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This reproduction is the best copy available UMI THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SERIAL KILLERS: PAUL BERNARD0 AS A CASE STUDY by Sheila Sikora-Quinlan A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Stcdies and Research through the Department of Communication Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 1996 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*I ofCrnada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et BiMiographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Weilington Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON K1AW OaawaON KfAON4 canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. @ Sheila Sikora-Ouidan, 1996 Ali Rights Reserved ABSTRACT THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SERIAL KILLERS: PAUL BERNARD0 AS A CASE STUDY by Sheila Sikora-Quinfan This thesis examined how the media and five respondents socially constructed serial killer Paul Bernardo. Scholarly works from Bmh cultural studies and select . - works from the social constmctionist school were used in the analysis of the construction of Paul Bemardo. Specifically, Hall's (198Ob) mode1 of reading positions, prefmed, negotiated, and oppositional, provided a tool for understanding how the respondents read the media texts. In addition, works by Jenkins (1994). Davey (1994), and Leyton (1986) provided insight into the serial killer phenomenon and how serial killers were constructed. To investigate how Paul Bemardo was constructed by the media, a semiotic analysis of two magazine articles taken from Maclean's and People, and three television news reports from CBC Prime Time News was conducted to discover the prefened readings which emerged frorn the texts. The five respondents were chosen using Thompson's schema (Berelson & Janowitz, 1953) for measunng public opinion. McCracken's (1988) long inte~ewwas used to interview them for their comrnents on serial killers, the media. and the Paul Bemardo case. The five media texts were also presented to the respondents for their comments in order to discover first, how they reacted to the media's construction of Bernardo, and second, how they used the texts to constnrct Pau1 Bernardo. The thesis estabfished that the respondents read the texts in a negotiated fashion. and that their occupation, gender and socio-economic position influenced their readings. In addition, both the media and the respondents constnicted Bemardo either as a monster or yuppie. This simplified interpretation provided an insufficient basis for understanding serial killen. lnstead of providing an insight into Paul Bemardo, specifically, or serial killers generally, these constni~ons revealed important contem porary cultural values. 1 dedicate this thesis to M.R. - who would have, should have, and most importanfiy could have, but was denied the oppodunity to do sa ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There were many individuais who contributed to this thesis. It is impossible to describe the magnitude of their contributions in such a short space because I could constnict a thesis entitled 'People who helped me complete this thesis'. However, because that is not an option, I will do my best to describe the 'pit crew'. To rny chair Dr. Mary Goid, I take with me, among other things, a new appreciation for the English ianguage. Your keen attention to detail made this thesis a better piece of work. and for these things, I take my hat off to you. I would like to extend a special thank you to my second reader, Dr. Kai Hildebrandt. who at times was a negative influence on my use of the English language (No, I AIN'T!). Your comments and suggestions during the entire thesis process helped make this thesis what it is. May other graduate students reap the benefits of your acute perception and wisdom. For Dr. Tom Fleming, my outside reader, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your enthusiasrn in this area of research. Your knowledge and resources helped a great deal in the thesis process and also piqued my interest in studying serial killers. I am also indebted to Dr. lrvin Goldman for his help in the design of this thesis. The design was both innovative and challenging and thus helped in the completion of this thesis. vii viii To the respondents who participated in this study, I extend a heartfeit thank you. You graciously gave up your time to talk to me about this gruesome topic. As fa? as I am concerned. I share this degree with al1 of you. For the Communication Studies secrataries (Ann, Sheila, Lina. Gina) - AKA - the worfbs greatest secretanes - I will not forget your warm smiles and caring dispositions. You made me feel at home away from home. Your help and pleasant demeanours were a constant during my stay here. For these things, I am deeply thankful. To rny fellow graduate students, I want to Say thanks foi listening to my venting in 31 188, for making me laugh at just the right moment, and for giving me some great mernories. A gigantic thank you goes out to those students who participated in the pilot interviews. For Dermot Wilson, I thank you for putting me in touch with one of the respondents in this study. I also want to thank Chris Laskey for editing the video pieces into one seamless whole. You al1 took time out of your busy schedules to help me, and for that I am very grateful. I wish all of you much joy and success in your lives. For Beth Lyster, Rania Masad, and Sharon Wellington: thanks for being there for me during the good, the bad, and the unbearable times. You are wonderful people. May al1 your seasons be sunny. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to Say thank you to my farniiy, particulariy my husband Michael. Your faith in me helped me run the last mile in this academic marathon. Thank you for your unending support, your patience, and for always believing in my abilities. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................... vii LISTOFTABLES ............................................... xi trHlCS STATEMENT ........................................... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Theoretical Base ........................................... 2 Methodology ............................................. 2 Rationale ................................................ 3 Composition of the thesis .................................... 4 THEORETICAL BASE The notion of culture ........................................ 6 Structuralism and semiotics .................................. 10 Ideology .Marx and Louis Althusser ........................... 11 Hegernony O Antonio Gramsci ................................ 12 Multiaccentuality of the Sign .V.N. Volosinov ..................... 13 Subjectivity .Louis Althusser revisited .......................... 14 Encoding/decoding .Stuart Hall ............................... 15 Audience Studies .David Morley .............................. 18 Criticisms of Cultural Studies ................................. 20 Construction of the Deviant .................................. 21 III. MFTHO00LOGY Situating qualitative research ................................. 33 Issues in representing the Other .............................. 36 The crisis of legitimation .................................... 38 lnterpretation and writing ethnography .......................... 39 Long Interview ........................................... 40 IV. MEDIA ANALYSE Theoretical tools for analysis ................................. 48 The nature of news ....................................... 48 Language (Content) ....................................... 50 Photographs. shots. and space ............................... 51 Maclean's article .analysis .................................. 53 Elizabeth Palmer report O analysis ............................. 68 The debate O analysis ...................................... 70 Summary ............................................... 73 THE INTERVIEWS The respondents ......................................... 75 Respondent A O Joumalist ................................... 76 Respondent 8 .Lawyer .................................... 93 Respondect C O Women's Issues Advocate ...................... 98 Respondent D O Children's Rights Advacate ..................... 106 Respondent E .Uninfomed Individual ......................... 115 Broad Themes .......................................... 123 Construction of the Bemardo case ............................ 123 Thepolice ............................................. 124 The legal system ......................................... 125 VI . CONCLUSION Subjectivity in reading texts ................................. 126 Negotiated reading