A televised social problem construction? pushing back against the invisibility of the male rape victim in American crime

Book chapter


Akrivos, D. 2019. A televised social problem construction? pushing back against the invisibility of the male rape victim in American crime. in: Akrivos, D. and Antoniou, A. (ed.) Crime, Deviance and Popular Culture: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives Palgrave Macmillan.
AuthorsAkrivos, D.
EditorsAkrivos, D. and Antoniou, A.
Abstract

Building on the view of popular culture as a conduit through which social problems are defined, debated or even resolved (Maratea & Monahan, 2016), this chapter evaluates the contribution of fictional television to the demarginalisation of the male victim of sexual violence.

The research adopts a case study design and offers an ethnographic content analysis of ABC’s American Crime. It highlights the blaming and stigmatisation of the male rape victim, the shortcomings of the dominant feminist framing of sexual victimisation as well as the failure of the criminal justice system to effectively handle male rape cases.

The author concludes that ‘socially aware’ TV shows like American Crime could serve as a form of ‘edutainment’: they have the strong potential to push back against dominant male rape myths and offer a better insight into the victims’ experiences, getting audiences much more emotionally involved than pertinent factual sources of information.

Year2019
Book titleCrime, Deviance and Popular Culture: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Output statusPublished
ISBN9783030049119
Publication dates
Print15 Feb 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited22 Feb 2019
Accepted19 Oct 2018
Official URLhttps://www.palgrave.com/cn/book/9783030049119
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https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/88yx2/a-televised-social-problem-construction-pushing-back-against-the-invisibility-of-the-male-rape-victim-in-american-crime

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