...CASE STUDY PAPER 1 Kid Killers: Delinquency Theories Arache Lotfalian UMUC CCJS 350 Professor Donovan 11/29/2012 CASE STUDY PAPER 2 In the middle class suburban town of Littleton, near Denver Colorado, a 17 year old murderous fantasy is beginning to take shape. Eric Harris and a friend known as “Vulcan” or “V” intend to commit an act so violent that it will secure their place in history. The following is an expert from Harris’s Journal, mastermind behind the Columbine Shooting: “Sometime in April next year, me and “V” will get revenge, kick natural selection up a few notches. If we’ve learned anything about the art of making pipe bombs, we’ll set hundreds of them around roads, bridges, buildings, and gas stations; anything that will cause damage and chaos. It will be like the L.A. riots, Oklahoma City bombings, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together. I want to leave a lasting impression on the world.” One year later on April the 20th 1999, Eric Harris and another Columbine student, Dylan Klebold, committed the worst High School massacre in American history. They killed twelve students and one teacher; injured twenty three others and then turned the guns on themselves (Avila, 2000). Immediately following the mass shootings, media, sociologists and criminologists set about the difficult task of discovering the motives of the killers and answering the question of whether or not problems within society allowed this to happen....
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...situation. Violent video games do affect human behavior by being able to be linked to shootings, making the user more aggressive and heartless, and it can be also be linked to the decrease in prosocial behavior. Before all else, there are multiple cases in which violent video games have been intertwined with certain negative situations. Some cases of major importance that have caused a large amount of pain, such as school shootings, have been found to be traced back to a violent video game that the shooter may have been in possession of. This can be observed and proven true by looking at some cases such as the Columbine school shooting. In the Columbine school shooting, two boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, attacked Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. According to the History website, they attempted to have a propane bomb explode in the cafeteria and when it failed to detonate, they went into the school themselves and began...
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...“Bowling for Columbine” Film Analysis On April 20, 1999, many people’s lives drastically changed. An incident that occurred in Littleton, Colorado created a jaw dropping event that disrupted all of America. It also stopped Michael Moore right in his tracks. Not long after the incident, Michael Moore decided to make a documentary called “Bowling for Columbine,” a film that acknowledged many important points that are usually ignored and overlooked. This documentary focused on a school shooting that never should have happened. This tragic incident lead Moore to ponder many questions and create an extremely interesting documentary. Michael Moore has been in the film industry for quite some time. He’s created numerous documentaries that have received a large amount of public attention. He is also a filmmaker, author and political activist that not only knows how to work a camera, but also an audience (Deming). In his documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Moore uses facts, interviews, and personal stories to really get the viewers undivided attention. He also uses multiple statistics to prove his points throughout the documentary. In 2002, Moore won an Oscar for the Best Documentary Film for “Bowling for Columbine” (Ecksel 1). This film not only touched the hearts of many Americans, but also created an argument for several businesses and associations that were involved. On April 20, 1999, the halls of Columbine High School changed forever. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris altered...
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...of messages in the media tend to be associated with bad behavior, and negative actions, especially regarding sex and violence. An example of this is the Sandy Hook Shooting, where the boy’s ruthless actions were blamed on the influence of the game Call of Duty by the New York Times, which he supposedly spent a lot of time playing alone in his basement. The hypodermic needle theory is also known as the hypodermic-syringe model of communications, and is referred to as the magic bullet theory. It implied mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s was perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change, yet according to Katz and Lazarfeld (1955), the model is rooted in 1930s behaviorism and is concerned by many to be obsolete today. The hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. The study known as ‘The Bobo Doll Experiment’ proved that children copy adult’s actions – they watched adults abusing life sized dolls in laboratory conditions, and then mimicked this behaviour later when playing. This showed that children will replicate what they see adult’s doing, which would imply that they’d imitate what they see them doing in the media – such as shooting in games, or swearing in...
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...other day. All of a sudden, two of your classmates walk in with guns, shooting you and your fellow peers. The idea might sound far off, but that is what happened at the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. According to a school safety timeline, “Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, go on a shooting rampage and kill 12 students and one teacher, wound 23 others and then kill themselves” (School Safety Timeline). Weapons were not allowed at the high school, but that did not stop the students. However, there is a large debate going on about whether or not teachers and college students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school grounds for self-defense. If teachers and university...
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...violence is and is not, at what point do we decide what is better for our children to see, violence on television or video games and movies. We see in the news all the time reports about children shooting up schools, like Columbine, and Sandy Brook elementary. In both cases the media and video games were to blame for these tragedies, people have always been tied in their thoughts about why these things happen. At what point do we take responsibility for the way we raise our children? And at what point do we stop the media from depicting horrible images that may cause harm to our children? The Studies on Violence Several theoretical models describe the psychological mechanisms through which media violence can influence later behavior. Fundamentally, the psychological process all rely on learning. With repeated exposure to media violence, one can guess that one will be more aggressive. Many studies have been done the effects of media violence and videos games on the young human mind. Most of the studies done show that after time of playing violent video games many children’s aggressive side came out more. One study that was done showed that aggression could even arise 3-6 months later after the child was exposed to the game. Though it is equally possible in these studies that people who are more aggressive tend to navigate to more violent video games and movies. With that thought that people who tend to be more violent who gravitate to violent sources, why are those...
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...Effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that is developed after people are exposed to a horrific or life-threatening experience. Symptoms of PTSD may appear immediately or it may appear years later. Even though they may not be present for the traumatic event, family members and significant others such as spouses can be affected indirectly and can also develop certain behaviors. PTSD is commonly characterized by flashbacks and recurrent dreams; sudden irritability and outbursts toward another person without any obvious or known reasons; and restlessness or difficulty sleeping and concentrating. (Neeb, page 169) Traumatic experiences such as witnessing the death of a loved one, being sexually abused or assaulted, being exposed to a war, and being involved in a devastating accident can all cause PTSD. The likelihood of a person developing PTSD is based on the intensity of the trauma. According to the National Institute of Health, once PTSD has developed, women are more prone to experience chronic symptoms of this disorder compared to men. PTSD not only affects the person directly involved in the traumatic situation, but it can also affect people indirectly through exposure to a devastating event. I have recently experienced a very traumatic situation that had caused some early signs of PTSD. My cousin, John, was recently murdered in the comfort of his own home. His wife found him dead after returning...
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...Youth Violence Ever since the horrible tragedy at Columbine High School, there has been a number of recent school shootings in America. Youth violence is a main issue in today’s society. Many people fear what causes youngsters to be so violent, committing atrocious. There are many wonders that go around about why young adolescents commit such violent crimes. These questions vary from why kids take guns to school, or how do we know if they are putting others in danger, what signs are there, what should be looked at, and what can be done to stop these acts of violence. I remember watching the MTV special “Warning Signs”; it explained the violence in our society today. In the video they talked with young adolescents and asked them questions dealing with crimes they have been institutionalized for. The video also explained warning signs of someone who may be planning to commit an act of violence. Study has shown that anger plays a major role in ones behavior problem. Aggression is any form of behavior intended to harm or injure another living being. There are many reasons why someone acts in an aggressive way. First, many people have an instinct of being aggressive towards certain individuals, second genes are another factor that can develop from a complex interaction of biology, social experience, and each individuals behavior, t... The potential influence of violent video games on youth violence remains an issue of concern for psychologists, policymakers...
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...Failures in the Media During Columbine Shooting Lauren Barber History of U.S. Mass Media Professor Todd Schack November 10, 2009 Judgment Day April 20, 1999 marks the day of one of the bloodiest and most horrific school shootings in American history. Until the 2007 shooting at Virginia Technical Institute, it was the worst school shooting to date. On this day, two seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and went on a killing spree for approximately 49 minutes, leaving 24 injured and 15 dead, including themselves. The two students had been planning this attack on the school for over a year. Had their plan gone accordingly, the carnage would have been far more severe. The boys skipped their first period that day, arriving just before the lunch hour dressed in black trench coats carrying “several CO2 bombs, one semi-automatic 9mm handgun, a 9mm carbine rifle, a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, and a sawed-off 12-gauge pump shotgun” (“Columbine”). They were also each carrying a duffel bag containing a twenty-pound propane bomb (“Columbine”). They placed a bomb in the cafeteria, set to explode at 11:17 a.m., the time when the most students would be in one concentrated area. The homemade bomb was strategically placed in the cafeteria to blow the ceiling of the room out, bringing the library crashing down upon explosion, killing another room full of students and faculty simultaneously. The two boys would...
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...and Violent Video Games Jerry Pierre Post University Strategic analytical studies including well-identified statistics have shown that the violence between youth is increasing drastically every year. Inconsiderable amount of people blame Mainstream Musical Artists in all genres who portray abrogating actions, as something affirmative. Others might blame the guardians for not overseeing their children, but many people fail to convey technology as a bombshell. The au courant DVD that visually shows violent sex acts and violence or computers that give adolescence ingress to unauthorized sites, technology is something that many guardians need to have full introspection awareness. Annulling video games can also have a major impact on a child’s introspective and vitality. Video games have a negative impact on young children’s behavior in today’s commonality. Video games are expediently the utmost asked for when a child sits on Saint Nicholas lap the season of nativity, to include when making a wish while blowing out the candles on their birthday cake. The latest installment in the Modern Warfare 3 video game franchise Call of Duty reached outlandish sales of $775,000,000 in five days. At Sixty dollars, that means that this game is present in over 12,000,000 homes worldwide. Whereas the gaming industry is a remunerative one, it can also have contrary effects on children and adolescents. Scientific studies, done by researchers and psychologist around the world, show that impetuous...
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...Violent Video Game Advertising: Is it ethical? Mary Ashley Badgett Communication Ethics November 6, 2013 Violent Video Game Advertising: Is it ethical? Section I: Summary Controversy over violent video games resurfaced in 1999, when two armed high school students instantly became killers of their peers. On April 20, 1999, at a Colorado high school, known as Columbine High, two students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire, shooting 20 people and killing 13. The media revealed that Harris and Klebold constantly played violent video games, including “Wolfenstein 3D,” “Doom,” and “Mortal Combat.” Following the allegations of the Columbine case, it was announced that the rapid use of violent video games perhaps caused the tragedy to occur (Columbine Massacre). Is it ethical to advertise video games that display violence and encourage violent behaviors, specifically on television networks such as Nick and Cartoon Network, channels subjected to children? According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, advertising has a pervasive influence on children and adolescents. Per year, young people on an average view more than 40,000 ads on television alone, not including the types of advertising one could be exposed to in magazines, on the internet, or in school. “Video games carry ratings, and supposedly no one under 16 is able to buy a "mature" game, but the Federal Trade Commission found more than two-thirds of underage teens could buy such...
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...Running head: Does Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior? Valerie Bean Psychology 150-107 October 29, 2011 Abstract There have been many studies done on the effects of media violence exposure and aggressive behavior. First the term media violence needs to be examined. What form of media violence is perceived to be the most influential? There are television shows, movies, music, news shows and newspapers, video games and cartoons. What type of violence such as, murder, rape, bullying, or theft is the public more apt to associate with and be affected by? Should a look at how true violent crimes are reported by the media also be considered? Last we should also look at statistics of rising population and families that have more than one income to survive now compared to 60 years ago. The term “media violence” is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as: Media – Plural of the word medium which is the means of communication, such as radio, television, newspaper, magazines, music etc. that reaches or influences people widely Violence – an exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse; injury by or as if by distortion infringement or profanation; an intense, turbulent or furious and often destructive action of force. Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior? There are many forms of media and different ways they can influence behavior. Researchers, Politicians, Psychiatrists, and...
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...The setting of the movie, “Bowling for Columbine” takes place in a little town country. Two boys are having a game of bowling when suddenly a pretty faced girl appears wielding an M-16 type of assault weapon. It is just a normal typical morning in America. Even though, the scenery is bombarded with ruins of buildings demolished after the bombing approval by the president. The USA is recording high numbers of people killed by small firearms and yet there is no civil war at present. Michael Moore then sets out to explore this phenomenon and why it is in play. Within our society today, media and stereotyping takes over human loves, people fear different ethnic races, children are growing to be more violent and America is growing to be more corrupt. His answers reveal strange and shocking findings, there is a very easy availability of shotguns and light firearms, which results to a rampant all over the States. America’s national history also proves to contain and entail a violent form of culture-imprinted into people’s way of thinking. Forms of entertainment are also partly to blame as they give the viewer a certain incitement including poverty levels, they are also to blame for this way of living but all these factors are not...
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...control. They keep guns out of the hands of criminals and individuals with prior criminal background, domestic abusers, and people with mental illness. Universal background checks must be performed on all gun sales. It is not necessary to keep guns away from everyone, just those who would misuse them. Universal background checks are good because a good amount of criminals already have a criminal record that’s recorded in the system. There is one study in the state of Illinois that says, seventy-one percent of those convicted of homicide had a previous arrest, and forty-two percent had a felony prior to their conviction. Domestic violence assaults involving a firearm are twelve times...
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...Guns in Schools With the number of mass school shootings and incidents of violence in schools that have been reported since April 20, 1999; the public is crying out for stricter laws to help protect our children. In direct response to the Columbine High School shooting, schools across the country adopted a variety of “safety” measures that included mandatory uniforms to prevent the wearing of gang colors and allowing faculty to more readily identify intruders, installation of metal detectors and security cameras, ID badges to be worn at all times, and the increased presence of armed guards on campuses. While these measures are all intended to protect our children the fact that we are still experiencing violence in our schools say that these measures are not enough. While metal detectors and armed guards in our schools are a step in the right direction, not all school districts can afford to employ them. Palmer ISD, in Palmer, Texas, with its school population of 1,100 students is approaching this dilemma by allowing a select few teachers and staff to be trained and cleared to carry concealed weapons. Only Kevin Noack, school superintendent, and the local Police Department will know who is carrying. (pp3) This policy will go into effect as early as this coming school year. With children being our greatest hope for the future, I support training and arming our teachers to protect this precious resource. Schools are generally viewed by terrorists...
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