A study by researchers at North Dakota State University examines the role of mass media in the social construction of racial profiling. Carol A. Archbold, an associate professor of criminal justice and political science at the university, along with four doctoral students in the criminal justice program, surveyed reports of crimes in newspapers in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston between the years 1986 to 2010.
A content analysis of newspaper articles revealed the frequency and context of the reporting of racial profiling, the extent to which it is presented as a problem for all racial minority groups as opposed to a select few, and the identification of the “primary definers” of the problem of racial profiling.
The article, “Newspaper Accounts of Racial Profiling: Accurate Portrayal or Perpetuation of Myth?” was published in the journal Race and Justice and may be accessed here.
