Conditional respect and criminal identity: The use of personal address terms in Japanese mass media

Studies of language in mass media reports of crime stories until now have b een dominated by perspectives of researchers in the United States and Europ e, and none have focused on the strategic employment of personal references . In this essay I examine the use of personal address terms by Japan's mass media in two case studies of reports of sensational crimes. I argue that i n Japan the concept of conditional respect provides insight into mass media -generated language and social identity processes grounded in observable so cial practice.