En gangster kunde kanske älska sin mor: Produktionen av moraliska klichéer i amerikanska polis- och deckarserier

In this study, American police- and detective-series are analysed. I focus on the portrayal of the criminals, especially the moral aspect. The series can be regarded as moral tales. The morality is embedded in the characters that populate the different episodes. There are two major categories of criminals in the series; the essentialized criminals and the ones that commit crimes due to circumstances. This categorization concerns the explanations of the crimes, how the criminals’ fundamental motives are depicted. Different attributes contribute to the construction of the characters as complete entities. The depiction of regret or the lack thereof is an essential aspect of the morality connected with the different culprits. Regret opens up for inclusion, while the lack of remorse and regret serve as a tool for exclusion from society. Respect and disrespect between offender and police/detective are also of significance for the presentation of morality. The portrayal of respect/disrespect can be interpreted in terms of a ”we” and ”them” construction: The disrespect that the essentialized villains show can be seen as a denial of the moral and social order and the police/detectives treatment of these villains can in turn be seen as a way of preserving this order, to keep unwelcome intruders away. The police and the detectives are thus engaged in a process of exclusion. In the same way, the respectful treatment of the other criminals — the situational criminals — can be seen as a recognition of the moral sphere, of including those that deserves to be incorporated. The episodes can be seen as status degradation ceremonies in the case of the essentialized criminals, and in regard to the other offenders, as ceremonies of restoration. The episodes constitute trials where the offender’s character is in focus. With this line of thought as a background, one can approach punishment as a form of moral communication. The episodes can thus be seen as a part of the punishment’s symbolic frame. In this, a certain cultural order is expressed that is not reducible to the series internal clichés. As such, the offenders that inhabit the series are valuable in that the viewer is a part of this symbolic frame.