Abstract

Crime shows can be entertaining and shine some light onto what the criminal justice system does but it is not always accurate. There are some things that are represented in the media that are not accurate in the way that people might believe them to be. During a content analysis of the crime show drama Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, we compared the treatment of male and female victims. An analysis was also done over the treatment of different age groups, victims from a range of professions and the amount of marital rape that was portrayed. This was then compared to research that had previously been done relating to this field. The results showed that women were treated more harshly than man on a group level but one male victim was treated more harshly than the female victims, victims in the middle age range were treated more harshly than the other age groups, marital rape was underreported and stranger and acquaintance rapes were generally accurate in the large sample compared to what happens in real-life.

Semester/Year of Award

Spring 5-4-2017

Mentor

Victoria E. Collins

Mentor Professional Affiliation

Justice Studies

Access Options

Restricted Access Thesis

Document Type

Bachelor Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelor's

Department

Justice Studies

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