Media Violence Affects Children Behavior - Coursework Example

MEDIA VIOLENCE AFFECTS CHILDREN BEHAVIOR Introduction The extensive increase in social violence in the last few years has appeared similar to other phenomenological transformations in ways of life, all generated by the extensive technological transformations of the 20th and 21st centuries. Experts agree that the most crucial transformation has been the visual mass media introduction into daily lives of children. When both extensively salient aspects co-occur, it is justified to hypothesize an instrumental relationship between them; therefore, it is clear that predictions concerning the media violence part in encouraging violence behavior have existed ever since the introduction of motion images portraying violent acts, (Torr, 2002, p.23). After the introduction of TV, the assumption developed to a predicting state, and the initial researches were developed. Subsequently, the concern of whether media aggression results to society violence has been a main point of discussion to communication research experts, psychological thinkers and policy makers. Consequently, an intensive body of instrumental research on the issue has developed. The paper aims to investigate the claim or theory that social media violence affects children behavior. Discussion This discussion seeks to validate the interplay between a theory and a method. Experts agree that a theory serves to drive a method via its analysis level, articulation state, the form of its proposed constructs, as well as its prescriptive and descriptive aspect. A method, on the other hand, aids to advance and enhance the development of a theory through configuration analysis, modeling stimulation and analysis of unpredicted and surprising data to produce new theoretical insights. In the above case, a theory plays a key role of validating the underlying laws that control the connection constructs and use the methods to verify these underlying laws. In the above claim, the hypothesis is that media violence promotes violent behavior among children. Various experimental experiments prove this assumption, (Suyeon, Morash and Stevens, 2010, p.35). For instance, an experimental study whereby children exposure to violence movie was manipulated and temporal children’s behavior changes were evaluated indicated that media violence lead to violent behavior in children. These researchers have confirmed the hypothesis that children exposure to visual picture or images of dramatic violence leads to some form of aggressive behavior in children. Similarly, some static observational research experiment in which violent behavior and media violence exposure were assessed in a number of children in a school setting and homes showed the same results. These studies indicated that children with aggressive behaviors view and prefer to view dramatic violent films and Television shows, (Derksen and Strasburger, 2006, p.98). Additionally, longitudinal field works whereby children’s exposure to violent media commercials and their manifested violent behavior evaluated at different times of their lives confirmed the above hypothesis. In various aspects, the above studies are increasingly vital because they enable fieldworkers to estimate the actual importance of the discovered relationship between movie violence and aggression. Based on the above empirical evidence, one cannot object the idea that the present interpersonal violence level in the US and other industrialized countries are mainly due to prolonged exposure of children to media violence. In fact, some dramatic aggressive behavior researcher would have speculated such a theory. Similarly, the current empirical evidence do offer support for the hypotheses that increased level of interpersonal aggression in many societies today has been stimulated by prolonged influence of one’s childhood exposure to adverse violent media images, (Sternheimer, 2003, p.89). This speculation is supported with an experiment and investigation of longitudinal researches of children developing to maturity state. Since it is difficult to analyze such experiments in a theoretical vacuum, it is critical to investigate some of the crucial psychological and behavioral theories and attend to increasing traditional lab experiments that have been crucial in testing these theory aspects. The existing evidence also reveals that childhood aggression is a product of various interacting aspects, such as genetic, family factors, psychological aspects as well as learning experiences, (Blitstein, Murray, Lytle, Birnbaum and Perry, 2005, p.45). Indeed, it appears most likely that adverse childhood aggressive behavior happens when these factors interact. The existing evidence reveals that habitual violent behavior in children is largely learned from the child’s initial interactions with the surrounding environment. Whereas physiological and inherited aspects may subject a kid to violence, the developmental learning experience of the kid shapes his aggressive behavior. For instance, an environment full of deprivations, obstructions and incitements promotes growth of increased habitual aggression in children. The aspects that are increasingly crucial theoretically in child socialization and in determining her uniqueness in learned responses, nevertheless, are his family, environmental surrounding such as exposure to media commercials and films, and peer pressure, (Anderson, Gentile and Buckley, 2007, p.21). Even though, parents mainly act as the fundamental agents of socialization to their children other information sources can influence the process of socialization. For instance, peers become highly crucial in influencing the social development of a child and so do media (like TVs, computer games and films) and adults such as teachers and members of family, (Aisenberg and Herrenkohl, 2008, p.41). Crucial theories about media violence influence on habitual aggressive behavior, concentrate on media violence exposure, aggression and deviant behavior in young children. For instance, cognitive social theory asserts that different information sources (such as TVs, movies, caregivers, teachers and parents) influence children behavior because they act as behavior models. The theory asserts that young ones do not learn interaction patterns by copying certain behavior, rather as they grow up they observe various behaviors from diverse information sources (TV shows and commercials). Similarly, children both adopt certain behavior showed by others and adopt evaluative principles used by their models, (Staub, 2003, p.12). The theory asserts that such standards can be generated through direct learning, through reaction of other people to one’s behavior and observing self-evaluative principles showed by others. Thus, beyond demonstrating certain behavior, a kid may design her attitudes, emotions and actions after her model. In contemporary years, several other critical thinkers, drawing from social learning ideas and studies in cognitive psychological discipline, have provided hypothesis that indicate a child’s cognitions in aggressive behavior learning and maintenance. These methods put emphasis mainly on the cognitive process as well as the steps via which a kid must grow to react properly, competently and peacefully to social stimulus, (Savage and Yancey, 2008, p.78). The theory asserts that contemporary formulation, social attitude are controlled by internal factors of self-regulation, (Savage, 2008, p.67). The crucial aspect is the cognitive assessment of events happening in the kid’s environment and how he conceptualizes such events, as well as how knowledgeable he feels in reacting in various ways. Such cognitions offer stability basis of behavior tendencies in diverse situations. The theory asserts that some conditions lead to adequate demonstration, for instance, identification that happens when a child relates with the actor displaying the violence act. Secondly, reinforcement occurs when the violent character is rewarded for the performance. This creates an enduring impact on the child as he aspires to act the same way to receive a reward. Children link positive reinforcement with adverse performance such as stealing from a bank and escaping, (Schooler and Flora, 2006, p.90). Social learning theory acts as a link between behaviorist and theories of cognitive learning as it embraces attention, stimulations and memory. For instance, an experiment involving three-year old children exposed to both horror and peaceful movies indicates that children with prolonged exposure to horror movies tended to develop aggressive attitudes at the end of the experiment, than those in calm movies. Similarly, the results indicated that like three quarters of the horror movie viewers tended to identify with aggressive and violent character than polite characters. Script theory views children as information processors who develop scripts to direct their social behavior. After scripts development, the child executes the scripts, and his reaction is viewed to be unthinking although, they are a function of a complicated set of processes of cognition, (Levine, 2006, p.134). Therefore, increasingly aggressive children are those who learn, retain, retrieve and use increasingly aggressive scripts. Based on the script theory, the process of script formation is a process of learning that entails inactive and observational aspects. The main process of learning is the one whereby a viewer views behavior sequence by peers and encrypts such patterns into her cognitive script through the observational learning method, (Potter, 2003, p.89). The second learning method happens when the view uses the script to direct her daily behavior and is strengthened for the resultant reaction through inactive learning method, (Freedman, 2002, p145). Both inactive and observational processes of learning may change the script structure; influence the encrypting strength and change its relationship with other child’s cognitive schema elements. From the above premises, it is true that, based on the theory, the kid’s viewing of adverse or actual violence in early developmental stages may lead to the construction of a permanent structure of cognition that would influence his childhood behavior and adulthood behavior, as well. For instance, observational experiment involving 100 children exposure in violent movies for 20 years confirmed the hypothesis, (Gentile, 2003, p.156). For instance, the research findings revealed that about three quarters of the children grew up to be extremely aggressive characters as adults and the remaining percentage showed slight aggression as adults. Therefore, the experiment indicated that repeated watching of real-life violent characters and violent actors portrayed in the movies a child develops normative belief that violent is right, and he acquires social scripts on how to act violently, (Huesmann, 2006, p.234). The indication of the connection among media violence observation and the aggressive behavior commission is not restricted to the laboratory. Similarly, field study evidence over the past two decades has led various researchers to construe that children’s present aggressiveness, and the number of television and movie violence they always view is positively connected to some extent, (Gunter, 2008, p.54). Children that are more aggressive view increasing number of violent TV commercials and movies than nonaggressive TV shows. This relationship is scientifically crucial, however, and crucial by the personality evaluation idea with children. Similarly, magnitude correlation mainly collected in the field may have true social importance. Furthermore, the connection is extensively replicable even among researcher who dispute the reasons and among nations, (Laser, Luster and Oshio, 2007, p.256). On the contrary, crucial relationship between violence and adults repeated violence watching has been noted on rare cases in the field. No one can object the validity of the generalization that children exposure to violent media promotes aggressive behavior among children. The experimental methodology discussed in this paper serves to validate the conclusion (theory). Similarly, no one can object the generalization from the static field researches that children that are more aggressive view and prefer to view increasingly violent media commercials and movies. Similarly, the conclusion is valid to demonstrate the inter-play between methodology and theory in social science research covered, (Haugen and Musser, 2009, p. 364). Take together; the various experiments (methodology) serve to validate the claim (theory) that media violence plays a crucial function in stimulating children aggression. In a more theoretical approach, method and theory act as cause and effect, in that one lead to the other, and the two are inseparable. As earlier discussed, a theory serves to drive a method via its analysis level, articulation state, the form of its proposed constructs, as well as its prescriptive and descriptive aspect, (Garrido, Tausing, Culhane and Raviv, 2011, p.149). A method, on the other hand, aids to advance and enhance the development of a theory through configuration analysis, modeling stimulation and analysis of unpredicted and surprising data to produce new theoretical insights. The discussed approach is crucial to show the interplay between theory and method because it clearly outlines the connection, (Gunter, 2008, p. 164). For instance, the claim “violence media images promote aggressive behavior among children serves as a “hypothesis (theory) and “various longitudinal field studies and experimental researches” serve as methodologies to validate or prove the argument (theory). Conclusion It is true that media violence promotes aggression among young ones. Existing real methodologies conducted in both field and laboratory have proved the speculation that exposure to extreme violence TV and movie scenes can cause aggressive behavior on children (immediately or afterwards as an adult). This gives a significant linkage between a theory and method in social science studies. Bibliography Aisenberg, E., & Herrenkohl, T. (2008). Community Violence in Context. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 23, 296-315. Anderson, C. A., Gentile, D. A., & Buckley, K. E. (2007). Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: theory, research, and public policy. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 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