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MEDIA VIOLENCE.
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Discussion of whether media violence promotes violent behavior in children.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discussion of whether media violence promotes violent behavior in children. Explores issue by examining several journal articles on the subject; the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments presented. How exposure to violence seen on television stimulates aggressive behavior. Makes argument for ethical considerations based on contention that TV violence is bad for children.
Paper Introduction:
Introduction
Due to recent events around the country regarding teen violence, many commentators and critics have pointed to the increase in violent images on television, in movies, and in video games as cause for this violence (Halgin, 2001, p. 186). In “Issue 12: Does Media Violence Promote Violent Behavior in Young People?”, R. P. Halgin sets forth two articles, “Media Violence: A Demonstrated Public Health Threat to Children” and “Violence in the Mass Media and Violence in Society: The Link is Unproven” to explore the apparent link between media violence and violence displayed by children (2001, p. 187).
Summary of Articles
In their article, “Media Violence: A Demonstrated Public Health Threat to Children,” Huesmann and Moise attack Dr.
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Social Education, 61 (5), 244-249. "Violence in Mass Media and Violence inSociety: The Link is Unproven." Harvard Mental Health Letter. Children also learn to justify theiraggressive behavior by watching television as TV perpetrators are oftenattractive, suffer minimal punishment and demonstrate a lack of remorse fortheir behavior (Hepburn, 1997). Freedman, in his article "Violence in the Mass Media andViolence in Society", agrees that there may be some indication thataggression in behavior increases after viewing a violent program, yet hedisputes that the results are as high as Huesmann and Moise demonstrate(Freedman, 1996, p. People in the United Statesspend as much as 5 hours per week watching TV, with 23 hours per weekaverage viewing time for children ages 2 to 11, and 21.5 hours per week byadolescents (Hepburn, 1997, p. These children are usuallythose who have the television set as their babysitter.Significance of Articles andValue to Society Gained from the Study The continued study of the effects of television violence on peoplein general and children in particular is important in gaining furtherunderstanding on childhood behavioral disorders, other personalitydisorders, and the population in general. Violence! A. Theypoint to the "more than 5 field studies over the last 2 years" (p. In Halgin, R. L., (May 1996). One is the type of measurement or test used of thesubjects after viewing a violent program. In Halgin,R. 193). 192). Finally, observing violence causes aphysiological arousal in children that is desensitized over time as moreand more violence is observed. Introduction Due to recent events around the country regarding teen violence,many commentators and critics have pointed to the increase in violentimages on television, in movies, and in video games as cause for thisviolence (Halgin, 2 1, p. Furthermore, helaments the inadequacy of the research and the bias of committeesevaluating that research, pointing instead to poverty, racial conflict,drug abuse, and poor parenting as causes for more aggressive behavior inchildren (p. (1997). 442). Halgin, R. "Media Violence: ADemonstrated Public Health Threat to Children." Harvard Mental HealthLetter. (2 1). It isfinally up to parents themselves to police their children's viewing and tosimply eliminate the watching of violence -- if they care about theirchildren. L. As children imitate what theysee, if they are viewing an average of 23 hours of television per week, andthat viewing is of violent programs, then they will imitate what they havewatched on TV. 188). The strength of the Freedman article is in his admittal that it doesseem plausible that TV violence causes aggression because children imitateand learn from what they see and observe. References Freedman, J. (2 1). 192). & Moise, J. In becomingdesensitized to the effects of violence seen on TV, children also becomedesensitized to violence around them, increasing the risk of developingpsychological disorders (p. Nolen-Hoeksema, S. it's okay); 4) cognitive priming or cueing, theactivation of existing aggressive thoughts; and 5) physiological arousaland desensitization to adverse feelings when watching acts of violenceoccur. P. 189) andrefute Freedman's assertions that there is "no statistically significanteffect for either sex" (p. T.V. Halgin sets forth two articles,"Media Violence: A Demonstrated Public Health Threat to Children" and"Violence in the Mass Media and Violence in Society: The Link is Unproven"to explore the apparent link between media violence and violence displayedby children (2 1, p. Second,Freedman says there seems to be no allowances made for distinguishing theeffects of violence from the effects of interest and excitement. It is also not clear how long the exposure needs to be, orhow much violence needs to be viewed, or what the effect is of multipleexposures to violence. 187). But what isgoing to be done with this evidence? Hefalters in his argument, however, when he discounts the correlation assmall, "accounting for only 1% to 1 % of individual difference" (p. 19 ). 189)that have indicated that children who habitually watch more violentprograms behave more aggressively in their everyday life (p. Guilford, CN:Dushkin/McGraw Hill. Many of the programs childrenwatch do have characters that do not use violence until pushed to do so andweigh ethical considerations before attacking their enemy, the bad guy. R. Childhood behavioraldisorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conductdisorders, and oppositional defiant disorders have been linked to "childrenwho frequently are unsupervised or poorly supervised for long periods oftime...[and] are much more likely to develop patterns of delinquentbehaviors" (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2 1, p. 186). Children who have a tendency to become lessphysiologically aroused are also less apt to respond to punishments orrewards for their behaviors (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2 1), thus making itdifficult to discipline them when their behavior gets out of hand. He lists three problems with the claims thatresearchers make. If a medium has this much influenceon society, it needs to be studied to a greater extent.Position Argument As Huesmann and Moise contend, there are "well-validated theoreticalexplanations" for the connection between aggression and children's viewingof media violence (Halgin, 2 1, p. For example, one question was"If I had a balloon, would you want me to prick it?" (p. Huesmann and Moise also indicate that cultural differences may bringabout slightly different results, but that in this case the results aresurprisingly similar (p. Healso asserts that "all the positive results were obtained by a singleresearch group, which conducted studies with very small numbers of childrenand used inappropriate statistics" (p. Guilford, CN:Dushkin/McGraw Hill. 193).A variance of 1 to 1 percent is too big to be ignored and Moise andHuesmann indicate that it is more correctly set at 2 to 16 percent (p.189).Ethical Considerations There needs to be a more realistic measurement of how aggressivenessis manifested in children's behavior in everyday life. If they are already predisposed towards aggressivebehavior, such as conduct or oppositional defiant disorder, then TV isexposing them to an atmosphere that promotes antisocial behavior, cueingthem to act this behavior out (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2 1, p. Third, hecharges that these tests were contaminated by the demand characteristics ofthe situation, people try to do what the experimenter wants (p. Hepburn, M. 452). (2 1). P. 187).Summary of Articles In their article, "Media Violence: A Demonstrated Public HealthThreat to Children," Huesmann and Moise attack Dr. Freedman as being"highly selective" in his reading of the research (1996, p. A medium's effects underscrutiny. Boston: McGraw Hill. Theweakness, however, lies in the fact that the assessment of risk is unclearas is the definition of violence and the frequency of violence. 193). P. "Does Media Violence Promote Violent Behaviorin Young People?" Clashing Views on Abnormal Psychology. Abnormal Psychology. Huesmann, L. J. What other effects,besides aggression, is television having on children. "Does Media Violence Promote Violent Behavior in YoungPeople?" Clashing Views on Abnormal Psychology. P. The powerful evidence that TV violenceharms children (and therefore all of society, including its future) isundeniable now. (2 1). Violencecould be physical or verbal, with or without physical, psychological, oremotional harm. (June 1996). In "Issue 12: Does Media Violence PromoteViolent Behavior in Young People?", R. The authors conclude by stating that the studies are conclusive,media violence stimulates aggression. "Does Media Violence Promote ViolentBehavior in Young People?" Clashing Views on Abnormal Psychology.Guilford, CN: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. The evidence is clear -- TV violence is bad for children, causingthem to be more violent, to look at the world as a violent place, to seeviolence as a legitimate (or even the most effective) means of solvingproblems and conflicts, to fear the world and other people. 452). Whether or not pressure from the government willsignificantly decrease TV violence over the long run is questionable. 195).Strengths and Weaknesses of Articles The strength in the Huesmann and Moise article is that they are ableto cite long range studies and analyses that span anywhere from 15 to 3 years researching the effects of television violence on children. 19 ). Exposure to media violence stimulatesaggressive behavior in at least five ways: 1) imitation or observationallearning; 2) desensitizing children to the effects of violence, it appearsto be normal behavior to them; 3) Making violence appear justifiable (i.e.if they do it on T.V. His opinion is that childrenunderstand that they are viewing fictional stories on television, and thesestories usually have the good guy defeating the bad guy. 245).
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