Deciphering Violence: The Cognitive Structure of Right and Wrong

by Karen A. Cerulo

Overview

In the current information age, Americans are bombarded daily with stories and images portraying a rising tide of violence. Drawing on media that includes television, newspaper, fiction, film, painting and photography, as well as interviews and focus groups, Karen Cerulo explores the ways in which individuals think about, depict and evaluate violence. Moving beyond typical studies that focus on violent story content, Deciphering Violence decodes the role of story structure itself and how the sequencing of facts can systematically influence our moral judgements of violent acts. The book identifies institutionalized forms of violent storytelling and raises new possibilities both for decreasing public tolerance of violence and increasing social control of the phenomenon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000947403
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/28/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	201
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Karen A. Cerulo is Associate Profess of Sociology at Rutgers University. She is author of Identity Designs:The Sights and Sounds of a Nation (1996) and co-author of Second Thoughts: Seeing Conventional Wisdom Through theSociological Eye (1997).

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE New Thoughts on Violence Violence, Sequencing, and Meaning Implications of the Study Outline of the Book Conclusion CHAPTER TWO Deciphering Violence Violence: The Identification Dilemma Beyond Identity Qualifiers Conclusion CHAPTER THREE The Cognitive Order of Right and Wrong Sequencing Right and Wrong Sequencing Ambiguous Violence Beyond the News Seeing Right, Wrong, and Undecided Conclusion CHAPTER FOUR Institutionalizing Right, Wrong, and Undecided By the Book: Lessons on Storytelling Sequence Conventions in Broader Social Context Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE Audience Readings of Violence Tapping the Subject's Voice Findings Conclusion CHAPTER SIX Practical Applications and Scholarly Implications Reviewing the Findings Sequencing and the Fight Against Violence Sequencing and Media Objectivity Sequencing and the Scholarly Study of Meaning Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Cerulo (sociology, Rutgers U.) analyzes everyday journalistic and media accounts, as well as works such as Goya's The Third of May, Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Scorcese's The Godfather, and classic images of photojournalism. He identifies the institutionalized forms of violent storytelling and raises new possibilities for both decreasing public tolerance of violence and increasing social control of the phenomenon. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"Deciphering Violence ex-plicates the language of violence in American culture, revealing the conventions that journalists and artists use to tell stories about violence, and explaining how these storytelling conventions influence the impact of violent images on the viewers who are exposed to them. Professor Cerulo has given us a creative and insightful work of scholarship." — Paul Dimaggio, Princeton University
"In addition to academic readers ranging from upper-division undergraduates through faculty, the audience for this book will include television professionals, parents, religious leaders, lawyers, and designers of video games. Excellent bibliography." — Choice
"How is that narratives of violence fascinate as they repel? Karen Cerulo tells the story of violence with the inventiveness, the theoretical acuity, and the common sense and grace that make her intellectual agenda so compelling and her work unique. Activists and practitioners as well as theorists, will thank her for Deciphering Violence." — Magali Sarfatti Larson

From the Publisher