Section Editors: Shelly Clevenger and Tracy Tamborra
In this edition, Dr. Shelly Clevenger – who was recently awarded the Division of Victimology’s Teacher of the Year award – shares an active learning assignment geared towards conducting a content analysis.
TEXTBOOK CONTENT ANALYSIS
For this assignment, please examine pictures in the introductory to criminal justice textbook that you have been given. Place a mark for each time you see the following (see below) in the space that is provided and answer the corresponding questions.
CODING KEY
INDIVIDUALS
*WOMEN*
CRIMINALS: Women depicted as committing crimes, being arrested, defendants, under correctional surveillance, and/or clearly represented as being a criminal
PROFESSIONALS: Individuals portrayed as working in the criminal justice system
VICTIMS: Persons suffering from any criminal activity and indirect victims (having a special relationship with the direct victim such as parents of a murder victim)
PERIPHERAL PERSONS: People in the background, that had limited or no contact with the criminal justice system
UNIDENTIFIABLE: Not able to identify as male or female
Social Composition of Images
GENDER INTEGRATED: If pictures contain both females and males
EXCLUSIVE: Pictures that contain only females or only males
Interactive Images
(Where one person was a woman)
Interaction between criminal and victim
Interaction between criminal and professional
Interaction between victim and professional
NAME(S): _______________________________________________
BOOK: __________________________________________________
INDIVIDUALS
CRIMINALS
TOTAL: _________
PROFESSIONALS
TOTAL: _________
VICTIMS
TOTAL: _________
PERIPHERAL PERSONS
TOTAL: _________
UNIDENTIFIABLE
TOTAL: _________
Social Composition of Images
GENDER INTEGRATED
TOTAL: _________
EXCLUSIVE
TOTAL: _________
Interactive Images
Interaction between criminal and victim
TOTAL: _________
Interaction between criminal and professional
TOTAL: _________
Interaction between victim and professional
TOTAL: _________
Please answer the following questions
- How many TOTAL images of women in a textbook did you find in your analysis? Did the number surprise you? Why or why not?
- Which category for individual pictures of women was the highest? Was this what you expected to find? Why or why not?
- Did you find more exclusive or gender integrated images? Was that what you expected? Why or why not?
- Please explain the implications of your findings regarding the portrayal of women in intro to criminal justice textbooks within the framework of feminist theory.