Critical Review on the Effets of Mass Media on Violent Behavior

Hundreds of studies have been done to determine whether violent video games will really make juveniles more violent. Randomized experiments were used in several studies to examine the short-term effect of violent video games (Anderson and Berkowitz et al. 90). In these studies, children were randomly assigned to play violent or nonviolent video games and then were observed when given an opportunity to be aggressive. The result was that children who played violent video games usually behaved aggressively.

In the end, media violence, like all important things in life, has a middle ground. Neither side is completely right, nor is either side completely wrong. It is all a matter of proper usage and  proper exposure to children. Now I won't tell parents how to do their job. It isn't my business to tell them how to raise their child. But I will say that it is important to note that every child is different. One may be mature enough to understand that the actions in a certain movie or game are not good life choices in real life, and others may be be extremely immature and unable to understand how to act in the real world. But, again there is a middle ground. Do you see where I am going? This isn't a matter of,  “it is bad.” or, “it is good.” but a matter of “how do we use this properly?” It is a lot like cars in that sense. We all know cars are good, but does the number of car crashes that happen daily make it bad? No, of course not! It is all about adapting how we use cars to prevent crashes. Tying media to shootings and abuse is also absurd. Since many sane people intake tons of media daily. And most all of those people aren't murderers. Probably a ratio of about 1000 murderers, to 7 billion okay-ish people. Bottom line, media violence and real world violence are to separate things. Should we let kids watch certain things? Probably not. But that is up to the parent, not the government to make laws against it. Media violence almost always comes down to the parents. Maybe perhaps

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of a recent study examining the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior in young children. Let me first provide a brief summary of the study. (a) The hypothesis is that violent video games cause aggression in young children. (b) The target population is young children. (c) The samples are young school age children and the sample sizes are sixty children separated into two groups with 30 children being in the experimental group and 30 children being in the control group. (d) The independent variable is violent video games and the dependent variable is aggression. (e) The result of the experiment were

This could be opening the doors to a plethora of other cases and assumptions that can lead to our youth potentially becoming killers. Research was conducted on the exposure of television violence and its effects on kids, organizations like the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association and the Academy of Pediatrics have concluded that there is a cause and effect relationship amongst those exposed. However, such studies does not demonstrate that media violence causes aggressive behavior, only that the two phenomena exist together (207). This finding was used to make the assumption that it would likely be the case with video games.

Most experts contend that violent television shows, video games, and toys promote aggression and destructive behavior. Rhodes (2000) states, “The American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Institutes of Mental Health say that there is a link between entertainment and violence. In fact, no direct, causal link between exposure to mock violence in the media and subsequent violent behavior has ever been demonstrated…” (p. 555). While violence in entertainment is pervasive and a real concern; it needs to be understood and addressed rather than blamed as the cause. After all, it is possible seek solutions to minimize violence when you understand the nature of

Numerous studies conducted in the past have clearly demonstrated that exposure to media violence does have a significant influence on violent and aggressive behavior. This is particularly the case amongst children where fictional media violence has been linked to increased aggression both in the short-term and in the long-term. This text highlights the extent to which media violence is related to violent/aggressive behavior.

The inquiry whether violent entertainment affects a child's brutal behavior is an argument that has been disputed upon for several years. Most researches performed have concluded that violence in the media does not relate to the acts of a child, unless the child has been exposed to various types of environments. Other research is clearly lacking a direct causal relationship between violent video games and youth violence (MassGeneral,2012). Children's acts of violence are determined by what or with whom they are associated with.

I have chosen to discuss the role that media violence plays in aggression in children, specifically as related to Albert Bandura’s experiments. I specifically chose this topic based on Bandura's observations with his famous Bobo doll study (which has been very influential to linking media exposure to violent aggressive behavior in children). In researching this paper, I hope to find an answer to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the media is to blame to the extent that Bandura would have us believe or are there other forces accountable. Is it logical to blame media for the

The purposes of this project were to examine TV violence and analyze how TV violence may influence children’s aggression. In Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, results showed that children who observed aggressive models toward the Bobo doll were more likely to imitate that behavior than children who observed non-aggressive models. Male children were more likely to imitate the model if they were the same-sex compared to female children. Male children displayed more physical aggression compared to female children. The females were likely to show physical aggression when they witnessed an opposite-sex model perform in an aggressive model group. However, females were likely to show verbal aggression when they witnessed a same-sex model perform in

In the modern world which we live in it is easy for the human psyche to place blame on media for the violence which it portrays. The constant onslaught of information being forced down our throats leaves us shaken and weary. Society has been lead to believe that life as we know it is teetering on the edge of chaos and destruction on a daily basis. Although fundamentally this is true in the grand scheme of the cosmos. Our lives will meander on, even if they may not be as action packed or intertwined in the depths of passion as we so wish for.

In two studies conducted by Anderson and Dill, Study 1, found that real-life violent video game playing was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency. The second study found that laboratory exposure to graphically violent video games increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. In both of these studies men had a more hostile view than that of women. The findings from these studies are consistent to that of the General Affective

The exposure of media violence changes and increases violence behavior in different genders and ages around the world, which has been the topic of discussion for years (Kalnin et al., 2011). According to Kalnin et al. (2011), the General Aggression Model says that the long-term affect takes to violent media content messing with arousal, cognition and effect, which can lead to biggest issues such as, aggressive. Research has shown that having violence around you such as watching television increases aggressive thoughts in the brain, and the way that you act (Kalnin et al., 2011). Playing violent computer

Violence is everywhere and in everything from what we see to what we hear. Today’s society has become acquainted with the violence in video games, tv shows, movies, and music since it is everywhere but many have become too attached to this violence and brought it to real life. Many assume that getting rid of this violence is essential to a more passive and peaceful society but there are more benefits to the portail of violence that society sees today.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the

People couldn’t imagine their day without a news broadcast or interesting film. Therefore, television became a very important and influential part of the culture in our daily life.