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Media critics have argued for years regarding the power of certain media in shaping images of youthful masculinity in a fashion that is harmful to boys. Through textual analysis this article examines how forms of popular media shape the deep-seated norms, values, and moral codes of destructive patterns of mediated boyhood and manhood. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), MTV, and the films The River's Edge (1986), Kids (1995), and Bully (2001) are explored concerning destructive images that are portrayed. Findings reveal that violence lies at the center of many films and television programs, is portrayed as a demographic issue, particularly a male gender issue, and is an issue of power. In addition, findings reveal that destructive behaviors are often directed against women and little if any meaningful consequences to the violence are depicted which normalizes the violence. An important outcome of the study involves insight for those in criminal justice as they address issues of the social construction of a violent youthful masculinity. As a result, this article may enable criminal justice educators to become aware of the impact of the increasingly violence-saturated media culture on young males. It may also encourage criminal justice educators to develop media literacy among their students so that they learn to critically evaluate various forms of media. This understanding may facilitate criminal justice professionals to understand the messages embedded in various types of media providing them with tools for helping future criminal justice professionals relate to boys in our culture they may encounter through their criminal justice careers.
Media critics have argued for a number of years concerning the power of a media culture in shaping images of youthful and adult masculinity and femininity in a fashion that is harmful to young people in our culture. We acknowledge that the use of media, specifically film, is a viable medium that not only entertains and informs, but also educates (Roden, 2007). Yet, we concur with other media theorists and critics that mainstream television and film not only function as the dominant cultural storyteller (Gerbner, 2003; Roden, 2007) but also create powerful negative and degrading images of masculinity and femininity within the cultural environment of the mass media (Giroux, 1996, 1997; Benshoff, 2004; Katz, 2004). Cultural critic Henry A....