Faculty Publications

Victim Blame In Fictional Crime Dramas: An Examination Of Demographic, Incident-Related, And Behavioral Factors

Document Type

Article

Keywords

fictional crime drama, social construction, victim blame

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Women and Criminal Justice

Volume

26

Issue

1

First Page

55

Last Page

75

Abstract

How victims are portrayed in fictional crime dramas is an important way that individuals come to understand and interpret what it means to be a victim of crime. We examine how demographic variables (e.g., gender, race, age), incident variables (e.g., location of offense, relationship between victim and offender, type of crime), and behavioral variables (e.g., drug use/alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, negative personality traits, or concealing elements of personality) predict victim blame. Although some literature has analyzed victims in fictional crime dramas, such literature has been limited to a single year, a single show, a particular crime, or a particular factor. We extend this literature by focusing on multiple factors that predict victim blame using data collected from a systematic sample of 124 episodes from 4 fictional crime dramas (CSI, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds, and Without a Trace) over 7 years (2003–2010).

Original Publication Date

1-1-2016

DOI of published version

10.1080/08974454.2015.1023487

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Link to Full Text

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