “raw” in that they may not be as developed and supported as in an essay. The use of the personal pronoun, “I”, carries a lot more weight and meaning in a journal and is encouraged; whereas an essay would strive for a more reasoned position and removal of the self from the thought process. • In this way, the journals are more “self-oriented” and personal thoughts are not as discouraged, but they must still fall within an acceptable range of comprehensibility and relevance. Creativity, in this way, is measured by your ability to adapt the resources provided for you throughout this course to come up with an angle that is insightfully yours. See our course blog for details: http://soci0067.wordpress.com/

3. Examine Masculine Images of Crime Perpetrated in the Media Are you talking to me?!

4. News Appeal of Violence • Articles on crime read consistently by a greater percentage of subscribers (24-26%) (Surette 1992) • Least common form of crime are reported most (e.g. murder) • Due to rarity, lend to graphic and sensationalistic coverage (sells papers!) • US Stats: Murder constitutes 0.2% of crime. 26.2% of crime news cover murders • Example: Virginia Tech Coverage – only 10 homicides annually on college campus vs 1,000 suicides. Suicides get little coverage. Source: Websdale, N. and A. Alvarez. (1998)

5. Gap Between Media Representation and the Reality of Gender and Crime(Official Crime Stats) Consequences and Problems

6. Mapping Gender Narratives in Press Reports of Violence • The Times, The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mirror • 6 months study (February and July 1992) • 7 million readers

7. Sex of Offenders NEWS REPORTS 72.9% male offender 21.3% female offender POLICE STATS Guilty or cautioned for indictable offences of violence 85.5% male offender 14.5% Female offenders Homicide 88.8% Male Offender 11.2% Female Offenders Source: Naylor (2001)

8. Sex of Offender and Victim NEWS REPORTS 55.1% Female victim/victims 47.3% Male victim POLICE STATS 38.6% Female victim 61.4% Male victim Source: Naylor (2001)

9. Homicide Registry in HK (1989 to 1997) • Over 90% of offenders identified were male • About 70% of victims were male Source: Broadhurst (1999) as presented in http://www.crime.hku.hk/rb-homicide.htm

10. HK Murder Offenders (2007): Male 21 versus Female 4 Source: http://www.police.gov.hk/review/2005/pdf/appendix_7.pdf

11. Secondary Enquiry How are men portrayed in relation to crime and violence in the media? As victims and as offenders?

12. Columbine Shooting (show clip) • April 20, 1999 • Two high school seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold • 15 minute shooting spree killed 13 people and wounded 21 others • Police found unexploded bombs throughout the school • They were two weeks away from graduation Columbine Shooting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ13CZ4Hekg&feature=related

13. The Monster Next Door: Media Constructions of Boys and Masculinity Case Study on the Columbine Shooting Source: Consalvo, M. Feminist Media Studies; Mar2003, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p27, 19p

14. Few Studies on Men and the Media • Studies exploring gender in news coverage tend to focus on women • Document how women are often portrayed as victims of male violence • Many studies on Black men, where race is the main focus

15. Studying Media Construction of Men in Crime News Why it is important: • Reliance on the media for understanding crime • Media plays important role in creating a reality about criminal victimization • Creating reality of the social institutions to “deal with it”

16. Representation of Young Boys • Gender as a process being refined and modified • Masculinity is relational (it comes into existence as people acts and interacts)

17. Study Method • One week of news coverage following the Columbine school shooting collected and analyzed • News Broadcast ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC • Magazines: Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report • News articles and editorials: Denver Rocky Mountain News • New York Times • Looking for overall picture

18. Research Questions: Include: • What are the central themes emphasized by the media outlets? • Was masculinity an issue in the coverage? If so, how?

19. Social Construction of Gender • Ascribing particular traits to particular sexes without corresponding to reality • Gender is a daily enactment that individuals engage in • Judged by others (Butler 1993) • The notion of masculinity is social • It comes into existence as people act and live in everyday life (Connell 1998)

20. Media Construction of Gender • Constructions are fluid • Changes over time • Responds to and challenged by social norms • Media scholars can analyze how media construct masculinity in a particular time and place • How media portrays various forms of the masculine • Example: Domestic Violence, Rape

21. Multiple Masculinities • There are multiple representations of men and masculinities • These forms are made to seem natural and inevitable • They become ideological and “trans-historical”

22. Representations of what it means to “be a man” in US Society Studies on fictional/ entertainment portrayals of men • Beer commercials • Instruct men on how to socialize and drink alcohol • Men in advertising • Male friendships on TV

23. Multiple Masculinity Hierarchy Higher Social Standing Lower Social Standing Gay Men of color Working class Blue collar Geeks • Heterosexual • White men • Middle class • White collar • Jocks (athletes)

24. The Ideal/Dominant Version: Hegemonic Masculinity

25. What is Conventional Notions of Masculinity? See: Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI

26. Tough Guise (Jackson 1999) • Linking masculinity with violence • Making violence appear to be a “genetically programmed” male behaviour • Associating “muscles” with “masculinity” • Equating “heroic masculinity” with “violence masculinity” • Applies well to fictional and sporting representation of hegemonic masculinity (male action movie hero) • Limitations: Most boys and men do not commit criminal acts of violence

27. Initial Coverage of Media (Consalvo 2003): Emphasized Ignored Hegemonic masculinty School culture (high school cliques, harassment of nerds) • Demonized specific media forms: video games, internet • Singling out and harassing “different kids” across the U.S. • Suddenly deemed as “dangerous”

28. Monsters Next Door • Media coverage initially portrayed Klebold and Harris as sick or deviant • Monsters, therefore not reflective of society at large • Boys were framed as monsters • Monsters are not gendered creatures

29. Construction of Gender Ignored • Masculinity and its variable constructions largely ignored • Reality of hierarchical masculinity in school glossed over (nerds, geeks, bullying in school) • Masculinity as a system remained unexplored

30. Other Studies (Naylor 2001) • Significant difference in “nature” and “intensity” of reporting of violence by men and by women • Different explanatory narratives employed

31. British Print Media (Naylor 2001) • Main national British papers • 65% of crime reporting deals with personal violence • 6% of police stat deals with personal violence

32. Mapping Gender Narratives in Press Reports of Violence • The Times, The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mirror • 6 months study (February and July 1992) • 7 million readers

33. Patterns of Stories • Who are the stories about? • What are the reports about?

34. Differences in Reporting Women’s violence Men’s violence Rational Normal • Irrational or emotional • In high profile cases, women presented as “wicked”

35. Sex of Offenders NEWS REPORTS 72.9% male offender 21.3% female offender POLICE STATS 14.5% Female offenders found guilty or cautioned for indictable offences of violence 11.2% Female offenders convicted of Homicide Source: Naylor (2001)

36. Sex of Offender and Victim NEWS REPORTS 55.1% Female victim/victims 47.3% Male victim POLICE STATS 38.6% Female victim 61.4% Male victim Irony: News reporting rate may be closer to “true” rate of victimization due to low rate reporting of domestic violence However, majority stories of violence to women are not about domestic violence Source: Naylor (2001)

37. Stories Involving Male Offenders: Emerging Themes Theme 1: Men’s sexual violence to women Theme 2: Men’s violence to women who are strangers to them Theme 3: Violence to strangers generally

38. Stories Involving Male Offenders • Highly sexualized • Individualized representation • Parallel pornographic voyeuristic representations

39. Stranger Danger • Draw on narratives about particular kinds of masculinity • Violent pornography • Reiterating a discourse about masculine violence as a ‘natural force’ • Random and inevitable • Normalize violence

40. Story Narratives: Points of Comparison Male Violence Female Violence In the context of intimate caring relationship Higher volume and larger articles (in these 3 categories) More in need of explanation Explanations about emotion, madness, irrationality • Malicious aggression • Portrayed in a routine manner (larger number of small articles) • Normalize violence • More rational and Opportunistic/ instrumental (e.g. killing while robbing a bank) • Details of weapons used

41. Points of ComparisonSCMP Feb 23, 2009 A8 Male Perpetrator Female Perpetrator

42. How Do Media Portrayals Reflect/Reinforce Conventional Notions of Masculinity In what ways do they parallel current concerns and understandings about masculinity

43. News Media Portrayals of Physical Attractiveness Male Female Featured in high profile cases Unnatural, large, stocky, heavy built, Demure, pretty, attractive • Few details Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

44. News Media Portrayal: Domestic Violence Case Male Female Bad wife Not conforming to traditional feminine notions Kills husband because of his abusiveness Portrayed as having provoked his abusiveness • Rarely a moral implication • Evaluated in relation to how well he fits into conventional masculine role • Motivate related to jealousy, depression, her “nagging” personality Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

45. News Media Portrayal: Child Abuse Cases Male Female Likely portrayed as “bad mom” Violation of conventional gender role as caregiver Considered a “monster” in cases involving death of child • Rarely portrayed as “bad dad” • Even when men abuse children, mother is blamed for not taking control • Research shows she too is a victim of abuse Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

46. News Media Images of Murder • Men’s violence explained away as: • Depressed by unemployment • Work stress • Challenge to honor • Mediated by alcohol • Moral implications are often omitted • We are not exceptionally shocked by male aggression or question masculinity

47. In Sum News mediated images of men and violence reinforce stereotypes of dominant masculinity