Debating Police Body Worn Cameras: Legitimacy, Surveillance and Power in U.S. Media

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dc.contributor.advisorAdorjan, Michael
dc.contributor.authorSeeger, Chanin Allen
dc.contributor.committeememberAdorjan, Michael
dc.contributor.committeememberMcCoy, Ted
dc.contributor.committeememberVan Brunschot, Erin Gibbs
dc.date2020-11
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-27T16:10:35Z
dc.date.available2020-08-27T16:10:35Z
dc.date.issued2020-08-21
dc.description.abstractProminent cases of black individuals killed by the police in the United States of America have prompted a firestorm of debate around perceived issues with police brutality and racial discrimination by police. This thesis investigates the discourse on police body-worn cameras through a qualitative content analysis of public rhetoric in the USA between 2012 and 2018. Using the social construction perspective of social problems, this research examines how technological solutions to social problems can themselves become problematized. The data was drawn from both online articles and reader comments attached to those articles from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal websites. The activities of claims-makers, their various positions in these debates and also their tactics in response to competing positions are examined through claims-making about body-worn police cameras. The findings suggest that within the comments sections of online news articles about BWCs, audience members can critically evaluate media messages and articulate their own ideas about the police, power, authority, transparency, accountability, and legitimacy, but still often make use of pre-existing cultural resources. This thesis contributes to knowledge about the role the internet plays in the development of social problem debates, and public beliefs about the role of surveillance and the police in society.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSeeger, C. A. (2020). Debating Police Body Worn Cameras: Legitimacy, Surveillance and Power in U.S. Media (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38118
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112436
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectPolicingen_US
dc.subjectmediaen_US
dc.subjectlegitimacyen_US
dc.subjectaccountabilityen_US
dc.subjectsurveillanceen_US
dc.subjecttransparencyen_US
dc.subject.classificationSociologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationCriminology and Penologyen_US
dc.titleDebating Police Body Worn Cameras: Legitimacy, Surveillance and Power in U.S. Mediaen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSociologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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