The Importance Of Violent Music

Music is often considered “the universal language.” Throughout, history it has symbolized love, brought people together, and has been the cornerstone of many lives. In the 1950s, a new form of music entered American mass culture that drastically changed the culture of the United States (U.S.): rock music. In the U.S., it began as Rock ‘n’ Roll, a originally “black” music genre that was then taken and promulgated by white Americans. Post WWII, many Americans—especially teenagers—struggled with the newfound societal conformity and normalcy, and rock provided them a form of retaliation. From its beginning, Rock united the younger generation of Americans, stirring up a sense of community amongst teenagers and troubling many adults by their actions—heightening

The 1950’s brought about the beginning of teen culture. The phrase, “teenager”, had only recently been invented but the word was already developing more weight and meaning. To be a teen encompassed the soul of rebellion. The formative years were a warp in the usual fast pace of life, a pause between childhood and adulthood. That pause was uncomfortable and foreign. It gave kids a chance to think and feel before being thrust into The Real World. That small break was enough for the seed of self-expression to slip through, and music is the ultimate form of self-expression. The birth of rock and roll, the constant threat of the cold war, the inescapable prison of segregation, and the chance to stop

Music Cannot Be Blamed for Crime and Violence Since the beginning of time, music has been the heart and soul for

Rock and roll music emerged as a part of American teen culture during the notably conservative time period in the country’s history which shortly followed the traumatic events of World War II. Being that the genre’s target audience was white teenagers, many Americans- already overwhelmed and on-edge due to the anti-communist movement inspired by the Cold War- were apprehensive about the influence that this up-and-coming style of music might have on their country’s future. America’s youth openly accepted rock and roll’s racially integrated culture of performers and embraced the relatively lewd nature of many songs and performances associated with the genre, much to the dismay of their elders.

This reference shows how music lays a foundation of teenage values beyond school or parental teaching. A musical artist can influence a young mind by the chosen lyrics with greater effectiveness than formal education. Music can control or enhance moods. A good mood can get better or a bad mood can be worked through with the choice of music. A bad mood can also be enhanced by lyrics about suicide or violent behavior. Teens can also use music to gain information about the adult world, to withdraw from social contact, facilitate friendships and social settings, or to help them create a personal identity. (O'Toole, 1997)

The impact music had on teenagers was significant. Teenager’s developed a new style of music called Rock ‘n’ Roll, because the lyrics reflected and embraced their lives. High school sweethearts, fast-cars, and rebellion against authority resembled what teenagers craved the most. Parents disliked the message and influence behind the lyrics of Rock ‘n’ Roll, because they believed it caused juvenile delinquency. Parents hated the sexuality of the songs, the performers,

Like many musical genre before rap, some people believe that rap music influenced teenagers in a negative way that could lead to violence. Some criminals have blamed movies, books, and music as inspiration for their crimes. However, one cannot solely rely on these sources as the main reason for any act whether good or bad. “Millions of heavy metal and gangsta rap fans spend hours with their chosen music genres and never threaten others or themselves. Moreover, most researchers concerned with the causes of suicide and violence point to a broad array of risk factors unrelated to popular culture (e.g., depression, access to guns, substance abuse, etc.) that seem to be precursors of such

In the first year, they were taught to identify and analyze various forms of oppression in relation to the ways rap music portrayed the themes of racial identity, gender roles, ageism, stereotypes and youth problem behaviors. During the second year, they were taught collaboratively gender and violence and the effects of Rap Music Exposure on Political Opinions and Criminal Justice in which they wrote two empirical papers. It brought to my mind that they kinds of music that one listens to does influence his/her behavior or their way of being. By this, social media play a heavy role in the development of a child to the extent that they take whatever shown on television or through music videos as the ideal of life and that they should imitate similar behavior(s). For example, in Bandura’s study, the Bobo doll; the child developed aggressive behavior when he/she saw physical aggressive behavior towards the Bobo doll. In other words, adolescent(s) develop behavior(s) portrayed by social media to the extent that they imitate and believe that since others are engaging in similar behavior, thus, what they’re doing is the correct way of being. Putting that aside, Jager also explained heavily on the Wolverine

The corruptness of music today seems to be linked to the crude language and aggression found particularly in hip-hop and rap music. Some rap artists use vulgar language in their lyrics that are easily adoptable by teens (Holden). Not only have certain lyrics influenced the way teens speak but also their actions. An article on Headliners.org stated that “lyrics in the music are too violent and are to blame for many problems.” The problems range anywhere from suicide and aggression towards women to underage drinking and drug use. Lyrics are not only to blame, but also what people see in artists’ music videos can affect what they do (Doaks). The urge to emulate these rap musicians has escalated quickly causing a spike in rebellious tendencies among teens.

“Heavy metal music has been a source of criticism ever since its’ birth in the late nineteen eighties” (Coss). Many people criticize this type of music because there is anger shown in the lyrics. Although the lyrics can be controversial at times, there is no evidence saying that heavy metal music causes violence. “Its’ controversial lyrics and harsh sounds have made it the target of much blame for psychological and behavioral problems in teenagers” (Coss). Parents of teenagers now and in past decades have worried about their kids listening to this kind of music. Most parents do not want their kids to listen to this kind of music; they are afraid that the music will lead to devastating effects in society. Another reason why parents do not like heavy metal music is that the music is extremely loud and ear shattering. Most people over

In the chapter reading it states, “What really defined the youth culture, however, was music.” (769) Rock ‘n’ roll changed the youth of America by taking music out

In life, music affects everything many people look at all the different stories of teenagers committing violent acts and have begun to wonder can violent songs make teens violent? With all the violent acts that music glorifies as of recently many psychologists and parents alike have begun to wonder why certain types of music cause their children and teenagers to become so violent. Because of the questions that violent songs raise and why teenagers have started to gravitate towards violent songs more than ever before. Some factors that could be reasons as to why violent songs have such a powerful effect on teenagers could be that: teenagers learn violence from their surroundings, teenagers can have a history of violence, and violent songs give teens a place to vent their frustrations at,

The music playing seemed as if it was of an early 2000’s alternative playlist, which was interesting as it gave the impression that their school was mostly dominated by western pop culture. In terms of behaviour, my observations were accurate to my prediction that UFA differed greatly from Western in attitude, school spirit and even influence as well. The students had a positive attitude, this is evident through their body language and how they received discipline from an authoritative figure. Most students that were told to sit in assigned areas did so with no resilience or

In the study completed by Fiona Malpass, David Havard, Karis Benford, Ana Costescu, Angeliki Sofitiki, and Donna Taylor of the University of Westminster, results show personality outcome of heavy metal listening to be “…stronger composite preference for the heavy metal tracks was associated with higher Openness to Experience, more negative attitudes toward authority, lower self-esteem, greater need for uniqueness, and lower religiosity” (377). They also state that “In addition, men showed a significantly stronger preference for the tracks than women. These results are discussed in terms of the psychological needs that contemporary heavy metal fills for some individuals” (377). This shows that music can also effect personality differently based upon gender. Further research was completed just on women with the genre of heavy metal by Milton Becknell, Michael Firmin, Chi-En Hwang, David Fleetwood, Kristie Tate, and Gregory Schwab who are college student researchers from Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH. They state that “More recent research, however, suggests that Arnett's position is more representative of females than males (Lacourse, Claes, & Villeneuve, 2001). The general assumption is that heavy metal music listeners release or unload their pent-up frustrations into the loud and intense sounds which they

Media takes all forms of shapes, from video games to music it influences people daily because we are always surrounded by it. Music especially impacts individuals because in a lot of ways it can say what we want to say in times when we as individuals cannot say it. In those times we lean on music to help us understand the hardship we are going through, or as a mechanism to face our feelings or to block them out. Interpersonal violence which is defined as an individual using power over another in the form of violence whether that be emotional, physical, or sexual. With the many forms of interpersonal violence it’s apparent that it has been expressed in the form of music for quite a while, and sometimes not always in a preventative way. By