Beyond the Rhetorics of Lashes, Leashes, and Carceral Ideologies: Abolition and Police Dog Characters in Children’s Media

• In Event: Critical Media Engagements

Abstract

In this paper, we consider how the tightly interlocking systems of oppression of settler coloniality, carcerality, species domination, and whites supremacy interplay within representations of police dogs in children’s literature and media shape young people’s lived curricula. Specifically, we apply a critical ideological-textual analysis to the TV show PAW Patrol and the graphic novel Dog Man. We analyze how “protagonists” Chase and Dog Man uphold dominant ideologies about policing as (1) inherently good; (2) altruistic helpers; and (3) “cool” by appropriating sociocultural perceptions of dogs as cute and loyal to bolster the social credibility of police whilst performing some of the most dangerous work of policing to which they can never consent. Through our analysis grounded in abolitionist, decolonial, and postcolonial studies, we consider how pro-police messaging seamlessly moves across media and educational spaces. We conclude with implications for cross-textual curricular analysis and praxis implications for teachers and teacher educators.

Authors

• Kyle Chong, Michigan State University

• Alexandra Allweiss, Michigan State University