Premium Essay

How Does Violent Media Lead To Violence?

Submitted By
Words 347
Pages 2
lDoes violent media lead to more violence? Some people think so, some people don’t. At least half of the population thinks so. Personally, I don’t think it does. Violent media is anything that contains curse words, shooting, fighting, etc. For example, some people think that the game Call of Duty leads to violence, as it rewards you for killing people. The total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to 2014, reaching $13.1 billion in 2014, while violent crimes lowered 37% and murders by juveniles acting by themselves fell 76% in that same time period (Violent).

A review from Christopher J. Ferguson, PhD, a psychology professor at Stetson University, stated,”Matching video game conditions more carefully in

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Who's Blame?

...Violence is all over the media and internet but does it cause violence? The internet makes violence easier but does not cause violence. The media shows violence all the time but does not cause the violence. Violence first has to be in a person or everyone who watched the media or used the internet would. Many people use the internet but not everyone who does then uses it for violence. The internet does make things easier. Almost everything one would want to know is on the internet. Darren Beals who wrote Violence Culture: The Media, the internet, and Placing Blame decided to search the internet and see what could be found. Beals stated “After spending a great deal of time online… information is easy to find on just about everything. And there are many people who don’t hesitate to share their ‘knowledge’ with anyone- child or adult- who will listen. The second thing I noticed was that there really is no regulation on the internet.” Beal found anything on the internet and the people who would share information like how to build bombs. People have to look for other people like that. Even without the internet there has always been violence. Violence is everywhere in the media; there are violent video games and TV shows everywhere. My brother and I grew up on television and video games. Not once did I or my other brother get in a fight or bring weapons to school. The media did not make us violent though we watched many violent shows or played violent video games. Though the media...

Words: 377 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Violent Media and Violent Behavior

...Violent Media and Violent Behavior Paula M. Méndez, Megan Roy Miosotis Nieves University of Phoenix BCOM/275 July 23, 2013 Javier Maury-Ortiz Pros and supporting evidence There have been studies to prove that violent movies, games, and television shows can influence violent behavior. Multiple cases have shown that individuals playing video games, especially violent ones, can lead to aggression. Children who tend to play these types of games lose control rather easily, they tend to kick the controller against the floor or throw other various objects when enraged. They also show their frustration by using profanity or lashing out towards others playing the game with them or towards the game itself. Dr. Jordan Grafman at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke conducted a study which showed adolescent boys that were exposed to violent games over a long period of time tended to show aggressive behavior, desensitization, and loss of empathy. Twenty-two boys were chosen to view short clips that show different range of violent from low, mild, and moderate. The ones who were expose to more violent movies, videos, or television shows were the one who were had less empathy. Dr. Grafman concluded that those who were more desensitization were the most likely to have violent behavior and less empathy. There was another study done from 130 research reports on more than 130,000 subjects worldwide which was done by Craig Anderson a professor of psychology at Iowa...

Words: 2351 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Violence in the Media

...that have occurred. Flared by uncontrollable violent emotions and encouraged by violent media, the violent killers have struck, taking many lives. Now, everyone will pay. In the Columbine shooting, the dangerous effects of the tons of violent media plastered everywhere is evident. The two horrible killers played countless hours of violent video games, leading them to the dreadful plotting of their extremely devastating shooting. When shooting occurred, it was clear from the guns they used to the strategies of killing they used where they obtained their inspiration from Their violent video games. Clearly, violence in the media does contribute to the violence in society. Since celebrities are very commonly idolized, it is very likely people will imitate their idols, even to the point of acting out violently. Mary Gavin admits, "Many violent acts are perpetrated by the "good guys" whom kids have been taught to emulate. Even though kids are taught by their parents that it isn't right to hit, television says it's okay to bite, kick, or hit if you're the "good guy."" Like Mary states, these violent acts are usually directed at the "bad guy," it is very easy to apply the "good guy's" solution to their own lives. When the solution that the "good guy" uses involves violent material, media consumers are encouraged to commit these violent acts themselves just because their role models say it is okay to. This greatly affects the role of violence in our society when these "good guys" start...

Words: 1543 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Video Games

...Games Lead To Violence? What am I being asked to believe or accept? In this article, Do Video Games Lead to Violence, the argument being made is that video games either leads to violence or does not lead to violence. There have been arguments that video games cause psychological and physiological problems in children that result to violence. An opposing argument believes that video games do no cause violence and more research is needed to ensure that video games cause violent activities. What evidence is available to support each side of the argument? The evidence available to support each side of the argument is that researches found that playing video games increases aggression in young adolescents. In addition, more realistic video games increase physiological arousal. Video games also make children adapt to the interaction in the game rapidly. Evidence available to support that video games does not influence violent behavior is the little evidence between the contacts to violent video games to violence in real life. Olson, one of the researchers, believes that violent video games is not connected to how the media says it is. There is no legit evidence that playing video games causes aggressive behaviors. What further evidence or information would help me to evaluate the two sides to the argument? Further evidence that supports video games leading to violence are the experiments researches have done. The experiments demonstrated that playing video games does cause...

Words: 626 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Agressiv Behavior Influenced by Violent Media

...“Effects of Violent Video Games and Media on Aggressive Behavior” Gabin ,Pauline Palma, Keirsha Jhoanne J. Perona, Jerril A. Ramirez, Ma. Bernadette Riverside College Inc. Computer 2: Internet Research January 9, 2015 RESEARCH PAPER APPROVAL In partial fulfilment of the requirements for Computer 2 - Internet Research, this research paper entitled “Effects of Violent Video Games and Media on Aggressive Behavior” with the following subtitles: 1. What are the elements that provoke the child to take interest in violent media and games? 2. Does playing and watching anything remotely violent really affect a child’s behavior? 3. What is the behavioral result if the child is exposed to violent entertainment? 4. In what aspects can a child be able to stop his aggressive behavior? 5. What measures does the media industry have to do in order to put a stop to this? Has been prepared and submitted by Perona, Jerril A. Palma, Keirsha J. Gabin, Pauline C. Ramirez, Bernadette G. APPROVED BY: Mrs. Maritess Pomada January 9, 2015Coordinator, Psychology Department | Introduction “Effects of Violent Video Games and Media on Aggressive Behavior” It’s not a new issue – in the 1950s, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham wrote a book called “Seduction of the Innocent”, which claimed that comic books were unnecessarily exposing children to violence and causing them to become delinquent. Although Wertham’s methods...

Words: 8449 - Pages: 34

Premium Essay

Reduce the Marketing of Violent Toys, Games and Entertainment to Children

...Running head: Reduce the marketing of violent toys, games and entertainment to children. Position paper : Reduce the marketing of violent toys, games and entertainment to children. DeVry University Engl-112-61206: Composition Professor: Jamie Pacton Student: Valeriya Zakreski Violence is a physical action to injure people or property. We can read a lot of information and watch news about violence. We can say that violence is a part of our life and he human condition. But the worst fact that today, our children are involved to this part of human condition. From child abuse to murder, to school-yard bullying, violence takes its toll, often with children being the innocent. But what can cause the violence between the children? Today we can hear a lot of information about it, as: toy guns and video games affect on the children’s health and behavior, violent homes lead children to the crime. “More than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence have been done over the past 40 years. The majority of these studies reach the same conclusion: television and film violence leads to real-world violence. By age 18 an American child will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.” Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary. September 14,1999. Children, Violence, And the Media. A report for Parents and Policy...

Words: 2041 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Violence and the Media

...depicting violence on television with reference to effects theory As the development of economy and technology, there are many diverse forms of media in the digitized twenty-first century, including TV, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. Especially the television plays such a significant role in the lives of modern citizens nowadays. However, it may cause some negative aspects such as the television violence because children who watch violent television shows are more likely to commit crimes than those who do not (Marc, 2001). In this essay it will attempt to bring these claims into perspective and discuss critically that the consequences of depicting violence on television with reference to effects theory. The structure of the paper is as follows.How television violence affects children will be firstly presented according to the hypodermic needle theory. Subsequently, it will illustrate the impacts of depicting violence on TV by uses and gratifications theory and media cultivations theory under the conditions of media content and audience variables. Firstly, it is generally believed that television violence can result in the real violence and aggressive behaviour (Mcquail, 2005).Through statistic analysis, children can spend more time watching television which can reach twenty five hours per week than other activities (Violence on prime time broadcast TV 2001). Besides, a large number of violent programs are showed in television nowadays (Children and TV violence 2011)....

Words: 1605 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Reflection Paper

...Reflection Paper 4/18/2013 Violence in the Media Some believe that violence in the media is to blame for violence in people, but that argument is undermined by the realization that violence existed long before video games and television. In fact, violence has actually been steadily decreasing since these things have been growing in popularity. Critics of violent media seem to long for the “good old days”; a time before there was violence in the media. These critics fail to acknowledge that those “good old days” were actually far more violent than today. While violence is still present in modern society, it pales in comparison to the violence that was once a part of daily life.  For most of human history, people have lived lives dominated by violence. From primitive hunters killing for food through centuries of society built around warfare, violence has never been less a part of the human experience than it is today.  Horrific acts of violence such as the holocaust, the Salem witch trials, and lynchings all took place before the advent of modern violent media.  The people of Salem didn’t listen to Tupac, violent racists didn’t all play Grand Theft Auto, and Hitler never watched Saw III.  Even relatively recently, violence has been more tolerated in society than it is today. Violent hazing, domestic violence, and child abuse were all even more common in society before the increase in popularity of violent media.  Historically, real life violence has been declining at almost...

Words: 1243 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children

...Everything that children see or hear in the media early on in their lives affects them in some way. Positive parenting role models indicate that in the best interest of our children we should limit their exposure to violent acts. Unfortunately, violence is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Over sixty percent of television shows being shown in prime time contain some form of violence. There are two very opposite sides of this issue. The media who market the violent television, video games and other forms of entertainment argue this is safe entertainment and the others argue that violence promotes violence Current research tends to agree with the proponents who argue that violent media is associated with aggressive behavior. Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others, lack of remorse for consequences. The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many different symptoms. Children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation. An example here would be the television show Jack Ass. There have been several accidents related to young men attempting stunts that are done on the show. The act of imitating what they have seen on a television show causes injury to themselves or others around them. The Academy of Pediatrics says “More...

Words: 1933 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Violence in American Culture and How It Effects Adolescents

...Violence in American Culture and How it Effects Adolescents Parents are starting to believe that violence in video games, television, and music are having effects on their children. With all the violence that is out there in the media today, should parents be worried that it may be having a harmful effect on their children? This is the question that parents are asking themselves today. Some people today are noticing that their children are acting more aggressively today. Teachers are also reporting that children at school are also acting out with a bit more aggression than normal. Could this be one of the effects that violence could be having on children today? Today parents will finally learn about some of the harmful effects that may or may not be affecting their children. There are two sides almost every story, and we will explore both sides to the question, “is the violence in the media having a harmful effect on my child?” It has been said that violent video games have a harmful effect on children, according to David Bickham (2009) of the Center on Media and Child Health, “there is a strong and consistent relationship between viewing violent media and increased levels of anxiety, desensitization, and aggressive thoughts and behaviors among young people.” Bickham (2009) also found that children exposed to violent video games in laboratories behave more aggressively than children who played non –violent video games. There have also been studies done that show the long...

Words: 1417 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Film Voilence

...2013 Vol 2 Issue 10 ISSN: 2278 – 0211 (Online) The Effect Of Domestic Violence Films On The Youth: An Excursion Of Media Violence Theories and Persuasion Theories Dr. Ajilore Head Of Department, Department Of Mass Communication, Babcork University, Ilisan ,Ogun State, Nigeria Ojo Titiloye Oyeyinka Lecturer, Department Of Mass Communication, Tai Solarin University Of Education, Ijagun ,Ogun, Nigeria Nwaolikpe Onyinyechi Nancy Department Of Mass Communication, Babcork University, Ilisan ,Ogun State, Nigeria Akinreti Qassim Olalere Head, Foreign Desk, Voice Of Nigeria And Part-Time Lecturer, Nigerian Institute Of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos, Nigeria Odegbenle Lateef Department Of Broadcast Media, Nigerian Institute Of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos, Nigeria Goke Rauf Head, Mass Communication, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria Jegede Omolayo Station Manager, Babcock University Radio Station And Lecturer, Department Of Mass Communication Babcock University, Ilisan,Ogun State, Nigeria Tsebee Asor Kenneth Department Of Mass Communication, Al Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria Abstract: Several studies have been on the impact of media violence on aggressive and violent behavior. Researches on effect of media violence have proved that heavy exposure in films, videos, televisions and movies can increase the risk of behaving violently. This paper is an escursion of selected media violence theories -social learning theory, catharsis theory and cultivation theory...

Words: 5150 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Media Violence, Video Games and Aggression

...Media Violence and Violent Video Games: The Cause for Aggression – Yes or No? Kimberly Fitzgerald-Amend PSYC3520-Introduction to Social Psychology u10a1-Opposing Viewpoints in Social Psychology Capella University March 2013 Abstract Everyone, at one point or another, may display aggressive behavior. Where did this behavior come from? This paper will discuss opposing viewpoints on the role of media violence and video games in the development of aggressive behavior. Included herein will be a brief overview of Albert Bandura’s “Social Learning Theory”; a discussion of media violence and violent video games and their possible roles in the development of aggression; and the ethical viewpoints on violence in the media. This paper will conclude with an overview of all presented information. Media Violence and Violent Video Games: The Cause for Aggression – Yes or No? It is a beautiful, sunny summer afternoon and spending a few hours at the park seems like a great way to enjoy it. However, only a few minutes into it, Tommy pushes Sara off the swing and now going to the park does not seem to have been the best choice. Why did Tommy do this? What causes children to act aggressively? Is it because shortly before coming to the park Tommy played a violent video game; or maybe on his way out he passed through the room where his father was watching a breaking news story about a murder victim? The role the media and/or violent video games play in the development of...

Words: 2069 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Media

...Through the technological development of electronic media and devices, access to entertainment media has become easier than ever before. In addition, these developments have led to an increase in the amount of time individuals spend watching and interacting with screen media, namely films, television and video games. As individuals in society display more aggressive behaviours in everyday life, researchers have endeavoured to identify the extent of how much violence portrayed in the media affects an individual’s thought, feelings and behaviours. While there is still debate as to whether there is a casual link between media and aggression, or that engaging with it maybe be cathartic, it has become evident that exposure to violence portrayed in the media can have short-term and long-term effects. This literature report will concentrate on reports and research focused on the influence of different types of media on aggression and the levels that these can be interpreted psychologically. Influences of Different Media on Aggression Exposure to violent media and the effect that this can have on an individual has been a topic that has interested researchers and society alike for decades. The likelihood of aggressive behaviour, thoughts and emotions is increased with short-term exposure to violent video games and films. (MVC 2012:337; Anderson 2004:2). Reasons provided for this increase by the Media Violence Commission (2012:337-8) and Myers (2013:378) is neural processes known...

Words: 1034 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Video Games

...[Your Name] [Instructor] [Class] [Date] Violent Video Games do not CAUSE VIOLENCE Introduction Correlation does not prove Causation. Since 1992, there have been 387 school shootings in America. In the wake of these tragedies, the investigators and our society have looked to find somewhere to point the blame. Some blame gun laws, some blame our school system, but almost all conclusions place at least some blame on video games. When 90% of today's teenagers video games are 90% likely to include mature levels of violence, there's clearly an issue. However, the issue is mistakenly simplified down to the equation that violence in games = violence in real life, mistakenly because correlation does not prove causation. Today, I want to talk about why video games do not cause violence, and can even be a healthy way to release aggression. body Research is inconclusive. Unfortunately, research on video games and violence is inconclusive and does not ever come to a consensus. For every study that you find that proves video games cause violence, you have a study that proves that video games have no correlation to real-life violence. Media psychologists, communication scientists, and pediatricians disagree greatly among themselves as to whether or not there is a causal relationship between gaming and violence. There is more than a 20% variation in opinion over whether or not gaming produces real-life violence. That variation does not sound convincing to us, who like to pretend we...

Words: 896 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Media Violence

...Psychology 324 Assignment: Does Media Violence Cause Aggression? 1. INTRODUCTION The question of whether media violence causes aggression has been a topic of debate for decades. The innovation and creation of the television, computer and radio has altered the manner in which individuals acquire information regarding the world around them, including views on how violent the world is (Busman & Anderson, 2001). With the average American child being exposed to eight thousand murders and one hundred thousand acts of violence via television by the time they graduate from elementary school, it is not surprising that many critics of media violence are of the opinion that it leads to aggression (Bushman & Anderson, 2001). However, if one studies the reviews more carefully, it can be seen that there is no real scientific evidence that media violence causes aggression (Freedman, 2002). Numerous articles, experiments and studies have been published either supporting or opposing the question. In this essay two such articles will be explained, namely “Media Violence and the American Public” (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) which supports the idea that media violence causes aggression and “Villain or Scapegoat? Media Violence and Aggression” (Freedman, 2002) which opposes the idea that media violence causes aggression. 2. DEFINING MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION Media Violence is defined as the graphic representation of physical aggression by a human or human-like persona towards another individual...

Words: 988 - Pages: 4