Faculty Publications

Race, Criminal Justice Professionals, And Intellectual Authority In Fictional Crime Dramas

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Crime dramas, criminal justice personnel, media, race

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice

Volume

15

Issue

2

First Page

205

Last Page

225

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to extend the existing media and crime literature by discussing how minority criminal justice personnel are granted or not granted intellectual authority in fictional crime dramas by their representation as presenters of crime and non-crime fact-based statements. An analysis of 117 episodes from four fictional crime dramas appearing in the top 20 Nielson ratings from 2003 to 2010 indicate that Black characters are not given the same intellectual authority as White characters, and therefore are imbued with less power and status than their White counterparts. In some cases, Black characters are not even given intellectual authority within their respective intellectual fields.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

4-3-2017

DOI of published version

10.1080/15377938.2017.1310684

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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