The Spectre of Punishment: The Relationships Between Media, Government, and the 2014 Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act
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Authors
Pohl, Ethan Warren
Date
2025-07-10
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Media , Crime , Criminal justice policy
Alternative Title
Abstract
This dissertation explores the relationships between Canadian news media coverage of individuals deemed ‘Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder’ (NCR) and the 2014 Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act. The NCR Reform Act was introduced after a small number of NCR cases received extensive media coverage in Canada––the Act made changes to the treatment of NCR accused which proponents claimed would protect the public by increasing the time NCR accused spend in treatment. Opponents, however, claimed the government was legislating in response to sensationalist media headlines. The dissertation uses a two-stage research design. The first stage comprises a content analysis of a sample of Canadian news media reporting on NCR from 2008-2020 and a thematic analysis of three high-profile cases. The second stage is a thematic analysis of all parliamentary debate transcripts relating to NCR or the NCR Reform Act from February 2013-August 2014, and all relevant government press releases from the same period. This dissertation demonstrates how the NCR Reform Act emerged out of an image of a problem––an image of NCR accused as dangerous, violent, and in need of punishment in the form of confinement. This image is co-created in a dialogic relationship by media reporting and government actors. The dissertation advances this argument through three empirical chapters which describe how media presents retributive confinement as a necessary response to unjust high-profile NCR verdicts which put the public at risk. When confinement is not ensured, media reporting calls for new laws to be passed to reduce suspect expert testimony and increase confinement. Government contributes to and enacts this culturally produced image of NCR through the NCR Reform Act––evidenced by citing high-profile cases as the impetus of the Bill, the alignment between media narratives and the Act’s legal changes, and the Bill’s desired impact upon the public perception of safety and justice. Overall, the NCR Reform Act represents a reinvention of the process of managing NCR accused in their own mediated image and cultural construction. The dissertation concludes by developing the theoretical implications of the work for understanding the varied relationships between media, government, and policy.
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International