Study Questions for Bailey and Hale

Chapter 1: Bailey and Hale

1. Why do you think stories about crime and violence have been so much a part of pre-modern cultures?

2. Why role do the police play in the following crime genre novels and films: (a) classic detective (b) hard-boiled detective (c) gangster?

Chapter 2: Manning

1. What is a media loop?

2. Compare Fishman's analysis of crime waves to Manning's development of the concept of crime events. 

Chapter 3: Graeme Newman

1. What is Newman's major criticism of previous studies of media violence? How will his efforts be unique?

2. Could Newman's categories of instrumental and expressive violence be applied beyond movies, such as to the analysis of crime news stories? Are there new categories that might emerge?

Chapter 4: Nyberg

1. Why do you think crime comic books enjoyed the popularity they did in the 1940s and early 1950s?

2. What was Wertham's actual theory about the relationship between comic books and delinquency?

3. Is self-regulation by the media, such as in the case of the "comic book code," an adequate response to parental concerns about materials their children might access?

Chapter 5: Ferrell

1.  In your opinion, how far should the government go in protecting minors from allegedly criminogenic elements of popular culture? 

2. In what ways is the criminalization of popular culture as covered by the news media an example of media looping? 

Chapter 6: Chermak

1. What questions about the media's presentation of the criminal justice system remain understudied?

2. How does the depiction of major components of the criminal justice system differ based upon the types of sources reporters have available to them?

Chapter 7: Ross

1. Why would larger cities be likely to produce more media reports of police violence than smaller ones?

Chapter 8: Kenneth Tunnell

1. In what ways is the TV news magazine crime story dependent on TV and newspaper accounts? 

2. What types of crime stories predominate on TV news magazine shows?

Chapter 9: Websdale and Alvarez

1. What are the authors' major criticisms of "forensic journalism?"

2. What additional details do the authors suggest should be added to news reports of homicide-suicide stories?

Chapter 11: Hale

1. What aspects of feminist analysis of film has the author applied to her study of movies that feature female cops?

2. What are the indicators Hale uses to assess the attitude toward female cops depicted in a movie?

3. Are depictions of female police officers in Hollywood films becoming more or less stereotyped?

Chapter 12: Bailey et al

1. What are the biases in film media stereotypes of female attorneys presuming that they represent "strong but repressed women who almost need to be humiliated to find their sexuality?" 

2. What are the major problems faced by on-screen female attorneys? 

3. How do real female attorneys respond to their reel representations?

Chapter 13: Freeman

1. Where does the stereotype of corrections officers as "smug hacks" come from? 

2. Could better media relations effort change this stereotype? 

Chapter 14: Cheatwood

1. Give examples of the type of prison movies associated with each of the four eras Cheatwood identifies.

2. Can you think of other themes that appear in prison films besides the four identified by the author?

3. How did the codesheet the author developed for viewing films assist his research?

Course Home Page