Framing the User: Social Constructions of Marijuana Users and the Medical Marijuana Movement Nelson A. Pichardo Almanzar Dept. of Sociology Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA 98926 Pichardn@cwu.edu Thanks to Laura Appleton and Ericka Stange for comments on an earlier draft. Thanks also to Kirk Johnson for his assistance in locating criminal data sets. Framing the User: Social Constructions of Marijuana Users and the Medical Marijuana Movement ABSTRACT Social movements are continuously engaged in the act of framing. Whether it is to present their message in a positive light or to cast their opponent’s arguments in a negative light, SMs find it necessary to engage in a public contest over how they are perceived. …show more content…
The ostensive purpose of framing in social movements is to advance the acceptance of the cause. Framing helps accomplish this in several ways. First, it identifies the problem and locus of attribution. The “larger the range of problems covered by the frame, the larger the range of social groups that can be addressed with the frame and the greater the mobilization capacity of the frame” (Gerhards and Rucht 1992:580). Second, frames can vary in terms of their flexibility and rigidity and their inclusivity and exclusivity. Purportedly, the more flexible and inclusive the collective action frame used, the greater the potential appeal of the frame to the public. Third, frames vary in their interpretive scope and influence. If they are fairly expansive in their scope they function as “master frames” (Snow and Benford 1992). Master frames have broad appeal to the population increasing the movement’s appeal. Examples of master frames include democracy, victimization, and individual rights frames. Fourth, frames 4 also vary in terms of their cultural resonance. The more a frame resonates or connects with the culture, the greater its effectiveness or mobilizing potential. The success of framing efforts is also a consequence of its credibility. “The credibility of any framing is a function of three factors: frame consistency, empirical credibility, and the credibility of the frame articulators
Mass media is an ever-growing field where millions of people are connected at a constant basis. With that being said opinions and viewpoints are established on a daily basis through the media society reads. Many of these news media sources can be persuasive and have an influence on individual’s opinions. This concept is called framing. While it is related to the concept of agenda setting, framing focuses more on the issue at hand rather than on a particular topic. Framing is an important topic because of its major influence over the choices people make and how they process information. “Goffman stated that there are two distinctions within primary frameworks which are natural and social. Both play the role of helping individuals interpret
Framing is a part of displaying a story, and helps audience engage and relate to what they are being exposed to. The shooting at pulse nightclub has caught wind of the gun control debate that has been going on. The debate of gun control has been brought up numerous times. This topic is not new to a majority of citizens in America. On June12, 2016, a horrific event took place in Orlando, Florida. There was a mass shooting at a gay bar called Pulse Nightclub that has left many dead and few wounded and traumatized by the event. This event has started up the never-ending debate of gun control in America. America prides themselves of their second amendment, “Right to bear arms”. This particular amendment people want to see change since it is no longer keeping the safety but is causing the fear that anytime someone can lose
Social movements typically concern institutions that serve explicit and implicit purposes, including “perpetuation of cultural norms, value maintenance, policy making, and enforcement of statutes and doctrines”. The significance of this is that institutions frame situations to their benefit by definitions and interpretations. Protesters challenge this definitional authority by offering counter frames that portray institutions negatively. In attempt to sustain power, credibility, and legitimacy, institutions will implement four strategies when responding to these challenges: evasion, counter-persuasion, coercive persuasion, and adjustment. For example, during the Selma to Montgomery marches law enforcement institutions strategically used the evasion strategy in order to place a frame that the social movements do not exist and that their preexisting laws were constitutional. During this time the government and media did not acknowledge black Americans as equals let alone citizens of the United States. Thus, were seen as unworthy of institutional response. The institutional strategy, counter-persuasion, deals with the notion of “challenge a social movement’s vision of reality and attempt to discredit its leaders, members, and demands”. During the Selma to Montgomery marches, ideas were framed as “ill advised, poorly informed, and lacking merit”. This then relates to the third strategy, coercive persuasion, where there was an “enhancing of fear appeals or a method to resist change due to the appeal to basic fear”. Coercive persuasion is formed in order to persuade target audiences that force will follow non-compliance. For example, law enforcement institutions of the Selma to Montgomery marches threatened protesters through fear that if they participated in any uncivil uproar that they would be incarcerated or
A force of imbalance in the power structure of the Line 3 debate is introduced through Neal Stewart’s communicative inoculation theory. Stewart begins by acknowledging the widespread effectivity and importance of rhetoric perpetuated by grass-roots social movements (such as women’s rights advocates, prohibitionists, and civil rights activists). Then the article addresses a woeful lack of analysis on behalf of the academic community, in reference to evaluating the rhetoric of institutions that oppose these movements. The modern conception of defining movements solely by their proponents disregards the communicational efficacy held by those opposing movements, and ultimately contributes to historical revisionism as the success of the movements is portrayed as inevitable rather than the product of organizations’ and individuals’ continued work, lobbying, and time. “Movements cannot be studied in a vacuum”, Stewart argues, and then goes forward to apply the scientific principle of Inoculation Theory to understanding how groups and institutions resist persuasion by
The framing and counter framing activities that the Tea Party has been religiously practicing includes: master framing, cultural resonance, empirical credibility, and salience. The effects of these framing notions advances toward an acceptance or a rejection, but for this movement, it strives for public acceptance and admittance for their reformist beliefs and ideology. These activities are the essential elements to carry through the movement’s political agenda.
Most studies focused on the impact of the news but Americans today receive a lot of their information from entertainment sites and social media. The media can affect the public’s understanding of events in numerous ways it frames how people think about a particular issue or event..As Kinder and Sanders (1996) explain, “frames lead a double life . . . frames are interpretive structures embedded in political discourse. . . . At the same time, frames also live inside the mind; they are cognitive structures that help individual citizens make sense of the issues” (p. 164). When frames in political discourse
In order to explore these well-defined frames in the media, we have narrowed down the period to focus on the key events that have caused more recent responses in the media. To explore this, we will be using framing and cultivation theory to examine how individuals feel regarding the hashtags and compare this to how the media is portraying the movement in the media. As mentioned above, the BLM and ALM movement have been in the news off and on for a while. However, we have chosen to focus our study on the news regarding the BLM and ALM movements starting on February 24, 2015 through August 10, 2015. February 24, 2015 was chosen as the starting point as this was the day that the Justice Department announced that they were no longer pursuing a federal hate crime case relating to the death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida (Berman &Horwitz 2015). This particular event helped the BLM movement gain momentum in the media and online. This allows us the opportunity to examine the frames during peak points in public interest and to include some more recent deaths that have been connected to the
The 2016 presidential election totes probably the most controversial presidential race in the history of the United States. In an attempt to sort through the rhetoric and cover, a citizen may be left perplexed at which candidate to vote for. The claims of both parties show inconsistencies in character and purpose as they make assurances of what the country will be like if they are elected. The strategy they use, called framing, is effective, but not new, in the realm of politics and journalism. Wikipedia defines framing as a social science technique that “comprises a set of concepts and theoretical perspectives on how individuals, groups, and societies, organize, perceive, and communicate about reality… In the context of politics or mass-media communication, a frame defines the packaging of an element of rhetoric in such a way as to encourage certain interpretations and to discourage others. For political purposes, framing often presents facts in such a way that implicates a problem that is in need of a solution” (Framing (Social Sciences), Wikipedia). The very essence of persuasion hinges on one party convincing another party, through argument, that their way of thinking or solution is better. Thus, framing becomes the tool of persuading the general
Sandberg, S. (2011, August 3) The Department of Sociology and Human Geography in Norway did a study on the public perception of marijuana among Norwegians who part take. A study done on 100 cannabis users saw that their perception of the drug was either neutral or positive. Unlike tobacco users or alcoholics, cannabis users don’t see much of a problem with using weed (another slang term for cannabis). They don’t seem to understand that smoking this product can have similar effects on their lungs as cigarettes (though not as destructive). The idea that teens do drugs to rebel against society is actually un-true, the exact opposite is true. When cannabis is talked about so positively in the media and among politicians, it actually makes teenagers think the drug is safe and subconsciously encourages them to do it. Alcohol and cigarettes aren’t looked at so positively in society, and thus the use of these drugs among youths is falling dramatically (yes, even alcohol). They see these drugs as life threatening, manmade chemicals ingested by older folk, while cannabis is seen as this great, all natural remedy to many ailments in life (depression, anxiety, appetite loss, insomnia, etc). Though much of marijuana’s positive attributes are supported by science, there are some misconceptions that leave teens with the wrong ideas about cannabis, such as marijuana has no negative mental effects on the user. This lax approach to the
A controversial social topic surrounding our time has been the issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes. Cannabis sativa, also known as marijuana, was classified by the United States government as a class I drug in 1970, which means that it is against the law to possess and distribute this illegal substance (Source 2). However, in recent years, many states have made marijuana more accessible for medical and recreational use. States such as Colorado and Washington have not just decriminalized possession and distribution, but have enacted laws that encourage the recreational use of cannabis. Around 100 million Americans have experienced this drug (Source 1). Essentially one in four Americans
Throughout this paper details dealing with the topic of marijuana and its legalization will be explained by using journal articles and information gathered from my local Lincoln Parish library. These details include the explanation of what marijuana is, the views on marijuana’s legalization regulations among citizens in states across the United States, and the government’s outlook on the use of the drug. Also, personal opinions of a few of my peers will be provided through brief interviews. By completing this research paper, I plan to discover how far marijuana legalization within America has come and the steps being taken to either fully legalized or illegalize marijuana in the future.
The attendance quiz question regarding losing and saving lives exhibits the framing theory. This case scenario defines the framing theory because of the obvious variance in the language used to describe the same outcome. The framing theory is that by emphasizing a situation or title using a certain context of wording will activate a certain shelf to influence someone's decision or thought process.
Social movements have a tremendous impact on our society and it is important that we understand how those movements are shaped. As individuals we are all part of a greater society and could be called upon to stand up for human rights. Understanding how to shape social movements so they have better chances of succeeding could mean the difference between a society that guides improved human rights and one that loses sight. There is a great deal of literature on social movements and it has become increasing popular since the Vietnam Era of social protest. The literature typically
The second characteristic of NSM’s is tied to the first, in that groups no longer tend to share an over-arching ideological framework, whereas in Marxist discourse, such a shared frame was the “unifying and totalizing element for collective action” (Buechler & Cylke 277). Ideological unity has been supplanted by “pragmatic orientations” where movement members seek “institutional reform” to attain greater power in decision making processes, promoting a “‘democratizing dynamic’” in social movement discourse.
The ability to manipulate perception when it comes to social movements or collective action is key. Not just for those on the outside looking in, but those who are participating as well. It not only determines what a social group will do to invoke change, it will also affect how a society will agree or disagree with the change. This manipulation of perception is best defined as framing, and is more than just labeling something as good or bad. Pulling from the articles read from this week the most convincing conceptualization of the term “framing” was the argument that it consisted of three elements, with the first being the diagnosis of something as problematic and need for alteration, followed by a proposed solution that specifies what needs to be done, and finally a call to rational engagement in corrective action. (Snow & Benford 1988) The first point highlighted the importance of contention when it comes to collective action. Problems within any given society are prevalent at all times, however, not until there is a call for a change does collective action occur. Contention rests in the need for a change, whether or not opportunity is the catalyst for contention is debatable, however the conceptualizing of “framing” laid out by Snow and Benford also brings into question whether or not collective action is a choice rather than a response. In the each of the three steps mentioned above there has to be a framing. There has to be a framing of a situation as problematic and