THE PORTRAYAL OF SEX OFFENDERS IN GERMAN NEWSPAPERS : A qualitative content analysis

Sammanfattning: The current thesis examines how sex offenders are portrayed in newspapers in Germany with the use of a qualitative content analysis. Utilized were 49 articles both from a German tabloid called “Bild-Zeitung” and a broadsheet called “die Zeit”. Three main themes were identified and analyzed. Initially, the focus was on the portrayal of the sex offenders, followed by the portrayal of the victims and lastly which agencies and how they were mentioned. For each main theme several subthemes were formulated in order to examine the main themes in more depth. Findings suggest that most articles emphasized the previous criminal history of the offenders and stressed negative personality traits, leaving a stereotypical image. Findings of the second theme indicate that victims are rarely blamed for the offenses, while empathy establishment was emphasized through the use of the detailed description of the brutality of the offenses, especially for cases with underaged victims. The analysis of the last theme showed that police and investigators were portrayed mostly as doing a good job and working effectively in investigations, whereas experts like social workers, psychologists or lawyers were interviewed in less articles. The opinion of politicians and the public opinion mostly emphasized the demands for harsher punishment and longer incarceration. Therefore, the majority of articles examined showed a stereotypical image of the offenders, portraying them as recurrently reoffending,opportunistic and brutal.