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"If the dominant media stereotype portrays perpetrators as monsters, as ‘Prime Evil’, then the dominant academic image is the opposite. It paints them as ordinary people (gender ignored, but assumed as male) diligently under sway of modern bureaucratic compartmentalisation (the banality of evil ... thesis), or as obedient to authority and conforming to social pressures (the situationist thesis). No monsters here, just ordinary people under rather extraordinary circumstances. The moral message: we co uld all potentially become perpetrators, depending on the situation. There is a competing view: the perpetrator as a willing, even eager, executioner driven by strong negative emotions against the ‘other’. The scholarly world presents us with antagonistic perspectives. What picture do we get from narrative approaches, from stories told by those actually responsible for politically-related violence? First, there are only a few narrative studies. Second, they also paint competing pictures. On the one hand, is a picture of the perpetrator as a victim – of organisational routines, hierarchies, pressures and secrecy, and of dominant ideologies, as well as brutal initiation rites which instil the practice of obedience to authority. These narrative studies support the situationist and ordinary person line of explanation. They also correct the erstwhile neglect of gender issues by placing emphasis on masculinity as an important ingredient. On the other hand, the South African storytelling studies by Marks (2001), Straker (1992) and Campbell (1992) throw up a different picture. While victims in one sense – of Bantu education, poverty and violence at the hands of both state security agents and older vigilante groups – they are also action-oriented moral crusaders in defence of their communities and in politically-minded offensive against the apartheid state and its allies. Once again, we have contrasting and competing pictures of those responsible for political violence. In these particular storytelling perspectives, differences are partly due to the different positions of protagonists across the dividing line of power: state security personnel on the one hand and resistance activists on the other. Apart from the conflicting images from varying epistemological perspectives and different theoretical angles, the very label or category of a ‘perpetrator’ is more muddied, contested and problematic than a first glance would suggest. We described seven grey areas which challenge or disrupt the dominant binaries of victim-perpetrator and the triangular view of dramatis personae: perpetrator – ‘victim’ – bystander/observer. Moreover, in Chapter 4, we raise a number of moral quandaries or dilemmas in the study of those responsible for violence, which again dislodge the simple and tidy categories. Therefore a central component of the present study aims to problematise and disrupt the complacency of the very label and category of ‘perpetrator’. What should be done? In the face of these competing images and explanations we carve out a ‘third space’ beyond, or perhaps better, between the theoretical antagonisms of situationism versus agency (willing killers); among the grey areas between category labels of victim/perpetrator/bystander. Rather than this being seen as an alternative position, it should be read as an attempt at synthesis. Instead of the oppositional pairing of ‘either-or’, it should be seen in terms of the inclusive pairing ‘both-and’ (Foster, 1999).We argue that those responsible for violence should be regarded as potentially both victim and perpetrator, as well as both subject to circumstances/influences and active initiators." (Conclusion, page 321-322) more

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Von Tagesschau bis Explosiv: Ängstigend oder informativ für Kinder? Materialpaket für Seminare mit Eltern und Kindern

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München: kopaed;JFF Institut für Medienpädagogik (2005), 72 pp.

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Women in Theatre for Development in Cameroon: Participation, Contributions and Limitations

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Bayreuth: Thielmann & Breitinger (2005), 245 pp.

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Mediensoziologie: Grundfragen und Forschungsfelder

Michael Jäckel (ed.)

Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften (2005), 388 pp.

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Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the Study of Media Content and Audience Analysis
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Paul J. Traudt

Boston et al.: Pearson (2005), xvi, 208 pp.

"Media, Audiences, Effects teaches students how to evaluate media effects research and better understand the role media play in our everyday lives. This text introduces readers to more than 300 contemporary research studies focusing on twelve important topic areas, including television violence, gen ... more

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Im Zeichen des Halbmonds: Kinder-und Jugendliteratur aus islamischen Ländern und von MigrantenautorInnen

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Berlin: Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW);Arbeitgemeinschaft Jugendliteratur und Medien (2005), 48 pp.

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Ethnic Minorities, Electronic Media, and the Public Sphere: A Comparative Study

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Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton Press (2005), 255 pp.

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Derecho a la información de niños, niñas y adolescentes: Guía metodológica

Lima: UNICEF;FELAFACS (2005), 74 pp.

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Promoting Literacy for Roma Children and Young People

Critical Thinking International (2005), 101 pp.

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Kalte Herzen: Wie das Fernsehen unseren Charakter formt

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Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 2nd ed. (2005), 271 pp.

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Libraries for the Blind in the Information Age: Guidelines for Development

Rosemary Kavanagh, Beatrice Christensen Sköld (eds.)

The Hague: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2005), 87 pp.

"Developing an efficient library service for print-disabled people is extremely important, because there are significantly fewer books available commercially in accessible formats compared to what is published in print for the general public. The need to build collections in alternative formats and ... more

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Periodismo y niñez: En busca de un ejercicio incluyente

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Maidenhead: Open University Press (2005), 250 pp.

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Youth and Media in Transition Societies: The Case of Croatia. A Preparative Study for the Symposium "Youth and Media in Transition Societies"

Barbara Peranic

Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2005), 51 pp.

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The Continuum Guide to Media Education

Pat Brereton

London: Continuum (2005), 197 pp.

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Aprender con la radio: Reflexiones y actividades para promover la participación comunitaria

Silvia Bacher, Mónica Beltrán (eds.)

Buenos Aires: Las Otras Voces;UNICEF (2005), 28 pp.

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Medienarbeit mit Kindern aus Migrationskontexten: Grundlagen und Praxisbausteine

Björn Maurer

München: kopaed (2004), 260 pp.

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Medien - Bildung - Religion: Zum Verhältnis von Medienpädagogik und Religionspädagogik in Theorie, Empirie und Praxis

Manfred L. Pirner, Thomas Breuer (eds.)

München: kopaed (2004), 272 pp.

Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the Study of Media Content and Audience Analysis Key Guidance

Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the Study of Media Content and Audience Analysis
Key Guidance