Framing Migration and the Process of Crimmigration: A Systematic Analysis of the Media Representation of Unauthorized Immigrants in the Netherlands

European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 14(1) 100–119

Criminal Justice, Borders and Citizenship Research Paper No. 3082534

20 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2017

See all articles by Jelmer Brouwer

Jelmer Brouwer

Leiden University - Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology

Maartje van der Woude

Leiden Law School - Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology

Joanne van der Leun

Leiden University - Leiden Law School

Date Written: 2017

Abstract

In this article we examine whether the proposal to criminalize illegal stay in the Netherlands was preceded by increased negative media attention for unauthorized immigrants. Using a corpus linguistics approach, we carried out a quantitative discourse analysis of all newspaper articles on unauthorized migrants over a period of 15 years. Our results show that the amount of media coverage actually strongly decreased in the years before the proposal, and this coverage was moreover increasingly less negative. This study thus nuances the somewhat popular belief that unauthorized migrants are increasingly portrayed in negative ways and shows that the framing of migrants as criminals is a more diffuse process in which the media seem to follow rather than fuel politics and policy.

Keywords: Crimmigration, framing, immigration, media, The Netherlands

Suggested Citation

Brouwer, Jelmer and van der Woude, Maartje and van der Leun, Joanne, Framing Migration and the Process of Crimmigration: A Systematic Analysis of the Media Representation of Unauthorized Immigrants in the Netherlands (2017). European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 14(1) 100–119, Criminal Justice, Borders and Citizenship Research Paper No. 3082534, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3082534

Jelmer Brouwer (Contact Author)

Leiden University - Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology ( email )

Postbus 9520
Leiden, 2300
Netherlands

Maartje Van der Woude

Leiden Law School - Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology ( email )

Postbus 9520
Leiden, 2300
Netherlands

Joanne Van der Leun

Leiden University - Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

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