Changing Shape and Shifting Boundaries — The Media Portrayal of Probation in Ireland

Abstract

Literature on the media representation of probation highlights that probation as

Portrayal of the Croatian Probation Service's Development in Print Media

“…However, it is not known whether other criminal justice sanctions (e.g., prison sentences) are more or less present in the media than probation sentences because there has yet been no comparative analysis (Maguire & Carr, 2013). Owing to different methodologies, traditions and time frames, it is difficult to compare probation's media visibility with existing analyses of media coverage on probation in other jurisdictions (e.g.…”

“…Even more, probation's official titles also changed three times over this 5-year-period; "victims' and witnesses' support" was included and then excluded from the official title which clearly indicate the difficulties in articulating the public image of probation. ing the rebranding of probation in 2006, the word "welfare" was removed from its official title (Maguire & Carr, 2013 Probation service establishment was accompanied with positive predictions and expectations in the media (Table 3). Prisons were obviously used as benchmarks in emphasising the Croatian probation service's benefits 3 similarly to other jurisdictions, e.g.…”

“…Probation's "image problem" (Bauwens & Mair, 2012) could be partly a product of its ambiguous status as a combination of institutionalisation and community rehabilitation; questionable appropriateness and/ or legitimacy; the fact that probation does not provide the same volume of information of interest to the public as other criminal justice topics and may not have reason to disseminate as much information to the public as e.g. the police; but it could also be related to its portrayal in the media (Maguire & Carr, 2013;Roberts & Hough, 2005). Probation needs to use the media to increase understanding and support of its work; as regards community sanctions, "ignorance is a fundamental problem" (McNeill, 2009) which may lead to the reemergence of popular punitive measures and to demands for more expressive and emotive forms of punishment (Bauwens & Mair, 2012).…”

“…An analysis by Hayes (2013) of 2000 newspaper articles published between 2003 and 2011 showed that community punishment is accepted by English newspapers as part of the criminal justice system, although there are conflicting opinions "as to what role these penalties should play within that system" (p. 34). Maguire and Carr's (2013) study of 542 newspaper articles over an 11-year period found that the majority of news stories about probation were either neutral or positive but noted a recent shift towards a more negative portrayal of probation that were a reflection of recent changes in the shape of penal-probation boundaries in Ireland.…”

“…The most common approach employed in research to date is content analysis of a selection of stories on probation that appear in printed media over a certain time period in order to examine how media representation of probation and public attitudes towards probation have changed over time (e.g. Maruna, 2007;Hayes, 2013;Maguire & Carr 2013). Maruna's (2007) analysis showed that probation received positive media coverage until the 1970s, but that because of policy changes and increased political rhetoric around crime in recent years, probation has primarily been the subject of attention in the context of publicised failures.…”