Racial Representation in Media About Intimate Partner Violence

• In Event: Implications of Intergroup Communication on Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Previous work exploring representations of race and crime in local news media has identified racial misrepresentation in the proportions of lawbreakers, law defenders, and targets of crime depicted in television news. The present work extends this literature by examining the racial representations of targets and perpetrators in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) between heterosexual couples. Although Blacks and Whites experience victimization at similar rates, and Blacks are arrested at higher rates, media about intimate partner violence does not reflect reality.

Authors

• Ivuoma Ngozi Onyeador, UCLA

• Travis L. Dixon, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champai