Does exposure to media violence increase an individual’s likelihood of engaging in violent behavior?

Abstract

This paper examines how media violence poses a threat to public security inasmuch as it leads to an increase in violence and aggression in real-world. Research shows that young viewers are increasing their short-term and a long-term aggression and violence because they are watching much fictional television and film violence. It explores how news on violence on Television has also contributed to an increase in violence. It has increased forms of imitative suicides and acts of aggression among the youth. Violence can also be seen in schools because students these days form gangs that run certain areas of the school. This is copied from what is seen in movies or TV dramas. It makes schools unsafe for kinds since the kids terrorize them. Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory. It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization. This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts. The paper has examined how media violence posed a threat to public security inasmuch as it led to an increase in violence and aggression in real-world. Research shows that young viewers are increasing their short-term and a long-term aggression and violence because they are watching much fictional television and film violence. Additionally, video games have a clear capability to create an increased aggression and violence in short term. It is argued that the relationship between real world violence and media violence and aggression is restrained by the nature of the content aired and the social influence on the person open to the elements of a particular media. The media influences and increases violence and aggression in real world.

Introduction

There are many forms of violence and most of them are experienced through the media, streets, homes and schools. TV programs aired normally contain different forms of violence and these cause kids to practice whatever they have seen on TV. For example, a little boy who may be watching wrestling will attempt the moves on someone and thus they may end up hurting the child. Violence seen in streets makes neighborhood a bad place to live in. People will tend to avoid such neighborhoods because of the violence. Violence can also be seen in schools because students these days form gangs that run certain areas of the school (Glendon, 1993). This is copied from what is seen in movies or TV dramas. It makes schools unsafe for kinds since the kids terrorize them. Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory. It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization. This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts. The average child aged eight to eighteen spends about 44.5 hours weekly watching television or movie.

Violence and aggression in humanity is as a result of persistent adverse violence aired on the media. Lifestyle and underlying changes in human behavior in watching of movies has increased the rate of violence. The most affected population is that from the urban areas or rather the urban settings where there is an increased rate of watching movies and televisions. In other instances, tight educational schedules have automatically resulted to less or no free time for the young to play around (Burger, 2008). They have since then diverted to computer games and televisions. Video games and movies have become preferred recreational activities to compensate for their free time. You find that after school, children find themselves arriving back home late in the night and as a result parents do not allow them to go out and play and hence they find solace in the TVs and computer games. In essence they are exposed to different forms of violence and as a result they carry them forward to real life events.

Strong associations between the duration of TV watching and children’s adiposity has been reported by many researchers to be the course of behavior change. Other related studies have revealed that TV watching is associated with specific differences in different kinds of violence. With regard to this, analysts have found out that every additional hour of TV viewed per day is equated to an additional behavior adaptation. In addition to this, researchers have also noted that TV exposure is very harmful or rather detrimental to the young children for instance the ones aged two years (Hageman, 2010). This is the period when behaviors are adopted and when these children are exposed to violence and aggression, they will carry it forward in their life. TV is harmful to children developing than it could be to the preschoolers or to the way it could be to other children who are predisposed to actual attention or to those who suffer from behavior disorder. Findings on behavior change are based on the basis that TV is so harmful to the children’s attention and behavior.

Research shows that young viewers are increasing their short-term and a long-term aggression and violence because they are watching much fictional television and film violence (Cole, 1987). It explores how news on violence on Television has also contributed to an increase in violence. It has increased forms of imitative suicides and acts of aggression among the youth. Additionally, video games have a clear capability to create an increased aggression and violence in short term. It is argued that the relationship between real world violence and media violence and aggression is restrained by the nature of the content aired and the social influence on the person open to the elements of a particular media. Violence and aggression is considered to be the major problems in a society. It affects everyone and some people encounter problems everyday because of differences in age, wages and environment. These social problems can be solved when people join hands to eradicate them because all of them are man made and thus can be stopped by man.

At a tender age, children’s minds are sponge-like and thus, it tends to absorb everything that it comes into contact with. They therefore become easy target in terms of manipulation by media’s constant influence. At the time they reach adulthood, they become people who are already under the influence of the mass media. Additionally, the society also appears to have a subconscious fixation with mass media. This in turn has made individuals to be desensitized to forms of violence and is detrimentally affected by the violence. Different research that have been carried out carry in them different beliefs to give reasons as to why violence continues to be a predominant factor in the current society (Willoughby & Archibald, 2003). It is eminent that media promotes violence. It is also blamed for awarding violent behavior in people. An example is in the cases of Virginia Tec and Columbine who both received tons of exposure from the media. Violence can also be seen in schools because students these days form gangs that run certain areas of the school. This is copied from what is seen in movies or TV dramas. It makes schools unsafe for kinds since the kids terrorize them. Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory (Ekstrom, 1999). It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization. This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts. The paper has examined how media violence posed a threat to public security inasmuch as it led to an increase in violence and aggression in real-world. Research shows that young viewers are increasing their short-term and a long-term aggression and violence because they are watching much fictional television and film violence.

Primarily, violence is a component of people’s lives, especially in the current youth culture. They tend to turn to the media for a sense of direction. Currently, people are turning to internet to download movies and also watch online movies that contain worse forms of violence (Arlan, 2004). This has made them acquire the image from what they view and thus their behavior has been shaped by the content watched. Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory. It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization (Blackbirch & Lewis, 2002). This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts.

Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory. It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization (Hansberry, 2001). This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts. The average child aged eight to eighteen spends about 44.5 hours weekly watching television or movie. This makes them transform to remote-like controlled mechanisms who are gradually brainwashed by diverse misrepresentations (Potter, 1999). For example, the Journal of American Medical Association stated introduction of television to the society in 1950, drastically caused a repetition of rates of homicide i.e. a long term exposure of a child to television caused about one half of homicides committed in U.S. this has been rounded off to about 10,000 homicides annually (Pound, Baechler & Litz,1990). If TV and other mass media technology were not developed, there would be fewer annual homicide rates globally. Consequently, aggression and violent rates would be reduced by great margins.

Conclusion

The media influences and increases violence and aggression in real world. It is argued that the relationship between real world violence and media violence and aggression is restrained by the nature of the content aired and the social influence on the person open to the elements of a particular media. There are many forms of violence and most of them are experienced through the media, streets, homes and schools. TV programs aired normally contain different forms of violence and these cause kids to practice whatever they have seen on TV. For example, a little boy who may be watching wrestling will attempt the moves on someone and thus they may end up hurting the child. Violence seen in streets makes neighborhood a bad place to live in. People will tend to avoid such neighborhoods because of the violence. Violence can also be seen in schools because students these days form gangs that run certain areas of the school. This is copied from what is seen in movies or TV dramas. It makes schools unsafe for kinds since the kids terrorize them. Viewers’ unemotional unconscious reaction to the media’s constant portrayal of violence is explained by desensitization which is a psychological theory. It observes that societal continuous exposure forms of violence through mass media ends in desensitization. This in turn draws undermine feelings of compassion, concern and empathy since individuals end up being victims of actual violent acts. The paper has examined how media violence posed a threat to public security inasmuch as it led to an increase in violence and aggression in real-world. Research shows that young viewers are increasing their short-term and a long-term aggression and violence because they are watching much fictional television and film violence. It explores how news on violence on Television has also contributed to an increase in violence. It has increased forms of imitative suicides and acts of aggression among the youth. Additionally, it found out that video games have a clear capability of increasing aggression and violence in short term behavior.

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