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Final Reflection Paper In Criminal Justice

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Final Reflection Paper Kevin O’Connell Northern Arizona University Final Reflection Paper As a Criminal Justice major, I had always believed that I had a reasonable grasp of topics pertaining to the representation of marginalized groups not only in the justice system but also in media itself. However, through taking this course I realized that I had a lot to learn and that not everything was as “black and white” as I had previously thought. Throughout the course of this reflection, I will cover information that I found the most interesting such as the ideas presented by Stuart Hall as well explaining how I grew throughout the semester in regards to my understanding of key topics such as hegemony and sexuality. I recall being extremely …show more content…

In particular, the definition I provided about the idea of hegemony truly showed that I did not have a grasp on key concepts that were necessary to understand to analyze and critique media. The definition I provided for hegemony was “the meeting point or marriage of two hedges”, showing that I had no previous knowledge of the term itself. Through readings provided in the course and in class lecture, I was able to understand hegemony as “…the power or dominance that one social group holds over another” (Lull, 2011). Understanding the concept of hegemony is important as it allowed me to grasp that individuals in power are able to limit visibility by proliferating ideologies that are commonly viewed as the norm. As hegemony was a concept that was discussed throughout the course, it was essential that I understood what exactly it meant and how it affects visibility and representation in …show more content…

While I had originally understood the term “minority” to be relating to non-white groups, this course has taught me that a minority group can be any group that is underrepresented or misrepresented in media such as individuals with disabilities or even individuals who are non-binary. Issues regarding representation and visibility of minority groups had never crossed my mind as they are issues not commonly discussed in media today. I also learned a lot about various stereotypes that plague many different marginalized groups. These stereotypes negatively affect the group as they become narratives that are difficult to escape, limiting the groups visibility and proliferating false ideas. Through this course, I have come to understand the lack of representation as problematic as individuals with power in the media industry are capable of limiting the amount of representation these groups

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