Feb 05, 2024_Inequal and Law, Lect 4, Stereotypes CV (1).pptm

Moral Panics and Representation Feb 5, 2024 1 Objectives Discursive frames & the power of representation Stereotype: what are its impacts & how does it relate to things like appearance and race? Get into the main empirical case study of Goetz and Zimmerman and decipher the complicated reading. 2...

Moral Panics and Representation Feb 5, 2024 1 Objectives Discursive frames & the power of representation Stereotype: what are its impacts & how does it relate to things like appearance and race? Get into the main empirical case study of Goetz and Zimmerman and decipher the complicated reading. 2 Gabor To claim that we are either criminals or non- criminals is to suggest that our behaviour is principally rooted in heredity and early life experience, and that later developmental and environmental influences have little effect. 3 4 Question: Does the public subscribe to a criminal stereotype? If not, why? If so, based on what physical characteristics? 5 Vehicle of Representations: Discursive Frames Discursive Frame: Words, symbols, and ideas we use to represent something & create meaning. 6 Are you thinking: “some representations of criminals are true?” Issue is not how ‘true’ a stereotypical representation is. Rather… How are dominant representations of criminals created & used by dominant groups to facilitate conformity to their visions of how society should operate. 7 St. John’s Basketball: Wonder 5 8 "The reason, I suspect, that basketball appeals to the Hebrew with his Oriental background is that the game places a premium on an alert, scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart-aleckness." – Joe Gallico 9 St. John’s “Redmen” What does this mascot signify? What stereotypes are reflected with this mascot and others like it? 10 11 12 Are you thinking: “some representations of criminals are true?” Issue is not how ‘true’ a stereotypical representation is. Rather… How are dominant representations of criminals created & used by dominant groups to facilitate conformity to their visions of how society should operate. 13 Paul Secord & Carl Backman: Stereotypes: Assign certain attributes to a social identity or group 14 Representation is Vital to Critical Criminology  For the official version of law, representation is largely irrelevant. BUT  Studies demonstrate that sentences imposed by the courts are influenced by such things as race, gender, class, and sexuality of the suspect or accused. 15  Video: Jeremy Meeks 16 17 18 Simulated Jury Experiment: Jury members tend to link attractiveness and guilt. 19 Race and Racialization: 1. Shifting Process: 2. allocates unequal distribution of power 20 21 Challenging Stereotypes: Critical criminologists argue that the meaning of representations are not fixed, rather they are contested by those who do not have the power to shape dominant representations. 22 23  Bernhard Goetz (shot 4 black youth)  George Zimmerman (killed Trayvon Martin) Context: Context:  1980s, NYC: concerns about crime & ineffective  2012, Florida: dropping crime rates & wide  Racial ‘code words’ (black youth = criminals)  Colour-blind racism (racism = in past)  Moral panic about racialized males as super-  Moral breach: debate about racialized males as News Coverage (framed as self-defense): News Coverage (framed as self-defense)  Goetz = ‘good guy’, while the victims = ‘bad guys’  Zimmerman = coverage divided: who deserved CJS predators (folk devils)  Goetz = victim/hero. His actions mirrored ‘everyone’s’ fantasy within context perceived social breakdown due to crime in NYC Calls for Action:  Calls for structural solutions: case stressed how ineffective CJS was ‘cus Goetz was a victim who was forced to become a hero  Mostly about get-tough-on-crime, but some discussed access to education, housing, etc. access to guns criminal types more sympathy?  Martin’s death represents a nightmare faced not by all Americans, but by those at risk of being racially profiled as criminals Calls for Action:  Zero call for structural solutions  Only calls for ‘dialogue’ on racial inequality and CJS reform to recognize racial stereotypes  Recognition of racial stereotypes was used to re- victimize Martin: had he not chosen to wear a hoodie that night, he might still be alive 24 Challenging Stereotypes: Can the criminal justice system challenge stereotypes? If so, how? If not, why? How can society challenge a stereotype? What are some ways? 25