Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
The 1971 Attica Prison Riotin Mainstream and Alternative Newsprint: Framing Conflict Seeking Transformation
Department
School of Criminal Justice
College
College of Community and Public Service
Date Range
2010-2011
Abstract
The Attica Prison riot of 1971 highlighted a tumultuous era of race relations within the United States. Akil Al-Jundi (1941-1997), Attica Brothers Defense Fund information minister, suggested that "these struggles shatter prisoner invisibility, and their plight intrudes, however briefly, on the public's consciousness" (Weiss, 1999: 176). This research will examine this perspective as promoted in newsprint media representation of the Attica Prison riot emanating from mainstream and alternative news sources of the era. Applying a content analysis method rooted in qualitative frame analysis, 165 newsprint articles published between 1971 and 1973 from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Defender will be analyzed for dominant, residual and emerging frames that were presented to the reading public. How those frames served to shape the publics' consciousness surrounding prisoners and prisonization within Attica and across the United States, how the Attica conflict magnified racial and criminal justice system disparities and tensions, as well as how transformative processes were hindered by an advancing crime control model will be examined. The capacity for transformative justice through conflict will be assessed in relation to peacemaking criminological perspectives.
Conference Name
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting
Conference Location
Toronto, Canada
ScholarWorks Citation
Walsh, John, "The 1971 Attica Prison Riotin Mainstream and Alternative Newsprint: Framing Conflict Seeking Transformation" (2010). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 82.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/82
