The blame game: news, blame, and young homicide victims

Wright, Valerie; Washington, Heather M.

doi:10.1080/00380237.2018.1457934

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There are notable differences in community perceptions and news media portrayals of paternal and maternal filicide offenders. Drawing from previous research into filicide and news media coverage of offenders (Barnett, 2005a(Barnett, , b, 2006Cavaglion, 2008;Eisenwort et al, 2021;McCluskey, 2019;Nikunen, 2006;Razali et al, 2016;Saavedra & de Oliveira, 2017;Wright & Washington, 2018), this paper examines the presence and portrayal of mental health issues in relation to news media coverage of male and female offenders, and the use of the 'flawed mother' trope in the news media framing of filicide in an Australian context. The 'good mother/flawed mother' discourse underpins this study and provides a framework for the analysis.…”

Section: Mental Health In Male and Female Filicide Offendersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian news media portrayals of filicide: depictions of mental health and the flawed mother trope

Simington,

Farmer

2024

Crime Law Soc Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In reporting cases of filicide, the news media often relies on dominant cultural discourses that situate offenders within expected gender roles. This stereotypical framing can influence public perception of offenders and amplify outdated gendered expectations. This paper examines the portrayal of male and female filicide offenders, with a focus on depictions of mental health and the ‘flawed mother’ trope. The study drew from a sample of 103 Australian news media articles published between 2004 and 2021. Qualitative media analysis was used to examine tone and content, and to explore the gendered cultural lens through which offenders can be portrayed. The study addresses a gap in the literature by focusing on filicide and news media in Australia. The findings largely confirm that news media coverage of filicide perpetuates key cultural norms and gendered expectations of parenthood. The ‘flawed mother’ narrative, depictions of mental health issues, and a focus on parenthood were prevalent for female offenders. For male offenders there was general disconnect with their role as a parent. The findings provide a valuable insight into differential news media coverage of male and female parents who kill their children.

show abstract

Section: Mental Health In Male and Female Filicide Offendersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian news media portrayals of filicide: depictions of mental health and the flawed mother trope

Simington,

Farmer

2024

Crime Law Soc Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The ways in which the news media frame violence against women and femicide influences how society understands such violence, as well as solutions and public responsibility (Gillespie et al 2013;Comas-d'Argemir 2015;Taylor 2009). Further, research conducted by Wright and Washington (2018) highlights the significant role media plays in shaping the public's awareness of, imagination about, and attitude toward crime and crime victims. Specifically, we know from previous research that femicide victims, as well as survivors of gendered violence, tend to be portrayed in mainstream media in ways that victim blame (Corradi et al 2016).…”

Section: Community University Partnership Case Study Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, approaches to ending femicide must incorporate structural and ideological changes and not solely rely on solutions (i.e., services) aimed at the individual and/or family (Burnette and Hefflinger 2017). A critical feminist conceptualization of this issue means working to challenge explanations of gendered violence that hold women responsible for their own victimization (Wright and Washington 2018;Easteal et al 2015) and one way to do this is to change the way mainstream media portray and report femicide.…”

Section: Understanding Femicide As a Gender-based Social Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Graduate Students, Community Partner, and Faculty Reflect on Critical Community Engaged Scholarship and Gender Based Violence

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article reflects on the challenges and opportunities associated with community engaged learning at the graduate level, and challenges higher education to do more to support the teaching–research–service nexus. The community university partnership involved a graduate student class, a faculty member, and a community member from a provincial not for profit association. We examined our principled and collaborative process of critical community engaged scholarship geared toward addressing violence against women, and more specifically, femicide. Our research resulted in knowledge mobilization tools that could be used to inform various audiences (e.g., women’s shelter staff, the public, government, and journalists) about how mainstream media sources report and portray the issue of femicide. Our work had an explicit social justice focus with aims to generate a better understanding of the structural causes of violence against women and historically-created gendered hierarchy and its ongoing impacts. This paper offers insights for others interested in pursuing community engaged research within a community engaged learning environment.

show abstract

Critical culturalized comprehension: Exploring culture as learners thinking about texts

List,

Campos Oaxaca,

et al. 2023

Educational Psychologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The blame game: news, blame, and young homicide victims

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Australian news media portrayals of filicide: depictions of mental health and the flawed mother trope

Australian news media portrayals of filicide: depictions of mental health and the flawed mother trope

Graduate Students, Community Partner, and Faculty Reflect on Critical Community Engaged Scholarship and Gender Based Violence

Critical culturalized comprehension: Exploring culture as learners thinking about texts

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About