Examining the Evidence: Portrayals of the Careers in Criminal Minds

Within the fields of forensics and criminal justice there is the hot topic of crime show representations and their accuracies/inaccuracies. Some people owe these shows for exposing the career choice to them while others within the field blame these shows for common misconceptions about their career. This study utilizes the research done concerning the two main theories that apply to crime show effects: the cultivation theory and the CSI Effect. By examining the current research, a new study was conducted to further confirm or deny the claims made by both theories which aim to say that these crime shows are impacting people’s perceptions of what is often depicted. To accomplish this, a content analysis was done over the popular crime drama Criminal Minds. The evidence collected agreed with most of the ideas that research surrounding the CSI Effect has described. There was a great disparity in the type of evidence shown and which ones had positive or negative representations which in turn can cause people to have unrealistic expectations of evidence within the courtroom. This evidence disparity also supported the idea that rather than simply being coined the ‘CSI Effect’ a better name may be the ‘tech effect’. In addition, the occupations represented throughout Criminal Minds were mostly positive and could account for students’ motivations to enroll in certain majors and careers. More research still needs to be done but it is clear that the depictions within crime shows have the ability to influence people’s views of criminal investigations

Cultivation Effects from Television Crime Dramas to Forensic Practices

Television and its effects have been frequently studied due to the prevalence of television in today’s society. Cultivation theory examines these effects by claiming that people’s perceptions of the real world are shaped by the social reality portrayed on television. This paper used this theory to examine a link between college student’s viewership of television crime dramas and their opinions about forensic practices. It used quantitative survey questions and previous research to come to conclusions for the research questions. The three research questions asked whether frequent viewing of crime dramas cultivated false beliefs about three forensic practices, (fingerprint analysis, polygraph tests, and DNA analysis). Results found that crime dramas cultivated perceptions about all three practices, but with DNA analysis to a lower extent than the others

Grey Matter: Investigating the Gendered Fan Consumption of Grey’s Anatomy

This study investigates the fan consumption of the television medical drama Grey\u27s Anatomy, which is commonly associated with a predominately female fanbase. Utilizing both a male and female focus group with fans of the show, participants took a survey (gathering demographics and their Bem Sex-Role Inventory score) and viewed two episodes of the show, both followed by a discussion of the episode and the show in general. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed in full for analysis, along with the survey data and observational notes taken during the viewing. Coding of the data revealed that males and females held similar gender stereotypes and expectations of what male and female viewers would like about the show. However, during the viewing, male and female viewers reacted similarly to most aspects of the show. In general, respondents described the specific episodes as easy for all people, regardless of gender, to relate to. However, observations revealed that males reacted more positively during sex scenes, and females reacted more uncomfortably to the bloody and violent scenes. Some of these reactions, albeit in accordance to their dichotomous gender script, were counter to the way they described themselves on the BSRI, e.g., a masculine female acting “like a girl” during some of the violent content. In addition, overall, the masculine and androgynous individuals (the majority of the sample) responded more frequently to questions and reacted more dramatically to the content of the show itself

Age, Gender, Race, and Culture in the ER: A Content Analysis of End-of-Life Issues in the Television Drama

Within one of the most popular television dramas on American television, hundreds of depictions of end-of-life (EOL) care and decision-making conveyed impressions of how death and dying occurred in a hospital. This content analysis of EOL incidents that appeared in every episode of the television drama ER indicated that viewers got powerful messages about EOL. The long-playing, popular television drama exaggerated the role of physician within the EOL scenes and minimized the roles of women, racial minorities and ethnic groups. Notably lacking from the EOL content were accurate or positive representations of racial, ethnic or cultural differences in death and dying practices. The absence of these important distinctions in EOL effectively marginalized groups that have been at risk, historically, for receiving less or substandard health care services. The American health care system as it exists, fit the definition of an Althusserian Ideological State Apparatus. The potential, therefore, exists for this newly-identified ISA to disseminate an EOL ideology calling for limits on care to the dying, through the mass communication structure. This study, however, did not reveal any substantial indication that fictionalized content about EOL fulfills that expectation. This study revealed previously-unidentified themes that recurred in the majority of the 222 end-of-life-incidents (EOLIs), most of which were about organ donation. Each of these three areas--new themes, population differences in approaching EOL, and organ donation--bear additional scrutiny to develop insight into how mass media portray them in dramatic television content

THE INFLUENCE OF VIEWING MEDICAL DRAMAS ON ACCEPTANCE OF COMMERCIAL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS FOR MEDICAL FLUID TRANSPORTATION

This study evaluated the influence of viewing medical dramas on participants’ acceptance of drone use for medical fluid transport. Participants were 199 individuals ages 18 and over recruited via Survey Monkey Audience. Participants responded to an online survey about their attitudes towards drone use for medical fluid transportation and their television viewing activity. The survey tested the ability of medical dramas to cultivate and develop mainstream attitudes towards drone use for medical fluid transport. Results found that attitudes towards medical fluid transporting drones were not susceptible to cultivation or mainstreaming effects simply due to medical drama viewership. A discussion of these results as well as directions for future research are offered

The Role of Entertainment Education in Health Literacy and Implications for the Future

Entertainment television remains a source upon which Americans have increasingly relied. Entertainment-education (EE) is a growingly popular strategy that incorporates educational messages into media sources to positively influence awareness and knowledge and subsequent attitude and behavior.6 Although EE is not limited to entertainment television, familiar examples include: the use of emergency contraception in the prime-time drama ER, the demonstration of condom efficacy in the sitcom Friends, and a storyline involving HIV in the daytime drama The Bold & The Beautiful.6 Though it remains a promising health communication strategy, not enough information is known regarding audience involvement with EE messages. This review examines whether EE can be successfully applied as a tool to improve patient health literacy and health behavior, its limitations, future implications and importance for the role of a health care provider

Television as a career motivator and education tool : a final-year nursing student cohort study

Fictional medical programs are often used for more than just their recreational enjoyment; they can also influence career decision making. Very little research has examined the pedagogical value of fictional medical programs in terms of their motivational value in the choice of a nursing career. As such, the aim of this study was to examine what motivated nursing students to choose nursing careers, if fictional medical programs were motivators, and if they are used by students as a learning tool. The cross-sectional study collected data using a questionnaire and occurred between April and June 2018. The findings were generated from students' short answers and extended responses within the questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. A total of 291 students participated (82.6% response rate), with motivations for entering nursing being similar to other international studies; however, as motivators, fictional medical television programs were rated higher than job security. Overall, students engage with medical television programs along a television-learning continuum, ranging from limited watching time, recognising inaccuracies, understanding dialogue, through to using fictional medical television programs as tools for learning. However, this is dependent on time, interest, current level of understanding, and a program's perceived value

How Hollywood Films Portray Illness

The author speaks about Hollywood\u27s depiction of medicine and illness if often wrong and breaks down his analysis in this article

Surgeons, surgeries, and operating rooms in television medical series

The longest-running American prime-time television medical series, Grey’s Anatomy represents a society in which gender is not a potential career barrier in surgery. Focusing on an iconic scene of the series, this article brings media studies together with the history- and philosophy of surgery to provide a qualitative analysis of this portrayal on three levels: surgical procedure, protagonist, and place. Following previous studies on medical drama series, the theoretical framework of the article is cultivation theory. Some elements of the genre – like the realistic hospital setting and the authentic usage of medical jargon – might strengthen the likelihood of content cultivation. Finally, I discuss the potential positive and negative effects of the way how this popular series depict female surgical careers