Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Criminal Justice and Criminology
Date of Award
5-2014
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Courtney Crittenden
Committee Members
Larry Miller, Jennifer Pealer
Abstract
The media is one of the strongest influences on how society views the criminal justice system and all actors therein. This is especially true for offenders of violent crime. Notably, women who kill are rare. However, when women do murder someone, the media tends to over expose them and portray them in different ways. The current study is intended to examine how the media portrays women murderers. In particular, this research is focused on how fictional and true crime programs portray female killers. Do they portray them in a positive or negative light? Do they portray them realistically? Are true crime shows more realistic than fictional crime shows? Each of these questions was explored and it was found that true crime programs, even though not wholly realistic, do portray women much more realistically than fictional shows. It is important to study these portrayals in order to understand how women killers are portrayed, how society views and interprets these particular criminals, and what are the steps necessary in order to prevent and change the way media process this crime.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Lima, Giovanna C., "When Women Kill" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2385. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2385
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.