As technology has evolved so has the way we, as a society, consume media. If we look back through history, we can see violent imagery portrayed in books and art. However, after some violent school shootings, people have attempted, and failed, to pin the blame on violent media and even predict if, and when, it will happen again. However if we look at the violent tragedies, and more specifically the people who have committed them, we can see other causes for this violence. Although it can cause issues, violence in media does not cause violent behavior because violence is an accepted part of society, not a single study has predicted shootings, and other factors, such as mental health, are to blame for violent behavior.
We must first take a
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(Jenkins)
We could say that violence in media mirrors our violence in society that we face. If we look at america as an example, our society was formed as a result of violent revolution and then after that experienced a rebellion early in it’s existence. As people moved west, they waged campaigns of genocide against native indians. (Newton, 6) Another fact about it is, murder, rape, and other violent crimes are prevalent in the world, all media violence does is inform people that it does exist instead of covering it up and pretending it does not happen. If we did censor violent media, we make the victims of real life violent crimes be compelled to hide it from everyone, only empowering the violent criminals. (Kaufman) We live in a violent society, art imitates the modes of life, not the other way around; It would be better for congress to clean that society than to clean up the reflection of that society. (Anderson and Bushman)
Not only that but researching the effect media violence has on a person is hard to do. Research in the field is mostly ill-conceived, poorly executed, and result driven (Castronova). It is mainly difficult to study because lab experimentation takes place in a entirely different environment than everyday life, where the effects might be divided by many factors such as distraction, converse, and other outside influence. So, in the end any simple statement on the subject obscures the complexity of the facts (Cutler). Edward
Violent media exposure of children or adults to violent media is a cause of aggression and violent behavior has been one of the most intensely debated issues in criminal justice and the broader populace. Concern have come and gone that media such as comic books, as well as television and movies, would lead to waves of rebelliousness, violence, and moral degradation. Sherry
John Leo’s “When Life Imitates Video” is a persuasive work against violent media with children. Many of Leo’s points are first person with reaching correlations between violent media and life violence. Leo states that many of school shootings are related to video games. One of facts, he states is that because of shooters aiming for heads means they received that from videogames. Even if that was true, the way he states it may not have been the correct way. Leo’s stretch of the correlation between both real-life violence and media violence was unsupported. Leo’s work was supported by personal opinions on each issue at hand. If he could add statistic into the work, then he could have appealed with the ethos and pathos of the work. His major point to consider is that violent media is an opening for real life violence. As media violence creates a sense of violence being an acceptable thing in society, and it must be stopped at the source. While the need to stop violent media to prevent major massacres or school shootings is important, it’s also equally important to understand that it isn’t the only thing to create these incidents. Many factors contribute to these incidents for the future.
Many people still have several questions they want answered, such as, is media violence actually affecting children or are children already prone to violence drawn to media violence? Some experts have shown short and long-term negative effects occur in children from watching violent media; however another group of experts have shown that media violence is only one of many risk factors leading to aggression developed in children. These two groups need to continue more research and go beyond that to find true solutions. Nevertheless, no sources were found to say that media violence has no influence on the increase in modern culture’s violent actions. The key to discovering the true correlation between violence in children and media violence is to continue research until a solution is
Many of the people who deny that the media has an effect on children 's violent behavior believe that the media is just seen as the main perpetrator because many parents fear it more than other factors. The media 's ubiquitousness gives people everywhere one thing to look at and blame for the violence in their societies, because so much of what is in the media contains violence. This fear is mainly drawn out of parents lack of knowledge on how to
In the article titled Violence Media Is Good for Kids Jones stated that “When we try to protect our children from their own feelings and fantasies, we shelter them not against violence but against power and selfhood” (Jones 184). This quote embodies how many teenagers have felt throughout time. In addtion, violence has been surrounding us for many years however people seem to blame the influx of violence on media. Further,
Living in a world full of crime and violence, people begin to wonder what the cause of the violence is and how it can then be prevented. Unfortunately, there is not a single root cause that can be found when people attempt to decipher why children are deciding to bring guns to school and murder their peers. Some may believe that it was influenced by being exposed to a hostile family, violent films, or gory video games. Although sometimes this might be the case, a lot of the time it is not as black and white, making this topic very difficult to analyze and understand. Both Jonathan L. Freedman in “Villain or Scapegoat? Media Violence and Aggression” and L Rowell Huesmann and Laramie D. Taylor in “The Role of Media Violence in Violent
This leads to lack of sympathy for victims of violence, notably in children. The surgeon general, National Health Institute and other professional medical organizations such as the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association have linked exposure to media violence to societal violence. The author argues that these studies may not be of considerable importance to claim that media violence is a public health risk. There other factors that are of more concern for societal violence such as being male or female, socioeconomic status, and intelligence. More research needs to be done before arguing media violence has a role in societal violence. I chose this article because it associates societal violence with the film industry. We see how different members of the film industry respond after a violent school shooting committed by an adolescent male. It shows opposing views of whether or not media violence affects behaviour, stating that the general public doesn’t believe it plays a role in
Violent forms of media do not have a direct correlation to real life violence. Over the last decade or two violence in movies, video games, and song lyrics has been increasing at a steady pace. As such when a tragedy occurs the media and government puts those forms of media under the gun and says they are the ones to blame. The truth is violence has been an ongoing occurrence before those mediums were even invented. While violent media does have some drawbacks it does have some benefits and does not make people go out and kill each other.
Violence in the media negatively affects society by promoting violent behavior, and leaving long lasting impacts in adulthood and children such as desensitization and aggression and should be regulated by the United States to be prevented. These effects are caused by viewing an excessive amount of violent media throughout childhood. Typically, the long lasting effects are most noticeable early into adulthood but can be present in children and teens. To prevent these negative impacts that violence in the media is having on American society, the United States should regulate the amount of violence that can be put into the media.
The data on media violence and the desensitization it causes to violent behavior is readily available and quite convincing. As we all grow and mature, we become well aware of violence and crime in society. It is not a situation whereas without TV portraying it, we would not know that it existed. There is absolutely no need to have it in our face every time we switch on the television or open a magazine.
Among media researchers and the court of public opinion, violence on the television can be blamed for accelerated aggression, but whether or not it results in violence is another story. Aggression is defined as “any behavior intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed.” Aggression can be in the form of verbal threats or as severe as physical attacks with intent to harm. Violence, however, is defined as “aggression that has as its goal extreme physical harm.” Brad J. Bushman (Ohio State University, VU University Amsterdam), Carlos Cruz (Ohio Stae University), and Mario Gollwitzer (Philipps University Marburg), attempted to review studies and researchers by asking a series of questions in order to determine whether there was an actual disagreement to the question of media violence induced
As a psychologist I can understand the connection with the media and violence, i.e. violence is a behaviour, which in theory, is learnt and repeated on another. Therefore this behaviour must derive from a source. Which it can be argued, could be a media text. But as a media student
The generation of today is always busy on some form of media. Media consist of television, video games, the internet, and smartphones just to name a few. It is thought to be necessary for life in this everyday world. While technology can be fun, and is often used for many good things, it also seems to create a few problems. Many individuals are of the opinion that the media has little to no effect on murderous acts of violence, and others tend to lean in a very different direction thinking that it is mere corruption. Media involving violence is believed by several to initiate vicious acts, leading normal situations to change into dangerous ones.
In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Following events such as the Columbine massacre, news sources have vilified violent media, claiming that it is a primary cause of violent behavior in youths. This analysis provides firm research on the subject from the opposing and supporting sources, giving a thorough definition to the term “violent media” and brings forth evidence that other psychological effects and environmental factors are more significant causes of increased youth aggression than violent media.
In the book Critique of Violence ,author Walter describes Violence as "The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, male development, or deprivation .The violence that is portrayed in the media has been debated for decades ,and it has rose a question about how does it influence the youth?. From movies to video games society has been accustom to seeing violence in their everyday entertainment. Since children are easy to be influence by their environment, it is safe to say that violence in the media can and will contribute to violent behavior.