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Color of Crime

Running Head: COLOR OF CRIME

The Color of Crime and the Court: A Content Analysis of Minority Representation on Television

Ron Tamborini, Dana E. Mastro, Rebecca M. Chory-Assad, and Ren He Huang

Ron Tamborini (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1983) is an Associate Professor of Communication at Michigan State University. Dana E. Mastro (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2000) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Boston College. Rebecca M. Chory-Assad (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2000) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at West Virginia University. Ren He Huang received his Ph.D. from the Department of Communication at Michigan State University in 1998. Please send all correspondence to Ron Tamborini. He can be reached by mail at 570 Communication Arts and Sciences Bldg., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212; by phone at (517) 355-0178; or by email at [email protected].

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Abstract This content analysis examines portrayals of Whites, African Americans, and Latinos in the criminal justice system as representatives of the court and as criminals. Results indicate that African Americans and Latinos were similar to White characters in their roles, personalities, and aggressive behaviors. Most African Americans and Latinos were depicted as representatives of the court and the attributes associated with these characterizations were positive. Mass media’s depictions and viewers’ perceptions of racial/ethnic issues concerning law enforcement and criminal tendencies also are discussed.

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The Color of Crime and the Court: A Content Analysis of Minority Representation on Television The cultivation hypothesis posited by Gerbner1 remains one of the best documented and most investigated theories of media’s effects on beliefs and attitudes.2, 3 The framework originated from national concern regarding the effects of televised violence in the 1960s and 1970s. Early cultivation research revealed that heavy viewers were more likely to give the “television answer” than were light viewers when asked their perceptions and opinions of social reality.4 This mild but persistent cultivation effect becomes salient when TV's systematic, but very selective, portrait of the world leads its audience to develop stereotyped and distorted perceptions of reality. Cultivation theorists hold that television, among modern mass media, has acquired a central place in our daily lives and has become the primary source of socialization and everyday information. Its (distorted) messages about reality may be substituted for personal experience and other means of knowing about the social world.5 After continuous, heavy television exposure, audiences gradually adopt the “symbolic reality” created by television and incorporate its images into their living environment. This symbolic reality may potentially contain both stereotypical and imprecise images. In order to identify the implications of such exposure, the present study focuses on representations of African Americans and Latinos in the criminal justice system, both as representatives of the court and as criminals. More specifically, this study assesses these groups' character roles, personalities, and the behavioral tendencies associated with them. Finally, mass media’s depictions of racial/ethnic issues are discussed in order to form a basis for understanding the role of the media in shaping perceptions of law enforcement and criminal tendencies among African Americans and Latinos. Distorted Images. Historically, television has been said to over-represent certain aspects of social life while under-representing others. For example, in their content

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analysis of network television drama from 1969 to 1984, Gerbner and colleagues found that television’s presentation of societal demographics was greatly skewed. Men outnumbered women three to one. People under eighteen years old comprised only onethird of their true population proportion, while people over sixty-five years old constituted only one-fifth of their actual proportion of the population. Similarly, African Americans on television represented three-fourths and Hispanics only one-third of their true representation in the U.S. population. During that period of time, the television world was also much more crime-ridden than the real world. Crime was ten times as rampant on prime-time television as in the real world. The typical viewer of an average week’s programming would encounter the portrayal of thirty police officers, seven lawyers, and three judges, but only one engineer or scientist and very few blue-collar workers. Lifestyle and socioeconomic status portrayals showed that nearly 70 percent of television characters were middle-class, while only 25 percent were employed as bluecollar or service workers. In reality, blue-collar and service jobs employed 67 percent of all Americans during that period.5 The rationalization for the depiction of these repetitive and stereotypical images is often defined in terms of the audience. Sprafkin and Liebert explain the reason for the media's promulgation of stereotypes as a narrative convention through which such images provide the lowest common denominator upon which to develop storylines. They suggest that general audience members will find it easier to accept such characterizations as credible because the portraits are consistent with their conventional expectations.6 Stereotypes. Stereotype formation is one of the major consequences of media cultivation. American journalist Walter Lippmann introduced the term in 1922 to refer to the “pictures in our heads” of various social groups. It has become one of the most frequently mentioned terms in the study of social issues related to ethnic attitudes, prejudice, and intergroup perception and conflict.7

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Stereotypes originate from perceptions and designate a belief or opinion about the attributes associated with a target. Early researchers defined stereotypes as generalizations concerning an out-group member made from prior experience or learning. While these oversimplifications may be unjustified by the observer, they are not necessarily inaccurate.8 Stereotypes have also been defined as beliefs about a cluster of traits attributed indiscriminately to all members of a group or to a given situation or event.9 Such perceptions may be held for racial/ethnic out-group members as well as for individuals with varying social, organizational, and socioeconomic affiliations. Although stereotypes have been conceptualized as resulting from personal interaction, this does not imply that they are necessarily based on people’s first-hand experiences with members of the stereotyped group. Stereotypes may be learned indirectly from the descriptions of others or through images found in the mass media.10 While the use and reliance on stereotypes is an unavoidable cognitive action taken to deal with the complexity of modern life, the process may become harmful when it is based on inaccurate information provided by institutional forces like the dominant mass media. In order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of stereotype use, Berg, in his examination of stereotypes in the media, investigated the implications of media stereotypes of Latinos from contemporary sociological, psychological, psychoanalytical, and ideological perspectives.11 In reviewing these frameworks, he presents the foundation both for analyzing such imagery in the media as well as for assessing the system that propagates them. From a sociological perspective, then, he suggests that media images may serve to reinforce and validate learned stereotypes, thereby indicating norms for the treatment of certain groups. When negative stereotypes are used as indicators of ways in which groups should interact, then media images that stratify groups create power relationships which may lead to problematic social relationships. Conversely, a psychological approach to understanding media stereotypes would suggest that stereotypes allow individuals to reject negative characteristics of the self and project

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them onto others. The result is the repression of one’s own disagreeable tendencies by way of disassociation with negative qualities and internalization of positive qualities. Accordingly, negative media images of racial/ethnic groups simultaneously provide individuals with a cultural other alongside a representation of his/her internal fears. From a psychoanalytical perspective, media stereotypes supply a social ‘other’ to both idealize and deny. 11 The other is inextricably bound to the individual as it is the basis of oppositional definition as well as the idealized fulfillment of one’s unattainable wholeness. Berg, therefore, suggests that media stereotypes (of Latinos in particular) have persevered in the media because they fulfill a need for wholeness among the dominant culture. Last, from an ideological framework, stereotypes are considered a negative counterpoint to the mainstream value system. In presenting other racial/ethnic groups as inferior, dishonest, corrupt, and/or immoral, in the media, the superiority, honesty, integrity, and morality of the mainstream is reinforced. Media stereotypes maintain the status quo and reinforce the existing hegemony. Ethnicity in the Media. It has long been a concern that the mass media, especially television, have repeatedly portrayed certain social groups unfavorably, resulting in the acquisition of negative attitudes and the solidification of racial/ethnic stereotypes by members of the audience.12 For some time, the media have been criticized for underrepresenting racial/ethnic minorities. Moreover, when these infrequent images have appeared, they have been largely disparaging in nature. Images of African Americans in entertainment television. Many scholars have focused content analyses on the images of African Americans offered by the mass media. In their review of previous studies, Poindexter and Stroman indicate that although there has been a trend toward increased visibility, African Americans have been underrepresented and stereotyped in their portrayals and have typically appeared in minor roles and in low-status occupations.13 Additional research on the portrayal of African

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Americans in prime-time television from 1955 to 1986 found that only 6 percent of the characters were African American, while 89 percent of the TV population was White.14 Among these African American characters, 49 percent lacked a high school diploma and 47 percent were low in economic status. 14 Over the past few decades, a trend toward increased visibility of African Americans on television is apparent. Of characters in comedies and dramas, African American males increased from 6 percent in 1971 to 9 percent in 1980, while African American females fluctuated from 5 to 6 percent across the decade.15 For the 19911992 season, African Americans constituted 11 percent of prime-time program characters,16 which nearly matched their 1992 actual population proportion of 13 percent .17 Current assessments of depictions of African Americans support the suggestion that this group has achieved equality in terms of frequency of portrayals compared to the realworld population, however, the types of images remain somewhat controversial.16, 18, 19 Research suggests that this parity on a numerical basis is limited to roles in predominately African American sitcoms.20 Portrayals of African Americans on television have gone through several periods of change. During the 1940s and 1950s, African Americans were rarely presented on television. When they were included, it was either in minor roles or in highly stereotypic characterizations.21 Such representations were usually consistent with pre-Civil Rights Movement images including overweight domestic servants (e.g., Beulah) and lazy simpletons (e.g., Amos ’n Andy).22 Following the Civil Rights Movement, from the middle of the 1960s to the early 1970s, African Americans appeared in more professional and intellectual roles. These portrayals appeared in television programs such as Star Trek, The Mod Squad, Peyton Place, and the first all-Black drama, Julia. While the 1970s were the decade of the prime time Black situation comedy, this era marked a shift in the portrayals of African

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Americans toward more realistic and personal stories of individual characters.22 Nonetheless, the findings of content analyses suggested that distorted and stereotyped representations still remained. Several studies noted that television over-represented African Americans as overweight and others found that African Americans were less likely to be portrayed in prestigious roles. 23, 24, 25, 26 By the early 1980s, fictional entertainment television began featuring more successful African American professionals and authority figures. Alongside this trend emerged an upscale version of Black situation comedies.27 Images of Latinos in entertainment television. Analyses of the portrayals of Latinos on television suggest that these images are infrequent and largely characterized by a narrow assortment of roles. 28, 29, 30 A few principal stereotypes of Latinos and Latinas, often adopted from the film industry, have served as the basic formula from which decades of images in television continue to be derived. A case in point is that of El Bandito or the Mexican Bandit. 11 This image was established during the silent film era with representations of Latinos as violent and unintelligent scoundrels. 11, 30 Such depictions were common throughout a variety of TV westerns and can be seen today in roles of Latino drug-dealers and gangsters in police crime dramas.11 A second recurring image is that of the Buffoon. These characters are often the object of humor due to their lack of intelligence and inability to speak English. This type of personification can be seen in characterizations from Pancho on the Cisco Kid and Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy to more current portrayals on programs such as a.k.a. Pablo. 30 What’s more, when considering portrayals of women, even fewer roles exist. 30 The scarce number of Latinas that have been found, predominately include secondary characters as mothers, girlfriends, and sassy spitfires.

Color of Crime 10 Although early representations of Latinos were limited primarily to subordinate, objectified characters, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33 content analyses have revealed some exceptions to these negative stereotypes, principally with regard to images of Latino criminality. 30 In particular, Edward James Olmos’ character in Miami Vice and Jimmy Smits’ roles in both LA Law and NYPD Blue presented Latinos as respected officers of the legal system. As such, by the 1980s roles for Latinos in the legal system became much more common -both as criminals and as officers. Current portrayals have deviated little from this tendency. 28 A content analysis of 1996 prime time television programming reported that 77% of the depictions of Latinos appeared on crime/drama programs, which comprised only 28 percent of prime time shows. 28 The color of crime. Early content analyses reveal that although African Americans were found more often in less significant roles than Caucasians, they were portrayed somewhat more favorably than whites regarding aggression. Analyses of early 1970s television comedies and dramas indicated that Caucasians were more likely than nonCaucasians to be seen as violent, hostile, illegal, or immoral.34 Non-Caucasians, however, were more likely to be the victims of crime and violence.35 Additional research revealed that African American male characters, in particular, were less aggressive than their Caucasian counterparts.36, 37 Content analyses of fictional programs have also demonstrated that television depicts Caucasians as criminal suspects more often than it depicts other racial/ethnic groups as criminal suspects.38, 39, 40 These depictions are inaccurate compared to real world statistics indicating that 48.9% of those arrested for serious crimes are African American. In contrast, African Americans represent less than 10 percent of all perpetrators on television.41 It has been suggested that this underrepresentation demonstrates a variation of tokenism in that the small roles do not have much impact in

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changing the “White-Black” status quo. Hinton and colleagues posit that the favorable portrayal of Blacks in these minor roles poses no threat to the world of the White man on television.34 In contrast to fictional programming, analyses of more realistic content, including televised news and reality-based police shows, suggest that portrayals of African Americans in such genres are far more negative. Research on the news media in New Orleans indicated that African Americans accounted for 93 percent of the robbery suspects featured in a local newspaper and more than 80 percent of robbery suspects shown on local television newscasts.42 In Chicago, almost half of all news stories broadcast on local television news featured African Americans involved in violent crime.43, 44 Furthermore, research has shown that 77 percent of crime stories reported on network news were related to African American suspects, compared to only 42 percent of stories featuring Caucasian criminal suspects.45 Not only are African Americans more often shown as criminal suspects, television news is also more likely to represent those African American suspects hand-cuffed, poorly dressed, and nameless, compared to Caucasian suspects.44 In a sample of national news portraying alleged criminals from 1985 to 1989, African American characters appeared more frequently than Whites as criminal suspects and were more likely to be depicted as physically threatening.46 It has been suggested that these news portrayals may encourage racial/ethnic hostility, fear of African Americans, and the proliferation of racial/ethnic stereotypes.47 Like television news, reality-based police programs, such as Cops, also demonstrate more negative portrayals of African Americans than Caucasians. In her analysis of reality-based police shows, Oliver reported that African American characters were more likely to be portrayed as criminal suspects, whereas Caucasians were cast more frequently as police officers. Seventy-seven percent of African American characters appeared as criminal suspects compared to only 38 percent of Caucasian characters. The

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probability of being cast as a criminal suspect was even higher (86 percent ) for Latino characters in these shows.48 Regardless of the numbers' consistency with actual criminal activity, these news and reality-based police shows present a very negative image of African Americans and Latinos. In an attempt to replicate and extend research on the portrayal of African Americans and Latinos, depictions concerning crime, violence, and the criminal court were coded in content analytic research. To date, many studies have researched the ethnicity of criminals on television, but few focus on behavioral representations of criminals of different ethnicities. Further, very little is known about attributes of minorities who appear as representatives of the court. This study assesses racial/ethnic stereotypes concerning the representation of African Americans and Latinos in the criminal justice system, both as officers of the court and as criminals. The behavioral tendencies of Whites, African Americans, and Latinos in these roles, and differences in these portrayals observed across varying genres in primetime television are also investigated. Method Sample. A one week, representative sample was reconstructed to include primetime TV programming that aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX during the fall of 1997. All programs included in the sample were randomly selected over a three week period and aired from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The total sample consisted of 103 programs, constituting 84 hours of programming. Units of Analysis. The units of analysis in the present study were: (1) all programs in the sample, (2) speaking characters who appeared as officers/representatives of the court, and (3) speaking characters who appeared as criminal suspects. Note that every speaking character who appeared as an officer of the court or as a criminal suspect, regardless of the context, storyline, or genre of the show, was coded in this study.

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Program. The genre of every program contained in the sample was also coded. The programs were coded as belonging to one of the following genres: (1) action adventure (storyline revolves around physical/high risk activities within a variety of settings), (2) cartoon (animated program), (3) courtroom drama (a serious presentation surrounding a courthouse, legal, or similar setting), (4) crime drama (a serious presentation surrounding a police or law enforcement setting), (5) family drama (a serious presentation of problems within the context of a family), (6) medical drama (presentation of non-comic problems surrounding a hospital or medical setting), (7) news magazine/public affairs (presentation of in-depth news-type stories in an entertaining manner), (8) reality-based (presentation of real-life footage or recreations of dramatic events), (9) science fiction (storyline involves settings or characters of an extraterrestrial, paranormal, or outerspace nature), (10) sitcom (humorous presentation of content within a variety of settings), (11) soap opera (storyline revolves around the melodramatic lives, relationships, and lifestyles of the characters), or (12) other. Officers/Representatives of the court. Officers/representatives of the court were coded for their role, ethnicity, personality, and their use and receiving of aggression. Role consisted of the following: police (any state or federal law enforcement agent), attorney (defense or prosecuting/plaintiff), judge/arbitrator, witness (eye witness to a crime, expert witness, or other witness called to testify at a trial), military (any member of the armed forces), and crime victim. Ethnicity was coded as White (Caucasian, of European descent, or individual with white skin), Black (African American, Jamaican-American, or individual with black skin), Latino (Mexican-American, Central American living in the U.S., Puerto Rican, Cuban American, or any other individual of Hispanic origin), Asian American (Japanese-American, Chinese-American, Korean-American, VietnameseAmerican, Pacific Islander, or Indian-American/individual from India), or Native American (American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut). Because only one Asian American (a

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doctor who was a witness on Law and Order) and one Native American (a sheriff on Murder, She Wrote) appeared as representatives of the court, they were dropped from further analysis. Representatives of the court were also coded for the following personality characteristics: competency (ability to meet the needs of the job/role, qualifications to serve in that position), honesty (truth-telling, uprightness, scrupulousness, decency), unbiasness (objectivity, fairness, impartiality), knowledge about the incident (familiarity with the facts, awareness of the circumstances surrounding the incident), and verbal aggression (verbally hostile, loud, combative, offensive). Each of these personality characteristics were coded on a three-point scale ranging from possessing a great deal of the attribute (e.g. taking extra precautions to remain objective or stating one’s intentions to remain objective), through being neutral on the attribute (not going out of one’s way to remain impartial, nor taking steps to remain impartial, but not showing or expressing prejudice), to possessing very little of the attribute (e.g. being prejudiced). Representatives of the court were also coded for their use of physical aggression (yes/no), receiving of physical aggression (yes/no), and receiving of verbal aggression (yes/no). Criminal suspects. Criminal suspects were coded for their ethnicity, the crime they committed/were arrested for, whether or not they were guilty of this crime, whether or not they were brought to trial, and their use of aggression. Ethnicity for the criminal suspects was classified into the same categories as those used for the representatives of the court. Again, as with representatives of the court, Asian Americans and Native Americans were dropped from further analyses due to their lack of representation (one Asian American and no Native Americans). Crime committed or arrested for was coded into one of two categories: murder/attempted murder (successful or unsuccessful attempts to kill another person, including manslaughter, homicide, and murder) or all other crimes. Criminal suspects’ guilt status (suspect really committed the crime, regardless of what any character said vs. suspect really did not commit the crime,

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regardless of what any character said) was also coded. Characters shown committing the crime were coded as guilty. Those characters who were not shown actually committing a crime, but were arrested for one, were coded guilty or not guilty, depending on information revealed throughout the show. Criminal suspects’ trial status was also coded into one of two categories: character was brought to trial (criminal suspect appeared in a court trial as a defendant--conveyed either visually or verbally) or not brought to trial (criminal suspect did not appear in a court trial as a defendant--conveyed either visually or verbally). Criminal suspects’ use of physical aggression involved in committing the crime and apart from the crime were also assessed. Use of physical aggression involved in the crime was defined as the level of violence, cruelty, and bodily exertion involved in executing the crime. This variable was coded as high physical aggression (e.g. beating a person to death with a baseball bat), some physical aggression (e.g. shooting an individual from a distance), or no physical aggression/crime was not visually portrayed in the program. Criminal suspects’ overall use of physical aggression not including the crime was defined as the level of violence, cruelty, and bodily exertion involved in harming another person aside from the crime the suspect was arrested for/committed. This variable was coded as physically aggressive (high to moderate degrees of physical aggression) or not physically aggressive (low degrees of physical aggression or no physical aggression). Finally, criminal suspects’ overall verbal aggressiveness not including the crime was defined as the suspect’s level of cruelty, meanness, or attempt to hurt others through speech. This variable was coded as verbally aggressive (high to moderate degrees of verbal aggression) or not verbally aggressive (low degrees of verbal aggression or no verbal aggression). Coders. Two undergraduate students majoring in communication, one male and one female, served as coders for the present study. These individuals were trained in coding procedures for approximately 10 hours each. Intercoder reliability was assessed

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by calculating Scott’s pi. Programs used for training were not part of the final sample. Reliabilities for each officer/representative of the court variable follow: role (.85), race (.85), competence (.92), honesty (.85), unbiasness (.77), knowledge (.85), verbal aggression (.84), use of physical aggression (.85), receiving physical aggression (.86), and receiving verbal aggression (.61). Reliabilities for criminal suspect variables follow: ethnicity (.85), crime (1.0), guilt status (.78), trial status (.78), physical aggression in the crime (.69), overall physical aggression (1.0), and overall verbal aggression (1.0). The reliability for program genre was 1.0. Results Within this sample of 103 prime time television programs, 349 characters were classified as either officers/representatives of the court or criminal suspects. Seventy-five percent of these characters were identified as officers/representatives of the court (n=261) and 25 percent were deemed criminal suspects (n=88). When assessed by ethnicity, the percent distribution of criminals and court representatives was nearly equivalent. Eightythree percent of the portrayals of officers/representatives of the court were White (n=216), 13 percent were Black (n=35), and 4 percent were Latino (n=10). For criminal suspects, 82 percent were White (n=72), 11 percent were Black (n=10), and 7 percent were Latino (n=6). Table one describes the ethnicity of the characters by their specific roles.

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Portrayal of Characters by Program. Racial portrayals in the sample differed by genre, although these findings were not statistically significant either for officer/representatives of the court where X2 (18, N=261)=25.5, p>.05, or for criminal suspects where X2 (122, N=88)=10.23, p>.05. The majority of White (37 percent ) and Black (60 percent ) criminal suspects appeared on fictional crime dramas. Fifty percent

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of Latinos, however, appeared in reality-based programs such as Cops. Table two shows the frequency of character representations by genre and ethnicity both for officers/representatives of the court and for criminal suspects.

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Portrayal of Officers/Representatives of the Court. The ethnicity of the court representative was significantly related to the role of the character, X2 (10, N=261)=25, p< .01. White characters predominately portrayed police officers (52 percent ). Their second most common depiction was that of attorney (15 percent ). Similarly, the most frequently occurring role for Blacks was police officer (86 percent ). Following second was attorney at 9 percent . The primary roles for Latinos included police officers (60 percent ) and victims (40 percent ). No significant differences emerged for ethnicity by program genre; the majority of Whites (56 percent ), Blacks (71 percent ), and Latinos (56 percent ) appeared on courtroom or crime dramas. Differences in the representation of characters by ethnicity did not emerge for most attribute variables assessing personality traits and characteristics of officers/representatives of the court. Only one variable, bias, showed significant differences, X2 (4, N=248)=22.9, p< .01. The data suggest that White officers/representatives were shown as less biased than other minority officers/representatives. White officers/representatives were considered neutral on bias most often (60 percent ), followed by unbiased (39 percent ) and biased (1 percent ). For Black officers/representatives, 67 percent were depicted as neutral on bias and the remaining 33 percent were considered unbiased. For Latinos, 50 percent were classified as neutral on bias, 30 percent were recognized as unbiased, and 20 percent were seen as biased. The remaining attribute measures identified Whites, Blacks and Latinos as very competent (63 percent , 64 percent , and 90 percent respectively); as equally neutral in

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honesty (63 percent , 61 percent , and 60 percent respectively); and equitably high in knowledge (71 percent , 67 percent , and 80 percent ). Among aggression measures for representatives of the court, Whites were judged neutral on expressions of verbal aggression (54 percent ) as were Blacks (49 percent ). The majority of Latinos were identified as not verbally aggressive (70 percent ). Ethnicity of officer was not related to receipt of verbal aggression, with the majority of White (84 percent ), Black (88 percent ) and Latino (89 percent ) officers/representatives of the court receiving no verbal aggression. On measures of the use of physical aggression, 95 percent of Whites used no physical aggression, 91 percent of Blacks did not use physical aggression, and 89 percent of Latinos used no physical aggression. Few officers/representatives were recipients of physical aggression. In 89 percent of the cases, Whites experienced no physical aggression. Ninety-one percent of Black officers/representatives received no physical aggression and 78 percent of Latinos received no physical aggression. However, these differences were not statistically significant, X2 (2, N=242)=1.20, p>.05. Portrayal of Criminal Suspects. Examinations of the attributes of criminal suspects across this sample yielded no significant findings by ethnicity. Regardless of ethnicity, suspects were most frequently arrested for murder/attempted murder. Fiftythree percent of White criminal suspects, 90 percent of Black suspects, and 60 percent of Latino suspects were arrested for or committed murder/attempted murder, X2 (2, N=81)=4.90, p>.05. In addition, most suspects were not brought to trial. Only 20 percent of White suspects and 25 percent of Black suspects were brought to trial. No Latinos went to trial for their suspected crime, X2 (2, N=69)=1.40, p>.05. Further, the vast majority of White (94 percent ), Black (78 percent ) and Latino (80 percent ) criminal suspects were identified as guilty of the crime for which they were arrested, X2 (2, N=66)=3.30, p>.05.

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Measurements of the level of physical aggression in committing the crime, while not significant, indicate that the majority of Whites (64 percent ) and Blacks (80 percent ) utilized high levels of physical aggression. In only 33 percent of the cases were Latinos identified as highly aggressive in committing the crime. The overall physical aggressiveness of the criminal suspect, not including the crime, suggested that White (62 percent ) and Black (56 percent ) suspects were low on aggression. Latino suspects were portrayed equally across the levels of aggression with 50 percent of the depictions high on aggression and 50 percent low. The criminal suspect's overall verbal aggression, not including the crime, suggests that the majority of White (63 percent ), Black (67 percent ), and Latino (67 percent ) suspects rated low on verbal aggression. Discussion On both a comparative and an absolute basis, the portrayals of Blacks and Latinos were found to be very similar to those of their White counterparts in the roles they held and the attributes associated with those roles. The vast majority of depictions were of representatives of the court (75 percent ), and the attributes associated with these characterizations were, in the main, highly positive. Court representatives were equally competent, honest, and knowledgeable across all ethnicities. What then should be expected to result from exposure to media’s representation of minority characters in the criminal justice system? Perhaps consideration of the portrayal patterns can provide some indication of this. In general, representations of minority characters involved with the justice system were on par with depictions of Whites with regard to the characteristics examined. If these portrayals are expected to impact perceptions, it follows that the resulting stereotypes should be highly positive. Because stereotypes often assist in perceiving and predicting human behaviors, such television images may favorably influence social interaction at the interpersonal and societal levels. Yet, while the existing images are positive, the relative scarcity of images, particularly with regard to Latinos, may impact

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stereotype formation in a more subversive manner. Rather than aiding in the formation of positive perceptions, the limited number of portrayals of Latinos on television may instead further a perception that Latinos, in fact, are inconsequential. 29 Future research would benefit from examinations of this issue. Latino advocacy groups such as the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts and the National Council of La Raza have also responded to the relative absence of Latinos on TV. For example, these groups recently urged Hispanic viewers not to watch ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox for a one-week period in September in protest against the networks for their failure to feature minority stars on their 26 new programs for 1999. Efforts such as this boycott suggest the beginning of a campaign to pressure TV executives to better represent the Latino population. At the same time, these network executives claim they are working toward the goal of better representations of Latinos on TV. 49 Media exposure and perceptions of ethnic minorities. Several studies exploring the relationships between media exposure and beliefs about African Americans show support for some aspects of media’s impact on perception. From the standpoint of social stereotyping and social-role learning,50 evidence indicates that relevant broadcast-media content significantly influences the formation and reinforcement of audience beliefs about racial characteristics and behaviors.51 , 52 Evidence also suggests that media’s impact on social perceptions goes beyond its relationship with stereotypes of racial socioeconomic status, and extends to racial stereotypes of criminality as well. For example, Oliver and Armstrong53 showed that reality-based police programs represent African Americans as criminal suspects and that exposure to reality-based police television programs is associated with significantly higher estimates of criminality among African Americans.

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Limitations. While the results of this investigation contribute to our understanding of the intersections of ethnicity and the legal system on television, several limitations warrant consideration. First, it is important to note that differences in the amount of time the characters appeared on screen, the number of lines/amount of time they spoke, and/or the centrality of the characters to the storylines, also are likely to contribute to TV’s overall representation of ethnic groups. In the present study, for example, a Latino police officer who spoke five lines and a White police officer who spoke 20 lines may have received equally positive ratings, although the representation of both clearly would not have been the same. Future investigations should study the proportion of characters’ time on screen and the length of their spoken parts to assess the relationships among screen time and portrayals. Second, representations of African Americans, Latinos and other ethnic minorities in the U.S. in other roles (e.g. as medical professionals, teachers, or parents) compared to Whites in these same roles should be addressed in future research. It may be that when examining additional roles, or the complete population of ethnic minority TV characters, and comparing these portrayals to those of White characters, an entirely different picture of the TV world appears. If this were the case, the potentially positive effects of exposure to the portrayals examined in the present study may be limited. Finally, given the small population of ethnic minorities present on TV, the composite week of programming analyzed in this study is somewhat limited in scope. The present sample contained only 45 African-Americans and 16 Latinos. While this small number does not seriously restrict the generalizability of the results, future studies should collect more extensive samples of programming to better understand the depictions of these ethnic groups on TV. Based on the present data showing that portrayals of Blacks and Latinos were equivalent to depictions of Whites, one would expect the associated perceptions to be

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equally positive. What is missing, however is evidence of the relationship between these positive portrayals and social perceptions. Of equal import is the question: how does the minimal representation of African Americans and Latinos on television, as well as the more conspicuously overlooked groups such as Native Americans and Asian Americans, influence Whites' social perceptions of racial minorities and racial minorities' perceptions of self? Clearly, the frequency and quality of minority portrayals on television warrant further consideration.

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References 1. Gerbner, G., “Cultural Indicators: The Third Voice,” in Communication Technology and Social Policy, eds. G. Gerbner, L. Gross, and W. H. Melody (NY: Wiley, 1973), 553-573. 2. G. Gerbner, L. Gross, M. Morgan, and N. Signorielli, “Growing up with Television: The Cultivation Perspective,” in Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, eds. J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994). 3. N. Signorielli and M. Morgan, M., eds., Cultivation Analysis, (CA: Sage, 1990). 4. G. Gerbner and L. Gross, “Living with Television: The Violence Profile,” Journal of Communication 26 (1976): 172-199. 5. G. Gerbner, L. Gross, M. Morgan, and N. Signorielli, “Living with Television: The Dynamics of the Cultivation Process,” in Perspectives on Media Effects, eds. J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986), 17-40. 6. J. N. Sprafkin and R. M. Liebert, “Sex-typing and Children’s Television Preference,” in Hearth and Home: Image of Women in the Mass Media, eds. G. Tuchman, A. K. Daniels, and J. Benét (NY: Oxford University Press, 1978), 228-239. 7. W. Lippmann, Public Opinion, (NY: Macmillan, 1922). 8. J. C. Brigham, “Ethnic Stereotypes,” Psychological Bulletin 76 (1971): 15-38. 9. J. T. Tedeschi and S. Linskold, eds., Social Psychology (NY: Wiley, 1976). 10. E. Y. Babad, M. Birnbaum, and K. D. Benne, The Social Self: Group Influences on Personal Identity (CA: Sage, 1983). 11. C. R. Berg, “ Stereotyping in Films in General and of the Hispanic in Particular,” Howard Journal of Communication, 2 (1990): 286-300. 12. S. Schuetz and J. N. Sprafkin, “Spot Messages Appearing within Saturday Morning Television Programs,” in Hearth and Home: Image of Women in the Mass

Color of Crime 24

Media, eds. G. Tuchman, A. K. Daniels, and J. Benét (NY: Oxford University Press, 1978), 69-77. 13. P. M. Poindexter and C. Stroman, “Blacks and Television: A Review of the Research Literature,” Journal of Broadcasting 25 (1981): 103-122. 14. S. R. Lichter, L. S. Lichter, S. Rothman, and D. Amundson, “Prime-time Prejudice: TV’s Images of Blacks and Hispanics,” Public Opinion 10 (1987): 13-16. 15. J. F. Seggar, J. Hafen, and H. Hannonen-Gladden, “Television’s Portrayals of Minorities and Women in Drama and Comedy Drama, 1971-80,” Journal of Broadcasting 25 (1981): 277-288. 16. G. Gerbner, Women and Minorities on Television (a Report to the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists). (PA: Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania, 1993). 17. Bureau of the Census, Blacks in America--1992. (U.S. Department of Commerce, May 1994). 18. B. Greenberg and J. Brand, "Minorities and the Mass Media: 1970s to 1990s" in Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, eds. J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (NJ: Erlbaum Associates Inc., 1994), 273-314. 19. T. Ford, "Effects of stereotypical television portrayals of African-Americans on person perception," Social Psychology Quarterly, 60(1997): 266-278. 20. R. Weigel, E. Kim, and J. Frost, "Race relations of prime time television reconsidered: Patterns of continuity and change," Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25 (1995): 223-236. 21. D. W. Smythe, “Reality as Presented by Television,” Public Opinion Quarterly 18 (1954): 143-156.

Color of Crime 25

22. G. L. Berry, “Television and Afro-Americans: Past Legacy and Present Portrayals,” in Television and Social Behavior: Beyond Violence and Children, eds. S. B. Withey and R. P. Ables (NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1980), 231-248. 23. P. Baptista-Fernandez and B. S. Greenberg, “The Content, Characteristics, and Communication Behaviors of Blacks on Television,” in Life on Television, ed. B. S. Greenberg (NJ: Ablex, 1980), 13-22. 24. G. Gerbner, L. Gross, and N. Signorielli, The Role of Television Entertainment in Public Education about Science (PA: Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 1985). 25. L. Kaufman, “Prime Time Nutrition,” Journal of Communication 30 (1980): 37-46. 26. G. W. Sweeper, “The Image of the Black Family and the White Family in American Prime Time Television Programming 1970 to 1980,” Ph.D. diss, New York University, 1984. 27. O. H. Gandy and P. W. Matabane, “Television and Social Perceptions among African-American and Hispanics,” in Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, eds. M. K. Asante and W. B. Gudykunst (CA: Sage, 1989): 318-348. 28. D. E. Mastro and B.S. Greenberg, "The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television," accepted for publication in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media (Spring, 2000). 29. NCLR, “Out of the Picture: Hispanics in the Media,” National Council of La Raza, (August, 1994): 1-30. 30. F. Subervi-Velez, “Mass Communication and Hispanics,” in Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology, ed. F. Padilla (TX: Arte Publico Press, 1994): 304-357. 31. A. Barrera and F. Close, “Minority Role Models” in TV News and Teens: Experts Look at the Issues, ed. M. Schwartz (Addison-Wesley Publication, 1982): 88-95.

Color of Crime 26

32. B.S. Greenberg, C. Heeter, D. Graef, K. Doctor, J. Burgoon, M. Burgoon, and F. Korzenny, Mass Communication and Mexican Americans, eds. B.S. Greenberg, M. Burgoon, J. Burgoon, and F. Korzenny (NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1983): 7-34. 33. C. Wilson and F. Gutierrez, Race Multiculturalism, and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication, (CA: Sage, 1995): 61-105. 34. J. L. Hinton, J. F. Seggar, H. C. Northcott, and B. F. Fontes, “Tokenism and Improving the Imagery of Blacks in TV Drama and Comedy: 1973," Journal of Broadcasting 18 (1974): 423-432. 35. G. Gerbner, “Cultural Indicators: The Case of Violence in Television Drama,” The Annual of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 388 (1970): 69-81. 36. P. C. Donagher, R. W. Poulos, R. M. Liebert, and E.S. Davidson, “Race, Sex, and Social Example: An Analysis of Character Portrayals on Interracial Television Entertainment,” Psychological Reports 37 (1975): 1023-1034. 37. S. E. Harvey, J. N. Sprafkin, and E. Rubinstein, “Prime-time TV: A Profile of Aggressive and Prosocial Behaviors,” Journal of Broadcasting 23 (1979): 179-189. 38. J. R. Dominick, “Crime and Law Enforcement on Prime-time Television,” Public Opinion Quarterly 37 (1973): 241-250. 39. R. Estep and P. T. Macdonald, “How Prime Time Crime Evolved on TV, 1976-1981,” Journalism Quarterly 60 (1983): 293-300. 40. W.J. Potter and W. Ware, “Traits of Perpetrators and Receivers of Antisocial and Prosocial Acts on TV,” Journalism Quarterly 64 (1987): 382-391. 41. W. J. Potter, M. Vaughan, R. Warren, K. Howley, A. Land, and J. Hagemeyer, “How Real is the Portrayal of Aggression in Television Entertainment Programming,” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 39 (1995): 496-516. 42. J. F. Sheley and C. D. Ashkins, “Crime, Crime News, and Crime Views,” Public Opinion Quarterly 45 (1981): 492-506.

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43. R. M. Entman, “Modern Racism and the Images of Blacks in Local Television News,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 7 (1990): 332-345. 44. R. M. Entman, “Blacks in the News: Television, Modern Racism and Cultural Change,” Journalism Quarterly 69 (1992): 341-361. 45. R. M. Entman, “Representation and Reality in the Portrayal of Blacks on Network Television News,” Journalism Quarterly 71 (1994b): 509-520. 46. K. H. Jamieson. Dirty Politics. (NY: Oxford University Press, 1992). 47. R. M. Entman, “African Americans according to TV News,” Media Studies Journal 8 (1994a): 29-38. 48. M. B. Oliver, “Portrayals of Crime, Race, and Aggression in “Reality-based” Police Shows: A Content Analysis,” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 38 (1994): 179-192. 49. J. Hanania, “White Out: Latinos on TV,” TV Guide 47 (August 21, 1999): 3139. 50. B. S. Greenberg, “Minorities and the Mass Media,” in Perspectives on Media Effects, eds. J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1986), 165-188. 51. B. S. Greenberg and C. K. Atkin, “Learning about Minorities from Television,” in Television and the Socialization of the Minority Child, eds. G. L. Berry and C. Mitchell-Kernan (NY: Academic Press, 1982), 215-243. 52. G. B. Armstrong, K. A. Neuendorf, and J. E. Brentar, “TV Entertainment, News, and Racial Perceptions of College Students,” Journal of Communication 42 (1992): 153-176. 53. M. B. Oliver and G. B. Armstrong, “The Color of Crime: Perceptions of Caucasians’ and African Americans’ Involvement in Crime,” in Entertainment Crime: Danger and Illusion on Reality Television, eds. M. Fishman and G. Gavender (NY: Aldine de Gruyter, in press).

Color of Crime 28 Table 1. Character roles and frequencies by ethnicity.

ROLE

n

White

Black

Latino

Police

149

113 (76%)

30 (20%)

6 (4%)

Attorney

35

32 (91%)

3 (9%)

---

Judge

9

9 (100%)

---

---

Witness

8

8 (100%)

---

---

Military

29

27 (93%)

2 (7%)

---

Victim

31

27 (87%)

---

4 (13%)

SUB TOTAL

261

216 (83%)

35 (13%)

10 (4%)

Criminal

88

72 (82%)

10 (11%)

6 (7%)

GRAND TOTAL

349

288 (83%)

45 (13%)

16 (4%)

Court Officer/ Representative

Color of Crime 29 Table 2. Characters and their ethnic groups by genre.

Officers/Representatives of the Court

Criminal Suspects

Genre

White

Black

Latino

White

Black

Latino

ActionAdventure

9 (100%)

---

---

1 (100%)

---

---

Cartoon

---

---

---

4 (100%)

---

---

Courtroom Drama

30 (88%)

4 (12%)

---

4 (100%)

---

---

Crime Drama

80 (76%)

20 (19%)

5 (5%)

25 (76%)

6 (18%)

2 (6%)

Family Drama

1 (50%)

1 (50%)

---

1 (100%)

---

---

Medical Drama

3 (75%)

1 (25%)

---

2 (100%)

---

---

News Magazine

18 (95%)

---

1 (5%)

4 (100%)

---

---

Realitybased

29 (88%)

1 (3%)

3 (9%)

17 (71%)

4 (17%)

3 (13%)

Science Fiction

23 (85%)

4 (15%)

---

3 (100%)

---

---

Sitcom

4 (57%)

3 (43%)

---

6 (100%)

---

---

Soaps

---

---

---

1 (100%)

---

---

Other

19 (90%)

1 (5%)

1 (5%)

4 (80%)

---

1 (20%)

TOTAL

216 (83%)

35 (13%)

10 (4%)

72 (82%)

10 (11%)

6 (7%)