Content uploaded by Jaime García-Claro
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jaime García-Claro on Jul 27, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
75 International Council of Psychologists Conference
th
Disability portrayals in the media:
mock and the role of witnesses in the case of Joe
Swanson in the “Family Guy” series
Jaime Garcia-Claro, (jgarcia.claro@alu.uhu.es)
University of Huelva
Octavio Vazquez-Aguado, (octavio@dstso.uhu.es), University of Huelva
Roberto Martinez-Pecino
, (rmpecino@us.es), University of Sevilla
ABSTRACT
Disability is an important issue affecting people all around the world. According to the World Disability Report (WHO & World Bank, 2011), there are more than
1 billion people with disability on the planet. In USA, 1 in 5 people have a disability (56,7 million people), affecting both men and women (US Census Bureau,
2012). Mass media, including TV and the new digital platforms are very relevant in the socialization process and can affect our attitudes, beliefs and models of
behavior towards other. Series are one of the most consumed products by teens and youth. In this study we analyze the presence of mocks related to Joe
Swanson (wheel chair policeman) in Family Guy, a very popular cartoon series.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study are:
•To analyze the presence of mocks related to Joe Swanson (wheel chair policeman) in Family Guy.
•To analyze the role of witnesses in the scene.
METHODOLOGY
The whole 15 seasons (290 chapters) have been visualized and analyzed distinguishing between general scenes where Joe appears and
scenes where people interacting with Joe explicitly refer to his disability.
All those scenes have been literally transcribed for speech analysis. They have also been coded with a coding sheet to perform statistical
analysis with SPSS program.
RESULTS
After visualizing the 290 chapters it can be observed:
People with disability appear in 212 chapters. The most frequent -186 (87.73%)- correspond to Joe
Swanson. Of those 186 chapters, we can distinguish between general scenes where Joe appears and
scenes where people interacting with Joe explicitly refer to his disability -48 chapters (25.80%)-.
In 15% of general scenes there is mockery (Figure 1), of which in 96% the witnesses do not intervene in
his favor, and only in 4% do so. (Figure 2)
When explicitly referring to his disability there is a dramatic increase up to 42% of mocking scenes
(Figure 1), of which in 99% the witnesses do not intervene in his favor while only in 1% do so. (Figure 3)
The terms most frequently used towards Joe: handicapped, crippled, ballast, invalid, useless,
filthy lame, half-man. Infantilizing him and laughing at him for not being able to walk nor to enter
certain places that were not adapted for wheelchairs is also frequent.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
•Results evidence the presence of mocks associated to disability as well as the passive
role of witnesses.
•Dramatic increase of mockery in scenes where people explicitly refer to his disability.
•It is necessary to reflect about negative disability stereotypes with episodes of
mockery and bullying that appear as they show negative models of behavior
towards people with disabilities.
•These types of behaviors devalue people with disability. Although the show's writer
says that humor is a way to remove barriers, the opposite could also happen and
make people with disability feel denigrated.
•T.V. channels should consider the audience and schedules in which they broadcast
certain shows, since some models of behaviors could have a very negative impact on
the socialization process of children, teens and youth.
INTERNATONAL IMPLICATIONS
This study has important international implications since both disability and mass
media socialization affect people all around the globe. With this study we highlight
the need to take conscious about disability portrayals in the media and the role of
witnesses. We encourage future research to analyze disability portrayals in different
T.V. series, to explore the possible educational use of a critical analysis of the same in
family and school contexts, and to reflect about the models we should promote on
T.V. to contribute to a better and more inclusive society.
REFERENCES
-Claro, J. G. & Pecino R. M. (2015), Calidad de vida en personas con
diversidad funcional intelectual del Programa “Grupos de
Autogestores”: una aproximación desde la escala INICO-FEAPS.
Documentos de Trabajo Social nº55, p. 72-96.
-Haller, B., & Ralph, S. (2003). John Callahan’s Pelswick cartoon and
a new phase of disability humor. Disability Studies Quarterly, 23(3), 4.
-Persegani, C., Russo, P., Carucci, C., Nicolini, M., Papeschi, L. L., &
Trimarchi, M. (2002). Television viewing and personality structure in
children. Personality and individual differences, 32(6), 977-990.
-Us Census Bureau (2012), Americans with disabilities. Household
Economic Studies.
-World Health Organization & The World Bank (2011), World Report
on Disability, Geneva –Switzerland.
July 27-30, 2017 – Pace University, New York City, USA
4%
96%
Figure 2. Role of witnesses
in general scenes where Joe appears
In favor of Joe
Not in favor of Joe
1%
99%
Figure 3. Role of witnesses in scenes with
explicit comments about Joe’s disability
In favor of Joe
Not in favor of Joe
15%
42%
Figure 1. Mockery episodes
General scenes where Joe appears
Scenes with explicit comments about Joe's disability