Gemini Creason-Parker, our very own graduate student, wins the best Graduate Student Poster Award from the Division of Feminist Criminology for her poster titled "Who are the "Special Victims" on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit?". The Division of Feminist Criminology is a division of American Society of Criminology (ASC). Gemini will be honored at the award ceremony at the business meeting at annual meeting in San Francisco in November, 2024.
All of the submissions to the poster competition are evaluated by members of the poster competition committee based on the following categories:
- Content is relevant to feminist scholarship;
- Makes a contribution to the knowledge base;
- Accurately identifies any limitations;
- Analytical plan was well developed;
- Clarity/organization of poster was well developed;
- Poster is visually appealing;
- Poster encourages questions/discussion about presented material.
Gemini's research focuses on rape myths. Rape myths are stereotypes related to the crime, its victims, and its perpetrators. Many of these myths outline what a “legitimate” victim looks and behaves like; for example, “real” victims are young, White, traditionally beautiful, females who resist their attackers and immediately report to the police. Television shows often use rape myths to frame fictional cases, influencing how people view the crime, and consequently, those victims. The issue is that when real-world victims do not possess the characteristics portrayed on screen, they are less likely to be believed and blamed more.
The purpose of this project was to explore how one of television’s longest-running, sex-crimes focused shows, “Law & Order: Special Victims Units,” portrays rape cases, including victims. The research team quantitatively coded the case characteristics for each incident of adult, non-incestual rape across the entirety of the show. This poster presents the results from all 24 seasons and provide an analysis of victim characteristics (e.g., race, age, beauty, etc.) to understand how these special victims are depicted.
Gemini and her team are working on a publication from this poster and on similar topics around this study.
Thank you for doing this important work, Gemini!