Publication
Title
Patterns of criminal threat in television news coverage of ethnic minorities in Flanders (2003-2013)
Author
Abstract
Despite a strong cognitive association in the minds of native citizens between ethnic minority presence and crime, compelling evidence demonstrating a real-world relationship between crime and ethnic diversity is limited. This study adopts a media-based approach to contribute to the debate on the origin of the perception of criminal threats. By means of a content analysis of 11 years of crime news (2003-2013) in Flanders (the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), portrayals of ethnic minority and majority perpetrators are systematically compared to assess whether ethnic minorities are portrayed in a significantly more threatening way. Moreover, building on ethnic hierarchy theories, comparisons are made between various outgroups. Findings demonstrate that ethnic minority perpetrators are depicted in a more threatening manner: they are more likely to be associated with violent, property, and gang-related crime. Additionally, they are more likely to be anonymised and to be associated with explicit manifestations of threat. Group differences exist, however, as the most distant outgroup (i.e. North Africans) is covered in a more threatening way than the other outgroups. Implications for intergroup relations are discussed.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of ethnic and migration studies. - Abingdon
Publication
Abingdon : 2017
ISSN
1369-183X
DOI
10.1080/1369183X.2016.1217152
Volume/pages
43 :5 (2017) , p. 809-829
ISI
000396028300007
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.03.2024
Last edited 13.03.2024
To cite this reference