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

  1. How many TOTAL images of women in a textbook did you find in your analysis? Did the number surprise you? Why or why not?
  2. Which category for individual pictures of women was the highest? Was this what you expected to find? Why or why not?
  3. Did you find more exclusive or gender integrated images? Was that what you expected? Why or why not?
  4. Please explain the implications of your findings regarding the portrayal of women in intro to criminal justice textbooks within the framework of feminist theory.