Disability in the Media

Examining Stigma and Identity

Tracy R. Worrell

Disability in the Media: Examining Stigma and Identity looks at how disabilities are portrayed within the media and how individuals with disabilities are affected by their representation. The effects of media representation can be seen both at the level of the individual, with effects on self-identity for those with a disability, and at the level of society as a whole, with these portrayals playing a role in the social construction of disability, often further stigmatizing individuals with disabilities. On all levels, research has ended with a call to media producers, asking those in the entertainment industry to think about how they are portraying disability, to hire actors with disabilities, and to realize that the “supercrip” may not always be the most positive portrayal of disability. This book looks at the current status of disability representation in television and the popular press, offering case studies that examine their effect on individuals with disabilities and making suggestions for improving media representation and battling the perpetuation of social stigmas.

Lexington Books

Pages: 142 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-1-4985-6154-9 • Hardback • March 2018 • $104.00 • (£80.00)

978-1-4985-6156-3 • Paperback • February 2020 • $43.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-6155-6 • eBook • March 2018 • $41.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Health Communication

Subjects: Social Science / People with Disabilities, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Social Science / Media Studies

Disability in the Media

Examining Stigma and Identity

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Disability in the Media: Examining Stigma and Identity looks at how disabilities are portrayed within the media and how individuals with disabilities are affected by their representation. The effects of media representation can be seen both at the level of the individual, with effects on self-identity for those with a disability, and at the level of society as a whole, with these portrayals playing a role in the social construction of disability, often further stigmatizing individuals with disabilities. On all levels, research has ended with a call to media producers, asking those in the entertainment industry to think about how they are portraying disability, to hire actors with disabilities, and to realize that the “supercrip” may not always be the most positive portrayal of disability. This book looks at the current status of disability representation in television and the popular press, offering case studies that examine their effect on individuals with disabilities and making suggestions for improving media representation and battling the perpetuation of social stigmas.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 142 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-1-4985-6154-9 • Hardback • March 2018 • $104.00 • (£80.00)

978-1-4985-6156-3 • Paperback • February 2020 • $43.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-6155-6 • eBook • March 2018 • $41.50 • (£35.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Health Communication

Subjects: Social Science / People with Disabilities, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Social Science / Media Studies

Author

Tracy R. Worrell is associate professor in the School of Communication at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

Section One: What is the Media Showing?
Chapter One: The Representation of Disability in the Media
Chapter Two: A Popular Press Discussion of Portrayals in the Media
Chapter Three: Image Echoes: Popular Press Coverage of Media Disability
Chapter Four: Additional Echoes: Mobile and Social Media Presentations of Disability

Section Two: What is the Media Doing?
Chapter Five: The Impact of the Media’s Portrayal of Physical Disabilities
Chapter Six: A Case Study of the Media’s Impact on Individuals That Are Deaf/Hard of Hearing
Chapter Seven: The Impact of the Media’s Portrayal of Cognitive Disabilities
Chapter Eight: A Case Study of the Media’s Impact on Individuals with Cognitive Disabilities

Section 3: What Can the Media Do?
Chapter Nine: Suggestions and Tips for the Media and the Rest of Us

Bibliography
About the Author

Reviews

Dr. Worrell reminds that while depictions of disability have become less stigmatizing in some ways, there remains much room for improvement. While the media—traditional, mobile, social, or otherwise—may play a role in such progress, it is ultimately up to those on the other end of the message to search for knowledge and meaning. Such a quest is one that challenges existing beliefs and could, as Dr. Worrell suggests, alter the ways in which disability continues to be socially constructed.
— Avery Holton, University of Utah

Disability in the Media: Examining Stigma and Identity offers a detailed research and case studies focused on the representation of disability. The book would serve well in a course on media and culture.

— Communication Research Trends

Dr. Worrell reminds that while depictions of disability have become less stigmatizing in some ways, there remains much room for improvement. While the media—traditional, mobile, social, or otherwise—may play a role in such progress, it is ultimately up to those on the other end of the message to search for knowledge and meaning. Such a quest is one that challenges existing beliefs and could, as Dr. Worrell suggests, alter the ways in which disability continues to be socially constructed.
— Avery Holton, University of Utah

Disability in the Media

Examining Stigma and Identity

Tracy R. Worrell

Disability in the Media

Examining Stigma and Identity

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