Reading between the Lines. English Newspaper Representations of Community Punishment
Reading between the Lines. English Newspaper Representations of Community Punishment
Author(s): David HayesSubject(s): Media studies, Criminology, Penology, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), Penal Policy
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Community sanctions and measures; media attitudes to crime and punishment; qualitative research; punitiveness; legitimacy;
Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the findings of a sample of 2,000 articles published in English newspapers about community punishment between 2003 and 2011. The data suggest that challenges to the legitimacy of community sanctions in English media, whilst occasionally vociferous and vitriolic, are as much linguistic as political in nature, rooted in a tendency to dismiss non-custodial sentences as inherently inferior to incarceration, and to overstate the severity and frequency of crime. This should influence penologists’ and penal reformers attempt to improve popular support for non-custodial sanctions.
Journal: European Journal of Probation
- Issue Year: 5/2013
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 24-40
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF