| As the dominant ideology of the postmodern era shifts further to the right of the political spectrum and embraces the "lock em up" mentality, it is becoming increasingly important for academicians and criminal justice practitioners to recognize the mass-mediated penological themes and frames of reference that are produced in our culture which construct and shape present-day discourse as it relates to the politics of incarceration. This research project explores mass-mediated themes by studying those constructed in prison films. A content analysis was conducted on ten prison films, ranging in release dates from 1967 to 1994, that portray reality in the general population of American institutions housing all male offenders. These films were analyzed according to five functional and five thematic areas. The presentation of these areas was further analyzed according to the way they aid in the construction and reinforcement of the dominant ethical stance the American society takes toward crime and punishment: the ethics of obligation. |
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