Media Violence

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Media Violence
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Discussion Questions

• How do you define media violence? (What actions
  constitute violence?)
• Do you think there is too much, too little or
  just the right amount of violence in the media?
• How does media violence affect you?
• How do you think media violence affects others?

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• Are the mass media the cause of aberrant behavior?

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Positive effects of media violence
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Cathartic effect

• Media violence can be positive
• People release violent inclinations by seeing
  them portrayed

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Socially positive action

• Media portrayals of violence can increase
  awareness of social problems

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Negative effects of media violence
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Aggressive stimulation theory

• Media-depicted violence has potential to cue
  real-life violence

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Albert Banduras Bobo doll study

• Criticized for overstating cause-and-effect
  connections

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Criticisms of aggressive stimulation theory

• Causality is overstated
• Conclusions are simplistic
• Much of the evidence is anecdotal
• Other factors could be involved
• Aggressive people may gravitate toward violent
  media

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Catalytic theory

• Media may have a role in violence
• But media dont necessarily trigger violence

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• Media trigger violence only when certain
  non-media factors are also present
• Violence is rewarded
• Media exposure is heavy
• Violent person meets a certain profile

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Contributing factors

• Violence is realistic and exciting
• Violence rights a wrong
• Violence includes characters situations similar
  to viewers own experience

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Bottom line

• Violence is far too complex to be explained by a
  single factor
• Effects of media violence vary from person to
  person

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Desensitizing theory

• People becoming hardened by media violence
• Societys tolerance for antisocial behavior is
  increasing
• Applies to news media also

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Time for a quiz
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Mean-world syndrome

• George Gerbner
• T.V. violence makes people think theyre in
  greater danger than they really are
• The more T.V. people watch, the more likely they
  are to give the T.V. answer
• Poses a threat to democracy

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The Debate Over Media Violence Effects
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• CHILDREN, VIOLENCE, AND THE MEDIA
• A Report for Parents and Policy Makers
• Senate Committee on the Judiciary
• Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman
• Committee on the Judiciary

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• By age 18 an American child will have seen
  16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of
  violence.
• Television alone is responsible for 10 of youth
  violence.

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• More than 1,000 studies on the effects of
  television and film violence have been done over
  the past 40 years.
• The majority of these studies reach the same
  conclusion television and film violence leads to
  real-world violence.

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• The existing research shows beyond a doubt that
  media violence is linked to youth violence.

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Side 1Media violence DOES promote violent
behavior in young people
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Huesmann Moise

• Research shows that media violence has a strong
  effect on audience

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• Short-term changes after exposure
• Physical attacks on people inanimate objects
• Media violence primes/cues aggression

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• Viewing habits of young children predicts
  subsequent aggression
• Exposure to violence leads to arousal,
  desensitization acceptance

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Side 2Media violence DOES NOT promote violent
behavior in young people
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Freedman

• Counters "powerful effects" argument
• Laboratory studies unrealistic (demand
  characteristics)
• Results inconsistent inconclusive

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• Children know the difference between real
  fiction
• Correlations small (1-10)
• Not necessarily causal

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• For some children under some conditions, some
  television is harmful. For other children under
  the same conditions, or for the same children
  under other conditions, it may be beneficial.
  For most children, under most conditions, most
  television is neither particularly harmful nor
  particularly beneficial.
• Wilbur Schramm, Jack Lyle, Edwin Parker