Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People
Ableist necropolitics can be seen no more starkly than in news portrayals of the murders of disabled people by family or caregivers. When such murders are reported in the news, disabled people as full subjects fade away, portrayed as objects of care and suffering; their murders are routinely present...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Queensland University of Technology
2023-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/2720 |
| _version_ | 1797694036365017088 |
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| author | Denise Buiten Raffaella Cresciani |
| author_facet | Denise Buiten Raffaella Cresciani |
| author_sort | Denise Buiten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ableist necropolitics can be seen no more starkly than in news portrayals of the murders of disabled people by family or caregivers. When such murders are reported in the news, disabled people as full subjects fade away, portrayed as objects of care and suffering; their murders are routinely presented as an understandable if tragic response by ‘overwhelmed’ carers. This article examines Australian news reporting on four cases of family murder–suicide involving disabled victims to explore news framings of violence as violence. We situate these representations within a spectrum of connected and overlapping ableist violence and conceptualise the harms they can produce and sanction. We argue that news portrayals of homicides involving disabled victims not only are frequently ableist and legitimising but also constitute a form of ableist epistemic violence that scaffolds ontological, structural and direct violence against disabled people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:52:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64962d1331514e3483e090b406536cea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2202-7998 2202-8005 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:52:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| spelling | doaj.art-64962d1331514e3483e090b406536cea2023-09-03T22:41:47ZengQueensland University of TechnologyInternational Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy2202-79982202-80052023-09-01123647610.5204/ijcjsd.27203043Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled PeopleDenise Buiten0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-5703Raffaella Cresciani1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2463-8394University of Notre Dame Australia; University of JohannesburgThe University of MelbourneAbleist necropolitics can be seen no more starkly than in news portrayals of the murders of disabled people by family or caregivers. When such murders are reported in the news, disabled people as full subjects fade away, portrayed as objects of care and suffering; their murders are routinely presented as an understandable if tragic response by ‘overwhelmed’ carers. This article examines Australian news reporting on four cases of family murder–suicide involving disabled victims to explore news framings of violence as violence. We situate these representations within a spectrum of connected and overlapping ableist violence and conceptualise the harms they can produce and sanction. We argue that news portrayals of homicides involving disabled victims not only are frequently ableist and legitimising but also constitute a form of ableist epistemic violence that scaffolds ontological, structural and direct violence against disabled people.https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/2720ableist violenceableismepistemic violencemurder of disabled peoplenews reporting of disabilitymedia representations of disability |
| spellingShingle | Denise Buiten Raffaella Cresciani Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy ableist violence ableism epistemic violence murder of disabled people news reporting of disability media representations of disability |
| title | Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People |
| title_full | Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People |
| title_fullStr | Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People |
| title_full_unstemmed | Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People |
| title_short | Representations of Violence, Representations as Violence: When the News Reports on Homicides of Disabled People |
| title_sort | representations of violence representations as violence when the news reports on homicides of disabled people |
| topic | ableist violence ableism epistemic violence murder of disabled people news reporting of disability media representations of disability |
| url | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/2720 |
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