Western society places high value on physical beauty and grace of movement, and tends to shun those who do not have these qualities. Disability hate crime highlights the modern form of this violence. This paper uses the high-profile case of Fiona Pilkington to examine how disability hate crime can be dismissed until it results in tragic…

School shootings publicized worldwide inevitably awaken the debate about contemporary communication media and violence. It is often conjectured that regular exposure of young people to countless acts of aggression in contemporary popular media leads them to become more aggressive and, in some cases, to commit violent crimes. But is this claim…

Planning ahead, practicing your response for various scenarios, being open and honest, showing empathy and respect for other peoples' perspectives and assuring stakeholders that you have the situation covered are the foundations of communicating successfully during a crisis, experts say. This article provides strategies for Community College…

Metaphors can both inspire and mislead the public. Current metaphors for youth violence are inconsistent with scientific evidence about how chronic violence develops and evoke inaccurate or harmful reactions. Popular, problematic metaphors include "superpredator", "quarantining the contagious", "corrective surgery", "man as computer", "vaccine",…

Film and related media are an important source of visually centered narratives in many contemporary cultures. This essay focuses on recent crime stories (particularly in the United States) conveyed through these media. In what follows, the emphasis is on film, but the issues could often be adapted to apply to other media that use moving images.…

How the large number of empirical tests and arguments that have been conducted to prove that mass media violence directly influences behavior have failed to discredit contrary arguments is discussed. (Author/RM)

A study examined whether the media in Louisiana have reflected current media trends of emphasis on crime news, focusing on crime news content in the 24 Louisiana daily newspapers. Since a key part of the research was the comparison of trends in newspaper accounts of crime and the reported crime rate, the 22 communities with daily newspapers were…

Despite the fact that both national and regional statistics show that violent crimes (murder, non negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, robbery, and forcible rape) in the U.S. have been declining in recent years, many believe that violent crime rates have been steadily escalating. Exaggerated media portrayals of violence, including both news…

Although most national and regional statistics show that violent crimes have been declining, there is a widespread misperception among the public that such crimes are increasing. The Perception and Experience of Violent Crime survey, based on research on actual rates and perceptions of crime, was administered to subjects enrolled in a college…

Studied violence on children's television in Britain. Found 39% of children's programs examined contained violence, primarily involving shootings and physical assault committed for negative purposes and rarely followed by painful consequences. The fast pace of such programs is also a significant factor. Results pose wider implications for those…

Discusses the influence of mass media depictions of violence on children and provides suggestions for media literacy education. Calls for reducing children's exposure to media violence; changing the impact of violent images; stressing alternatives to violence for resolving conflicts; challenging the social supports for media violence; and…

Recognizing increasing concerns about rising youth-related crime in Missouri, this Kids Count report on children and violence examines the impact of community and family violence on young perpetrators and victims, and explores characteristics of successful programs to prevent or reduce family and community violence in Missouri. Data suggest that…

Most of what the world envisions of the period of westward expansion in America has been crafted through Hollywood cinema. The myths of the West are so ingrained in America's culture that they have taken on a truth all their own. In a series of recent films, which began with the release of "Boyz N the Hood," Hollywood is at it again, presenting…

Many television viewers construct their social reality from media content as well as from sensory and interpersonally communicated information. One aspect of this media-influenced social reality is television viewers' estimates of crime in society, or their fear of criminal victimization. Several media-effects studies have demonstrated the…

This hearing explores the influence of music violence on youth in the District of Columbia. The proceedings include the testimony of witnesses representing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Political Congress of Black Women, the Thomas Moore Stork Professor of Communications, a Senator…