The association of immigrants with crime in popular TV shows, which can fuel negative stereotypes, is at record levels according to new research into the way immigrants are portrayed in popular TV shows by Define American and the USC Norman Lear Center's Media Impact Project.
The report, Change the Narrative, Change the World 2022: The Power of Immigrant Representation on Television, shows improvements, but also cautions that some depictions of immigrant stories on television continue to be at odds with reality and that the association of immigrants with crime is at an all time high.
Key findings show that while representation of Black and Asian American immigrants has doubled since 2020, representation of Latin immigrant characters has plummeted, dropping from 50% in 2020 to 34% in 2022. Pacific Islander representation is also lacking.
"When you look at the outsized impact of television – where audiences are forming their first impressions about whole groups of people – it becomes absolutely imperative to show these viewers more than one hyper-criminalized, stereotypical story," said Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founder of Define American.
Contrary to the negative stereotype associating immigrants and crime, many research studies over more than two decades have found that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than native born Americans.
The new study combines a content analysis of all immigrant characters across two seasons of television with an audience survey. Shows analyzed include: Netflix's Never Have I Ever (winner of the 2022 People's Choice Award for Best Comedy), The CW's Roswell, New Mexico, FOX's The Cleaning Lady and CBS's Bob Hearts Abishola.
The research also highlighted the power of nuanced immigrant characters to create meaningful connections with audiences.
"Define American's research is showing how characters like Nalini - who I play in `Never Have I Ever’ - can actually help people to be more understanding toward immigrant experiences," said actor Poorna Jagannathan, who stars in Netflix's `Never Have I Ever’ as Devi's mother, Nalini. "Audiences are creating relationships with these characters that are then informing how they're interacting with immigrants in real life. There is more empathy, understanding and nuance to these interactions, and that is such a powerful thing."
While there has been some positive improvement in representation, immigrant characters on television are also more likely to be associated with crime than at any point since this research began, the researchers said. .
"More representation of immigrants is not necessarily better," said Erica Rosenthal, director of research at the Norman Lear Center. "If characters convey inaccurate stereotypes, for example, about immigrants and crime, this may contribute to real-life prejudice."
The full report is available here.
