Ethnicity and Involvement in Violence On Television

Abstract

Studies of the portrayal of ethnic minority groups on television over many years in Britain and North America have shown that such groups tend to be underrepresented and stereotyped compared with their majority White counterparts. In the early days of television in the United States, for example, any depictions of Blacks were characterized by classic stereotypes of a casual, laid-back attitude to life typified by a narrow range of largely subordinate occupational and dramatic roles (Fife, 1981; Greenberg, 1980). During the 1980s, as the Black population in the United States stabilized, the position of Blacks on television improved both numerically and in terms of role status, whereas a new underclass emerged comprising such ethnic groups as Hispanics and Orientals. The latter groups, during this period, expanded in population numbers in reality far more rapidly than their mainstream television visibility (Wober & Gunter, 1988). Although long portrayed in mostly low-status jobs, Black television characters were generally law abiding (Hinton, Seggar, Northcott, & Fowles, 1973; Northcott, Seggar, & Hinton, 1975). The depiction of Black characters, however, often depended on the type of program. Blacks more regularly achieved equality of status