주요 일간지에 보도된 정신질환자 범죄기사의 분석

Reports of Crime Conducted by the Mentally HI in Korean Newspapers

Objectives : The main purposes o f this study were to analyze the reports o f crime conducted by the mentally ill on Korean newspapers and to find the prejudice and it s effects. Methods : One hundred thirty-two reports of crime by the mentally ill on the four major daily newspapers( ChoSun II Bo, Dong A II bo, HanKyoReh Shin Mun, JoongAng II bo) issued from Jan. 1st，1991 to Jun. 15th, 1995 were selected using KINDS(Korean Integrated Newspapers Database System) made by Korean Institute of the Press. Quantitative analysis was conducted in 35 categories with qualitative analysis conducted using the classification of modifiers in the title and the text of reports. Results ： 1) Most reports were printed in the form at o f news written in 1 - 2 column in the section of social story page, but problematic or shocking events at issue were printed as top news. 2) M ost frequently reported crimes were murders or attempted murders, and physical-type injury. Most reports asserted that the crimes were related to mental illness perse on the ground of past treatment history without further details or incomprehensible criminal act. Most informants were policemen and neighbors. 3) Newspapers reported more on the opinions o f non-experts about the cause, countermeasure, responsibility of crimes, rather than those of mental health experts. Non-experts interpreted the cause of crime as the symptoms of the mentally ill and the countermeasure as the consolidation of prevention against the crime by the mentally ill. 4) The major modifiers used in newspapers to characterize the crimes by the mentally ill were cruelty, inhumanness, unexpectedness, violence, and peculiarity, expressing people s emotional reaction to the mentally ill as surprise, fear and anger. Conclusion ： This study shows that the newspapers play an important role in the propagation of prejudice, emphasizing negative views on the mentally ill. Objective attitudes backed up by mental heatlth experts’ opinions in newspaper reports of crimes conducted by the mentally ill are strongly needed.