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Rosenberger Dissertation FINAL.pdf (884.11 KB)

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Crime, Media, and The American Dream: The Role of Media Consumption in Institutional Anomie Theory

Rosenberger, Jared S
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365173874

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Sociology.
Messner and Rosenfeld’s Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) is based on the assumption that the “American Dream” produces a society that is obsessed with the pursuit of success and dominated by the economy. Thus, crime is prevalent in the United States because individuals are willing to cut corners in order to attain the “dream” for themselves. This dissertation expands the work of Messner and Rosenfeld (1994), contending that the “American Dream” is transmitted directly to citizens through the consumption of media representations, using over 6000 cases from the public use portion of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD Health). A series of logistic regressions were conducted to determine the influence of television consumption on committing multiple forms of serious criminal behavior. As hypothesized, television consumption directly increases the odds of committing three types of serious criminal behavior (economic based, violent, and general). In addition, the results suggest that compared to light television consumers, heavy consumers are less influenced by crime-curbing noneconomic institutions like education and the family.
Valerie J. Callanan, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Matthew T. Lee, Dr. (Committee Member)
Stacey Nofziger, Dr. (Committee Member)
Richard Rosenfeld, Dr. (Committee Member)
Richard E. Adams, Dr. (Committee Member)
William T. Lyons, Jr., Dr. (Committee Member)
132 p.
Sociology
Crime; Media; Institutional Anomie Theory; IAT

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rosenberger, J. S. (2013). Crime, Media, and The American Dream: The Role of Media Consumption in Institutional Anomie Theory [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365173874

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rosenberger, Jared. Crime, Media, and The American Dream: The Role of Media Consumption in Institutional Anomie Theory . 2013. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365173874.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rosenberger, Jared. "Crime, Media, and The American Dream: The Role of Media Consumption in Institutional Anomie Theory ." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365173874

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1365173874
1,166
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.