Keywords

Roma, gypsy, social stigma theory, orientalism, textual analysis

Abstract

This study examined the media portrayals of Roma in the United States by taking a closer look at ―Gypsy crime‖ articles in a purposive sample of newspaper articles. These newspaper articles give details of ―confidence‖ crimes and name the alleged perpetrators as Roma or members of the ethnic minority group commonly known as Gypsies. A textual analysis was conducted of 23 articles appearing in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel from August 16, 2011 to February 8, 2013 covering fraud charges against several members of the Marks family. This primary evaluation narrowed the initial sample to nine articles that contained references to Roma, Romani, or Gypsy. Further analysis of these nine articles revealed four major categories of findings regarding the representation of the ethnic minority. The categories included: 1) the pairing of the preferred term, Roma with the pejorative term, Gypsy; 2) reinforcement of stereotypes; 3) portrayal of the ethnic group as foreign others; and 4) Roma portrayed as a threat to the dominant culture and its members. The theoretical bases for the study included Social Stigma Theory (Goffman, 1963) and Orientalism (Said, 1978) both of which offer a critical lens through which to examine the portrayals of this ethnic minority.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2013

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Akita, Kimiko

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Communication

Degree Program

Communication; Interpersonal Communications

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004670

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004670

Language

English

Release Date

May 2013

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

Download

Share

COinS