Violence in the media and teen violence
p2pnet news view Games | Kids & Kartels:- It’s been said so often for so long in so many studies that it’s almost taken as a given: that violent TV shows, movies and video games have a significant bearing on children’s behavior.
Now, “You are what you watch, when it comes to violence in the media and its influence on violent behavior in young people,” says a new US study.
A team led by assistant professor of psychology Paul Boxer, “provides new evidence that violent media does indeed impact adolescent behavior,” says Rutgers University.
To be published in February, 2009, in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, the study shows even when other factors such as academic skills, encounters with community violence, or emotional problems, are considered, “childhood and adolescent violent media preferences contributed significantly to the prediction of violence and general aggression”.
A relationship between media violence and violent behavior has been acknowledged for some 40 years but, “much of the research was usually done in a laboratory setting rather than in the field, with very little emphasis on documenting links between media violence and actual engagement in serious violent and antisocial behavior,” says Boxer.
But because violence is a “multiply determined behavior,” he and his co-researchers collected data on several risk factors for aggression, “to examine whether violent media exposure has an impact on behavior even when those other influences are present,” says the university, and, “Even in conjunction with other factors, our research shows that media violence does enhance violent behavior,” Boxer states.
“On average, adolescents who were not exposed to violent media are not as prone to violent behavior.”
Boxer, et al, interviewed 820 Michigan adolescents comprising 430 high school students from rural, suburban and urban communities, and 390 juvenile delinquents held in county and state facilities.
“The adolescents were about evenly split between male and female, minority and non-minority,” says Rutgers.
“Parents or guardians of 720 of the youths also were interviewed, as were teachers/staff of 717 of them. Each subject was asked about favorites TV shows, movies and video/computer games, both as a child and as a teen, and questioned to determine if they had engaged in specific antisocial behaviors, such as throwing rocks or using a weapon.
“Interviewers also investigated the youths’ exposures to aggression or violence, as well as other risk factors for aggressive behavior, such as emotional disorders or being victimized. The parents, guardians, teachers and staff also were interviewed about the behaviors they had observed in their children or students.”
Their findings?
High violent risk scores, “added significantly to the prediction of both violence and general aggression,” and, “even for those lowest in other risk factors, a preference for violent media was predictive of violent behavior and general aggression”.
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Rutgers University – Rutgers Researcher’s Study Cites Media Violence as ‘Critical Risk Factor’ for Aggression , November 18, 2008
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November 28th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Sorry I don’t buy this at all. For as long as I can remember, vested interests such as the Christian Broadcast Network as well as others that think they know better than you what you should hear, see, and watch should be controlled have tried to sell this idea.
When radio was the main form of entertainment, it was violence on radio shows. When I was a kid, it was comic books and graphic violence. Then it was movies. That was followed by sex in music vids. Then came video games.
I for one, learned to read with comic books. Today I have no belief its ok to rob a bank or knock someone over the head and put them in the hospital unless it is for self protection. Other than that one exception it is live and let live.
I like violent games like first person shooters. It works out any aggressions I might have and no, I don’t tote a gun when I go out in public and have no need to do so.
You have to remember this sort of “movement” has been going on a long time and you can’t believe the “studies” and bias in these sorts of revelations. They are made because those pushing for their action to rule you choices are their end desire.
Kids and people that say they got their ideas from such violence to commit criminal acts are most often looking for a reason to blame their actions for that sounds acceptable. Once the investigator has gained their confidence with the good cop/bad cop, the criminal must crouch it in some term that justifies the action to the good cop.
It’s not justification that caused them to go do whatever; if they were not inclined to do such, they would not. There is more problems here than a game or a violent action in media can account for. There is after all no reset in real life. Not being able to distinguish good actions from bad, is a sign of lack of upbringing and parental guidance.
I resent these with hidden agendas trying to rule my life from afar.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
The results of this study could be interpreted to say that people with aggressive/violent tenancies have a preference for violent media content. That being said, I agree with the conclusions that the researchers made.
It is almost comical how good we humans are at rationalizing. “I don’t like the results of this study, and they don’t match MY personal experience, so obviously the study is wrong.”
March 1st, 2009 at 6:45 pm
I like violent games because they are fun. It would be very boring if the games where not violent. What would you do? How could you make a non-violent game? Just because I enjoy the violent games does not mean I also enjoy coping people to pieces with a machete. But people who like macheting people might like the games as well.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Wow, JAcob, it’s kind of disturbing that you can’t think of a game to play that isn’t violent (tetris, chess, any of a bazillion word games, or any game that isn’t based on weaponry, including basketball).
I am old enough to have watched video games be born, and like TV, be disappointed in the way people have applied the technology.
Learning to enjoy killing isn’t the way to a peaceful world.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:46 am
@ maggie:
Sadly, kids don’t have to learn it: it’s spoon-fed to them by Hollywood, sicko game manfacturers such as Take-Two Interactive, TV, you name it.
Scary. And so are the rationalisations — “I like violent games like first person shooters. It works out any aggressions I might have …”
Cheers!