Violence In The Media

In America’s daily consumption of media a strange trend has developed in the last couple years. It seems that whenever a real life tragedy occurs many news outlets and politicians tend to place the blame, not in the instigator of these violent acts, but instead in the media they consume which they believed made them this way. "I think there's a question as to whether he would have driven in his mother's car in the first place if he didn't have access to a weapon that he saw in video games that gave him a false sense of courage about what he could do that day." (Murphy) This quote taken from an 2013 debate on a bill to ban assault weapons gives us all the information we need. Violence in media and how it affects violence in real life is misrepresented

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

A study from the National Institute of Health has shown that since the 1960’s the media has expanded the coverage of violent crimes and violence that occurs around the world. With this expanded coverage of violence society was brought out of the idea that the world is perfect place and thrust into the realities that the world is an ugly violent place. In the 1960’s and 1970’s footage of the realities of the wars in Korea and Vietnam came into people’s living rooms and exposed them to the real world on a nightly basis. News programs knew how captivating stories about war or a violent action that happened were, therefore they made them front page or lead stories to get the audience to tune into the nightly news. This trend has continued to modern times and violence of some sort is usually if not always a lead

It is evident that tensions between truth and representation exist in all manner of situations. It can be argued that such tensions as represented through media are more influential than others.

In America, violence has always been an integral part of national culture. Crime and bloodshed, euphemized through use of “action” (this has a source) plots, are glorified both on and off screen. The more disturbing the act of violence, the more enthralled the public seems. The most prolific of crimes, those committed by infamous serial killers, inspire the most attention. As said by Jeff Lindsay, creator of the book series that inspired the wildly-popular television program, Dexter, “We’re sickened and disgusted, but we need to know. And the more we know about the scene, the more we really are horrified” (“Sympathy for the Devils”). Violence, especially committed by this special class of felons, is enthralling. News reports play a role in this strange attraction, as it is through the news that people even have knowledge of such killers, but the evolution in the “serial killer genre” (Lindsay, “Sympathy for the Devils”) of film and television helps to desensitize people to the gruesome murders that are committed. This begs the question of whether this disturbing trend should be stopped, lest the American “culture of violence” (this has a source) continues to grow stronger. Through news reports, film, and television, criminals are constantly romanticized through use of sympathetic characterization and gratuitous depictions of their crimes, which lends to peoples’ incr

Whether it’s a story on the news or a drama at the theatre, violence has become a social norm in the media. Today, companies have significantly relied on the use of violence to ensure that their audiences are still motivated to watch. According to the Media Education Foundation, the level of violence on prime time television has increased 167% since 1998. Although there is a widespread belief that watching fictional violence causes people to become violent, the rise of violence on TV compared to real-world crime statistics over the past 20 years tells a different story.

Today the media is more influential than ever. Movies, books, podcasts, tv shows, and other various media outlets have influenced the nation tremendously. Violence has also been a hot topic these past few years. Gun shootings, homicides, and overall crimes are consistently being committed and shared on the news. The topic of violence and the discussion of media influencing that violence is extremely intriguing. In 2008, John Murray, a psychologist, wrote in his published book, “Fifty years of research on the effect of TV violence on children leads to the inescapable conclusion that viewing media violence is related to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behaviors” (Murray, 2008, p. 1212). This research shows that there is a correlation

Violent images on television, as well as in the movies, have inspired people to set spouses on fire in their beds, lie down in the middle of highways, extort money by placing bombs in airplanes, rape, steal, murder, and commit numerous other shootings and assaults. Over 1,000 case studies have proven that media

No one can be protected from the constant bombardments of violence in the media. Violence has been apart of our world ever since the beginning of time, and therefore has become a part of our daily lives. Acts of violence are ubiquitous and can be witnessed in myriad forms; whether it's on the news, social media, films, shows, video games and even cartoons. A young child can watch gory films as well as play violent video games without any adult supervision easily with no problem if he or she wanted to. Trying to avoid this scenario from happening would not only be fatuous but also preposterous. Advanced technology has facilitated the access to any sort of violent content for any individual, with little to no boundaries. Violence manifested in the media has caused a negative chain of effects in our society by promoting violence to children, changing our morality and encouraging violence in real life.

Many parents go through the same cycle in regards to dealing with their children. Kids come home from a long day of school and want a distraction from all the knowledge they consumed that day. However, a parent does not always have the time or even the ability to entertain their kids, so while they remain in the kitchen finishing preparing dinner, their children sit on the couch and engage in video games. Obviously, each parent wants what is best for their child and worries about the effect of all these violent video games corrupt with shooting, punching, blood, gore, and of course, death. Which is exactly what leads them to this question. Researchers at Ohio State University asked parents, media researchers, pediatricians, and psychologists of their opinion on this matter and here is what they observed: 66

One way individuals learn criminal behaviors by the way violence is portrayed in the media. Whenever the media creates a positive image of aggressiveness, it's influence is the greatest. For example, when actors are portrayed in a way that indicates no punishment, with realistic violence, rewarded for their actions, or their actions shown as justified. (Conklin, p 185).

Yes, I believe that media violence has the potential to contribute to aggression in the real world. Just as the textbook discussed, modeling behavior is a real occurrence. Children as well as adults can be impressionable and become influenced by behaviors, be them violent or not, that are displayed on the screen in front of them. It is also discussed that the likelihood of aggression coming from the viewing of violent acts on the screen is raised when either reward is given to those doing the violent acts or no punishment is received by those engaging in the violent act.

The influence of mass media has progressively increased in American society, but can the media have effects beyond mere entertainment and impartial information? American culture has become saturated with online news reports, social media, and media entertainment. Technology has become a major factor in America’s social environment. Much of the information gained from digital sources involves or portrays violence, and many social scientists have concluded that exposure to these portrayals may influence some individuals to behave violently. There is evidence that consistent exposure to violence can lead audience members to accept violence as normative, and adopt the behavior into their own lives (Surette, 2013, p. 393). However, researchers have also shown that the media is only one factor in behavior, and that it may not be the cause of violence (Black et al., 2016, p. 197). Other researchers support the theory that the benefit of using the media to fight violence outweighs any negative effect from it (Flexon, 2009, p. 608). Understanding violence is a complex, multi-faceted process, and all of these viewpoints must be acknowledged in order to understand the relationship between violent behavior in the media and violent behavior in individuals.

In today’s world, there is an endless amount of information available to people everywhere around the globe. Mass media is definitely shaping our world, whether it is in a positive way or a negative way. Television and the radio waves provide us with hours of entertainment. The emergence of the Internet allows us to access thousands of pages of information within the reach our very own fingertips. But with the convenience of all this information comes along a certain level of responsibility. As a society, we Americans must decide what is appropriate information and entertainment for the masses to access and enjoy. But does today’s society give too much leeway in what it thinks as “appropriate?” Does increased

The risk of developing aggressive behavior is high among children who were raised in a negative environment such as social and economic factors play a huge role. The primary place a children is in is at home. Poverty has a significant impact on a child’s social behavior these children that are raised in poor environments have a higher risk of behavior problems. Impoverished communities have a wide range of people living there not all the people in that neighborhood may have the same parenting styles or teach their child to behave. Children in impoverished neighborhoods can often play with other kids outdoors and since other children may not be raised to behave well they will bring that behavior in their homes and begin to use it. Potential behavior that can arise from other children who do not behave can lead to not respecting others, anger, and violence.