Extremes of Otherness: Media Images of Social Exclusion

Part of a special issue on emerging imaginaries of regulation, control, and repression. Utilizing psychosocial perspectives, the writers analyze U.K. tabloid and broadsheet newspapers to demonstrate how images of otherness can be broadly conceptualized as reflecting a range of deviance. They suggest...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Greer, Chris (Author)
Contributors: Jewkes, Yvonne 1966- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2005
In: Social justice
Year: 2005, Volume: 32, Issue: 1, Pages: 20-31
Online Access: Volltext (Publisher)
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Keywords:
Vitality
Age
Criminology
Social Problems
Crime
Mass media > Social aspects
Social marginality
Group Identity
Deviant Behavior
Description
Summary:Part of a special issue on emerging imaginaries of regulation, control, and repression. Utilizing psychosocial perspectives, the writers analyze U.K. tabloid and broadsheet newspapers to demonstrate how images of otherness can be broadly conceptualized as reflecting a range of deviance. They suggest that mediated constructions of otherness exist on a spectrum separated by two polar extremes that expand and contract with levels of tolerance and anxiety. They indicate that at one end of the spectrum, comprising mundane instances of crime, deviance, and nonconformity, media representations mirror and reinforce a marked intolerance toward anyone or anything that violates an essentially conservative agenda. They state that at the other end are the exceptional examples of crime—the most serious or unusual offenses that grip the public imagination—and that media coverage of these offenses constructs the “outsider” status of perpetrators as unambiguous and incontestable.
ISSN:2327-641X