My first bias related to feelings of danger around immigrants is based on the notion that immigrants commit more crime than natives. Sampson (2008) argues that there is actually a negative correlation between immigrants and homicide, contradicting the bias that immigrants are more criminal than natives. Sampson (2008) made this conclusion by conducting a review of crimes committed by “whites”, “blacks”, and “Mexican-Americans” from 1995 to 2003 in 180 different neighborhoods in Chicago (p. 29). The results of this survey were that among the crimes reported in that time period, Mexican-Americans committed the least amount of crime. In addition to this, immigrant-dense neighborhoods experienced less violence than neighborhoods of similar socioeconomic
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Notable results from Dixon’s (2015) work include that “Latinos are severely overrepresented as being both legal and undocumented immigrants” (p. 34). In addition to this, Muslims were overrepresented as “terrorists.” Dixon suggests that the origin of these misrepresentations in media outlets is in part related to the drive for news companies to gain profit by writing stories people want to read. In addition to this, Dixon presents the “guard dog perspective,” which is essentially the belief that groups with the least amount of power in society receive the most bias. Schemer (2012) builds upon this discussion by arguing that the media truly has an effect on societal thought. Although conducted in Switzerland, Schemer (2012) found through pre- and post- election surveys that negative immigrant portrayal during the 2008 election actually made public opinion of immigrants more negative. The glimmer of hope that exists in Schemer’s (2012) work is that “the more people know about [the issue], the higher their resistance to the influence of news” (p. 751). From these four studies, it is evident that there is a disconnect between the immigrant “reality” and how immigrants are portrayed in the media, the largest of these disconnects existing between Hispanic crime rates …show more content…
This study surveyed elementary-aged children from both immigrant and non-immigrant families to examine why children thought people immigrate to America, general perceptions of immigrants, and reasoning for negative associations with immigrants. Immigrant and non-immigrant children were both aware of negative perceptions towards immigrants, but did not necessarily take on those perceptions themselves, at least in the setting of the survey. Both groups of children also identified that the belief that immigrants are criminals as one of the largest reasoning for these perceptions (Brown & Lee, 2015, p.
Notable results from Dixon’s (2015) work include that “Latinos are severely overrepresented as being both legal and undocumented immigrants” (p. 34). In addition to this, Muslims were overrepresented as “terrorists.” Dixon suggests that the origin of these misrepresentations in media outlets is in part related to the drive for news companies to gain profit by writing stories people want to read. In addition to this, Dixon presents the “guard dog perspective,” which is essentially the belief that groups with the least amount of power in society receive the most bias. Schemer (2012) builds upon this discussion by arguing that the media truly has an effect on societal thought. Although conducted in Switzerland, Schemer (2012) found through pre- and post- election surveys that negative immigrant portrayal during the 2008 election actually made public opinion of immigrants more negative. The glimmer of hope that exists in Schemer’s (2012) work is that “the more people know about [the issue], the higher their resistance to the influence of news” (p. 751). From these four studies, it is evident that there is a disconnect between the immigrant “reality” and how immigrants are portrayed in the media, the largest of these disconnects existing between Hispanic crime rates …show more content…
This study surveyed elementary-aged children from both immigrant and non-immigrant families to examine why children thought people immigrate to America, general perceptions of immigrants, and reasoning for negative associations with immigrants. Immigrant and non-immigrant children were both aware of negative perceptions towards immigrants, but did not necessarily take on those perceptions themselves, at least in the setting of the survey. Both groups of children also identified that the belief that immigrants are criminals as one of the largest reasoning for these perceptions (Brown & Lee, 2015, p.