News Accounts of Attacks on Women : University of Toronto 1984 [ Toronto Murders 1982 ]

Description

Scarce original academic criminology thesis on a supposed moral panic in news coverage of the murders of four women in Toronto in 1982.

 

Ericson, Richard V. and Voumvakis, Sophia E. News Accounts of Attacks on Women : A Comparison of Three Toronto Newspapers. Centre of Criminology University of Toronto. Toronto. 1984.

 

An original copy of a controversial crime and media study from 1984 focusing on the “moral panic” created during the summer and fall of 1982 centered on a supposed increase in violence against women in the Toronto area.

Following the sensationalist news media coverage of a series of unsolved high profile rapes and murders of at least four women in Toronto between May 7 and October 31, 1982, the researchers studied newspaper coverage for 387 similar accounts determining that the language of reporting tended toward blaming the victims for their choice to walk alone and titillation over empathy, as in one case where a report of one assault shared the same page as a story about a bikini contest.The report suggests that cases of white, conventionally attractive young women receive more attention than other cases, creating the sense of a surging crime spree that might not have actually occurred.

No copies in OCLC as of December 2021.

8vo, iii – vii + 98pp, perfect bound pamphlet in yellow paper wraps. Some soiling to wrap face. Corners bumped with some rubbing. Pages toned. Small stain to fore margin of pgs 49 – 63. Paperclip on top margin pg 49 leaving imprint on surrounding pages. Some pencil underlines and annotations. Includes numerous black and white illustrations and tables. Good.

 

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