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Myth versus Reality: Comparing the Depiction of Juvenile Delinquency in Metropolitan Newspapers with Arrest Data*
Author(s) -
RhinebergerDunn Gayle M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/soin.12006
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , newspaper , criminology , construct (python library) , juvenile , metropolitan area , metropolitan police , poison control , psychology , sociology , geography , ecology , media studies , medicine , biology , archaeology , environmental health , computer science , programming language
While the extant literature on the social construction of crime in the media is extensive, little literature exists on the media's construction of juvenile delinquency in newspapers, particularly in small cities. Even though smaller metropolitan areas have lower crime rates, how these newspapers construct delinquency undoubtedly impacts the attitudes, behaviors, and fears of residents, perhaps more so than in larger metropolitan areas. The purpose of this research is to assess how newspapers from five of the smallest M etropolitan S tatistical A reas ( MSA s) socially construct juvenile delinquency, offenders and victims, and to assess whether or not these images perpetuate myths related to juvenile delinquency. An analysis of 231 articles indicates that small‐ MSA newspapers construct an inaccurate image of juvenile offenders that significantly promotes the myth of juveniles as violent predators. Specifically, juvenile offenders are constructed as violent predators with innocent, random victims. In contrast, newspapers construct a more accurate picture of victims, with females represented as the most common juvenile victim, and sexual assault victimization as the most common of all juvenile violent crime victimization.