Kendal Samuel, Jachin Kedar, Isaac Jones, Jarell Hallmon

Department of Journalism and Mass Communications,

Email: kasamuel@aggies.ncat.edu, jkmoore2@aggies.ncat.edu, iijones@aggies.ncat.edu
Introduction
For our research project we decided to use the
film ‘When They See Us’ to assist in observing
how individuals behave after experiencing the
prison system and how content published by
the media affects the viewing populations’
behavior. The first aim of this project is to find
a correlation between communication and
behavior. Our second aim is to show the effect
of media content on viewing audience
behaviors and perceptions after observing the
film. We were able to do this by developing an
online survey that was sent out to selected
individuals ranging from 18 to 24 in age, we
asked them how they think the prison system
affects an incarcerated individuals.  (Ages 18-24 predominantly, African-American college
Literature Review
The “When they See Us” film isn’t a pleasant film
but does have an enjoyable retelling of the true
story. Documentaries like such usually gain a lot of
attention due to its  compelling information and
wonderful camera work. The New York Times has
North Carolina A&T State University
, jmhallmon@aggies.ncat.edu
The below five tables showed how participants ranked the
Results
Hypotheses & Questions We asked a series of questions to examine people’s attitude toward the show
five characters in terms of unfair treatment. (N=11,
37.9%) of the participants who responded to this question
“When they see us”, and their attitude toward criminal justice. First question, ranked Korey Wise as the character who was treated the
RQ1:Does the consistency communication play a role in we asked whether participants agree with the statement “when they see us” most unfair.
an individual’s behavior? made them adjust their scope on the justice system. The results show that The question, “How many people do you personally know
H1:An individual’s behavior outside of prison can be totally 29 participants answered these questions. Among them most that are in or have been to prison” was asked to the
participants reported agree with this statement (N = 14, 48.3%). The second participants. 3 participants did not complete the question.
influenced by the amount of communication an individual question, “People who go to prison act differently when they come out”. (N=11,37.9%) of participants know at most 2 people in or
has inside of prison. Among them a majority agreed with this statement.(N=20,69%). have been to prison and (N=10,34.5%) know 3-4 people,
H2: An audiences’ behavior can be influenced by the The reason why the majority agree with these statements is because they are (N=5,17.2%) know 5 or more people.
media content and ones perception of the film When They familiar with the circumstances of the questions due to their background. This question influenced how the participants responded
to the previous questions that were asked.
See Us.
 
Method
• 29 participants were given a 5 min. online survey
regarding criminal justice systems and films, specifically
the Film ‘When They See Us’.
• Participants were gathered using non-random sampling.
students)
• Participants were asked to think of how films affect
humans and how prison effects humans. A Likert Scale
was used to collect this data
Ages of Particpants
3%
7% 14%

an article about the film “When They See Us”

written by Salamishah Tillet. In just the fifth and 
sixth paragraph of her article “‘When They See Us’
24% 17%
Transforms Its Victims Into Heroes” she explains
that the film isn’t hard to watch because it was
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
bad or on the lower echelon of camera work and
casting. She states “Because of my proximity to
that trial, I thought I’d be prepared to watch
“When They See Us,” Ava DuVernay’s four-part 34%

Netflix mini-series, debuting Friday, that depicts

the horrifying events surrounding the case, and
the excruciating toll the public persecution and
swift conviction had on these teenage boys and
their families.”, and then goes on to further
proclaim “Instead, it took me two days to watch
the first episode, and after each pause, I had to
convince myself that I could sit through the next
scene. This is not because this show lacks beauty
or depth.”. Tillet states that the film was
“thoughtfully cast, well placed, and visually
stunning”. “When They See Us”, definitely brought
an enjoyable way of telling the story. 
• The ethnicity and race of the participants comprised
of 29 (100%) people who identified as African
Americans. The ages of the participants comprised
of the 10( 35%) of 20-year-olds, 7(24%) of 21-year-
olds, 5(17%) of 19-year-olds, 4(14%) of 18-year-olds,
2(7%) 22-year-olds, 1(3%) of 24- year-olds and
0(0%) 23- year-olds.
The third question, “The amount of communication a prisoner has to the
outside affects his/her behavior”. The results show that majority agree with
this statement(N=25, 86.2%). The fourth question, “African Americans are
treated unfairly in the justice systems”. The results show that a nearly all
participants agree with this statement (N=28, 96.6%). The fifth question,
“White Americans are supportive of African Americans in the justice system”.
The results show almost half of the participants disagree with the statement
(N=14, 48.3%)
Discussion
The findings of this data suggests that the
audience's behavior can be influenced by the
media content and one’s perception of the film
When They See Us…This film has am influence to
the way the participants feel about the criminal
justice system as a whole.