Crime TV

Streaming Criminology in Popular Culture

Jonathan A. Grubb, Chad Posick

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781479884971
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479838639
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Television
• Index: Social Sciences

From Game of Thrones to Breaking Bad, the key theories and concepts in criminal justice are explained through the lens of television

In Crime TV, Jonathan A. Grubb and Chad Posick bring together an eminent group of scholars to show us the ways in which crime—and the broader criminal justice system—are depicted on television. From Breaking Bad and Westworld to Mr. Robot and Homeland, this volume highlights how popular culture frames our understanding of crime, criminological theory, and the nature of justice through modern entertainment.

Featuring leading criminologists, Crime TV makes the key concepts and analytical tools of criminology as engaging as possible for students and interested readers. Contributors tackle an array of exciting topics and shows, taking a fresh look at feminist criminology on The Handmaid's Tale, psychopathy on The Fall, the importance of social bonds on 13 Reasons Why, radical social change on The Walking Dead, and the politics of punishment on Game of Thrones.

Crime TV offers a fresh and exciting approach to understanding the essential concepts in criminology and criminal justice and how theories of crime circulate in popular culture.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface vii
• Introduction 1
• 1. “The Man Who Passes the Sentence Should Swing the Sword”: Penal Utopias in Game of Thrones 5
• 2. 13 Reasons Why and the Importance of Social Bonds 20
• 3. Breaking Bad: Failure, Crime, and the Inability to Cope 37
• 4. “Insane Violence Has Meaning”: Psychopathy and Abuse in The Fall 56
• 5. “These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends”: Crime, Criminality, and the State in Westworld 68
• 6. Understanding The Handmaid’s Tale: The Contribution of Radical Feminism 82
• 7. Cultural Criminology and Homeland 96
• 8. Follow the Money: Corporate Crime as Real Crime 115
• 9. “Let’s Make This Show Happen, People”: Black Mirror and Populist Punitiveness 129
• 10. The Walking Dead and Criminological Theory: Exploring the Impact of Radical Social Change on Crime through the Lens of a Zombie Apocalypse 146
• 11. Mr. Robot and Radical Criminology 164
• 12. What’s in a Name?: Labeling Theory in Criminal Minds 179
• 13. Phrasing Deviance: Archer and Techniques of Neutralization 191
• 14. Fighting the (Invisible) Hand: Conflict Theory and Marvel’s The Defenders 207
• 15. Masculinity and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 225
• 16. Race, Crime, and Justice in American Crime: A Criminological Analysis 244
• Acknowledgments 261
• Notes 263
• Bibliography 309
• About the Editors 343
• About the Contributors 345
• Index 351