Aims and method
To explore
the portrayal of homicide-suicide in newspaper articles, particularly how
mental illness was reported. We carried out a qualitative study in England and
Wales (2006-2008). Data from newspaper articles obtained via the LexisNexis
database were used to examine a consecutive series of 60 cases.
Results
A
fascination with extreme violence, vulnerable victims and having someone to
blame made homicide-suicides newsworthy. Some offenders were portrayed in a
stereotypical manner and pejorative language was used to describe mental
illness. The findings showed evidence of inaccurate and speculative reference
to mental disorder in newspaper reports.
Clinical implications
The media should
avoid speculation on people's mental state. Accurate reporting is essential to
reduce stigma of mental illness, which may in turn encourage people to seek
help if they experience similar emotional distress...
Sub-theme | |
---|---|
Theme 1: What makes homicide-suicide newsworthy? |
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Theme 2: How are homicide-suicides reported? |
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Theme 3: Accuracy of newspaper reports of mental illness |
|
Newspaper interest in homicide-suicide
We found that
homicide-suicides were highly newsworthy, with 90% reported in national and
local newspapers, an average of 22 articles per incident. There are aspects of
these offences which made them of public interest, notably they involved
multiple victims, the majority of whom were intimate family members, consistent
with previous research.18 Our data showed that extreme violence towards the victim,
characteristics of the victim and the perceived failure of services to
intervene in certain circumstances added to their media appeal. Emotive
language, particularly in headlines, was used to attract the attention of the
reader, which was consistent with findings from previous studies.17,19
Reporting mental illness responsibly
In this study, we found the
complexity of the events was often lost in the reporting. People who committed
these acts were often assigned labels and portrayed in a stereotypical manner.
We found evidence of derogatory language used to describe mental illness, such
as ‘nut’ or ‘psycho’, although the majority of articles referred to people with
mental illness more sensitively. This finding is consistent with a recent study
undertaken by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in the UK which showed
a decrease in the number of articles using pejorative language and referring to
people with mental illness as being dangerous. The data also showed a
simultaneous increase in anti-stigmatising newspaper articles and positive
mental health promotion. However, the research reported no overall change in
the proportion of stigmatising articles between 2008 and 2011...15
Full article at: http://goo.gl/dUq7hb
- 1University of Manchester, UK.
- BJPsych Bull. 2015 Dec;39(6):268-72. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.114.049676.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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