Representing gangs in the news: Media constructions of criminal gangs

This research, based on a content analysis of 4,445 newspaper articles, exa mines the images that emerge from stories of criminal gangs and society's r esponses to them. Eight recurrent themes were identified It was discovered that articles devoted to the coverage of gang crimes were outnumbered by st ories dealing with various community responses. Articles reporting the resu lts of scientific research on gangs constituted the smallest category. The results are discussed in light of their importance in the construction of s ocial problems discourse and the maintenance of symbolic power and social c ontrol.