NCJ Number
191887
Journal
Deviant Behavior Volume: 22 Issue: 6 Dated: November-December 2001 Pages: 541-570
Date Published
November 2001
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article describes the results of a qualitative and quantitative study of media use by prisoners in five Flemish penitentiaries.
Abstract
Confined offenders with higher degrees of subjective criminal involvement have significantly stronger preferences for media activities and media contents that are socially disvalued and confirm their deviant self-image, values, and norms. They display an aversion to things which are "good" according to conventional standards. They have a special interest in crime and prison related media contents, which may have a symbolic function but which can provide useful information or practical guidelines for their criminal lifestyle. They display a preference for action; police, and gangster movies and series; prison fiction; erotic TV programs; heavy metal, punk, and hard rock; legal news; and reports of disasters and accidents. These persons are proud of the media attention they receive, and actually learn criminal techniques from crimewatch programs. Finally, those who consider themselves "real" criminals place personal ads in sensationalist publications to communicate with deviant acquaintances in other prisons. Notes, tables, references