Editor: Julie B. Wiest

Initial Deadline: September 30, 2019

This volume will include social science research that advances knowledge about the complex relationships between media and crime. Chapters will be divided into central focal areas within this literature to seek the widest breadth of current scholarship. In particular, studies are sought that examine: representations of crime and criminals in mass media; links between media representations of crime and related public beliefs and behaviors; the use of new/digital media in the commission/detection of crime or in the dissemination of crime stories; and advances in theory and/or methods relevant to studies of media and crime.

Topics might include:

1. Crime and Criminals in Mass Media: Chapters may examine the representation of crime and/or criminals in news or entertainment media, possibly focusing on depictions of crime rates, criminal incidents, or characteristics of criminals such as race, gender, age, nationality, occupation, etc.

2. Theorizing Media and Crime: Chapters may explore classical and emerging theories used in studies of media and crime, such as uses and gratifications theory, the mean world syndrome, mediatization, media logic, and others.

3. Mediated Perceptions of Crime: Chapters may focus on relationships between media representations of crime/criminals and public perceptions, attitudes, and/or behaviors related to criminality and/or criminal victimization.

4. Crime and Criminals in a New Media Landscape: Chapters may examine the role of new/ digital media technologies in the commission of crime, the detection/policing of crime, or the dissemination of information about crime and/or criminals.

5. Methods for Studying Media and Crime: Chapters may explore classical and/or emerging research methods used to study the relationships between media and crime, including quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed methods.

Volume Deadlines

• Proposal submissions: Sept. 30, 2019 (acceptance notifications by Nov. 1, 2019)

Proposals should be emailed to jbwiest@gmail.com as an attached Word file in the form of an extended abstract of 500 to 1,000 words, plus references.

All proposals should include information about the purpose and significance of the study, the data and methods employed, and major findings.

• Chapter drafts: Feb. 3, 2020 (peer review feedback by March 16, 2020)
• Final chapters: May 15, 2020 (about 8,000 – 10,000 words, including notes and references)

QUESTIONS? Contact the volume editor at jbwiest@gmail.com

Editor Julie Wiest is Associate Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania USA. As a sociologist of culture and media, Julie Wiest applies mainly symbolic interactionist and social constructivist perspectives to studies in three primary areas: (1) the sociocultural context of violence, (2) mass media effects, and (3) the relationship between new media technologies and social change. Wiest received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Tennessee and M.A. in journalism and mass communication from the University of Georgia. Before academia, she worked as a print and online journalist for nearly a decade.

Also see: http://www.emeraldmediastudies.com/Calls---Volumes.html