Prime Time Law Enforcement: Crime Show, Viewing and the Criminal Justice System - Hardcover

James M. Carlson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0030035384 ISBN 13: 9780030035388

Synopsis

Unlike the many works which stress the antisocial effects of television, this volume argues that television crime shows promte social stability and control by reinforcing the perceived legitimacy of the current social and political order. The author explores the mainstream values of crime shows as determined through analyses of content and reviews various studies of television's portrayal of criminal justice. He focuses on mainstream views regarding law enforcement in a sample of adolescents and considers the groups that might be most susceptible to mainstreaming. Some of the factors considered in the value analyses are knowledge of criminal legal processes, support for and compliance with the legal system, support for civil liberties, images of police, fear of crime, trust in people, and political cynicism. Also included is a model which relates law enforcement attitudes to more general support for the political system.

About this title

Review:

?Carlson is to be commended for putting in more of the pieces--theoretical, methodological, and analytical--that are usually left out. The result is one of the most sustained, detailed, and elaborated cultivation analyses ever conducted.... The organization of the book is straight-forward and helps make sense out of the sheer volume of data.... Carlson's book represents an important addition to the cultivation literature and to the study of the larger and more subtle implications of television's unrelenting preoccupation with crime and violence.?-Journal of Communication

About the Author:

rlson /f James /i M.

About this edition

• ISBN 10: 0030035384
• ISBN 13: 9780030035388
• Binding: Hardcover