What Is Psychodynamic Theory - Research Paper Example

Introduction What is psychodynamic theory, and how does it relate to television and depression? Created by the father of psychology, Sigmund Freud, psychodynamic theory views patients as lacking something in their lives, and this lack can cause depression. Individuals, according to this theory, are viewed to be affected by a dynamic that starts in early childhood, and this dynamic affects individuals as they progress throughout life. How does psychodynamic theory relate to violence on television and depression? The psychodynamic approach to analyzing individuals demonstrates that trauma felt in childhood can often carry over into adulthood, causing distress, depression, and increased violence in the individual. This is true of television as well, and there is definitely a connection between watching television and increased feeling of depression and violence in adulthood. According to psychodynamic theory, something is generally “missing” from an individual’s life as the cause of depression, and for those that watch far too much television as children. This missing element can often be play with other children or interaction with family (some psychologists have referred to television as a detrimental type of babysitter for families). Studies show that television is an integral part of culture and many families spend more time in front of the television than they do conversing. Hence, this lack of social and familiar interaction can also contribute to the depression present in those that are exposed to too much television, along with the psychological trauma inflicted by violent television. Furthermore, the violence witnessed on television also creates problems from a psychodynamic standpoint and leads to depression. Trauma experienced via watching television in childhood can carry through to adulthood and cause further problems of depression for adults that viewed too much violence on television as children. Like psychodynamic theory states, this “dynamic” of television is the problem that roots itself in childhood and carries itself through adulthood, causing depression. Studies and Analysis The first part of this problem comes from the fact that television is in high demand in our culture. Many children and adults watch 21-23 of television per week, and 3 to 5 violent acts per hour ("Media Violence (RE9526)" 1). Many families have taken to watching television while eating dinner, and most families admit that they watch television when they eat instead of having conversations with each other. This can often attribute to the element that is “missing” in their lives, as according to psychodynamic theory. Lack of social interaction with individuals adults and children care about can often lead to depression. Furthermore, also in reference to psychodynamic theory, the age of exposure to television and television violence generally starts very young, around 3 years old (Smith 2). When children reach their mid-teens they will have seen over thousands of violent incidents and deaths in cartoons and with real people (Gonzalez 1). Perhaps not surprisingly, the most harmful violence on television was seen in cartoons (Shifrin 2). Therefore, it can be argued that children grow up in a culture of violence around the television set, and the more exposure they get, the worse off they will be as far as violence and depression go when compared to their counterparts. Violence is something that is difficult for anybody watching television to escape, and children are at an increased rate of being exposed, mainly because of the violence present in cartoons. As the psychodynamic approach tells us, those adults that have had traumatic experience or exposures in childhood will tend to carry those over into adulthood; this can be said to be true of traumatic things witnessed on the television. Depression, according to psychodynamic theory, comes on as a part of trauma during childhood and adulthood, and witnessing trauma on television, recent research shows, can be just as bad as witnessing the traumatic event in real life. Television is also changing some educational habits which are detrimental to adults and children and cause depression. For instance, reading practice by children and adults is being replaced by television watching. The visual effects on television cause the child and adult to not comprehend with in-depth reading (Healy 1-2). Violence on television affects children and adults who watch it. Children and adults will tend to be not sympathetic to people, scared of the world around them, often depressed and will be more aggressive compared to children who dont watch violence on television (Educational Television 2). This lack of focus on reading can also be seen as another missing element when psychodynamic theory is taken into consideration. Television is not as mentally stimulating as reading, and this factor can cause both thinking and realization problems for both the child and adult witnessing too much television. Studies show that adults that watched many hours of TV violence as a child will show more aggression and depression as they age. (Violence on Television 2). For instance, Bandura’s famous study with the “Bobo” doll demonstrated that children that viewed violence on television before interacting with the Bobo doll tended to be more violent than those that did not (Violence on Television 2). Conclusion and Summary The link between violence, depression, and exposure to television therefore becomes clear as far as psychodynamic theory is concerned. As the psychodynamic approach tells us, the more trauma one experiences in childhood and adulthood, the more likely it will be for that person to have problems with violence and depression. Thus, witnessing trauma on television causes the same types of problems as witnessing trauma in real life, causing the seriously detrimental effects of depression and increased violence in adults and children. Furthermore, certain elements are lacking in the lives of children and adults that watch too much television. These lacking items include a lack of proper mental development as well as a lack of social interaction with family and friends. As the psychodynamic approach emphasizes, this can inhibit individuals in adulthood and contribute to their depression. If thinking is impaired in adulthood, it will impact the person’s ability to avoid depression, and this can be a serious problem. References "Educational Television" [ONLINE] March 1996 http://working2.edusource.com/edutv.asp Gonzalez, Mona "Does Television affect children?" Saturday Special (May 15, 1999) [ONLINE] http://www.inquirer.net/Saturday/may99wks/spc_10.htm Healy, Jane M. Ph.D. "Understanding "Media Violence (RE9526)" [ONLINE] American Academy of Pediatrics http://aap.org/policy/00830.html Shifrin, Donald M.D, FAAP "Three year study documents; Nature of Television Violence" [ONLINE] http://www.aap.org/advocacy/shrifin898.htm Smith, Marilyn E. "Television Violence and Behavior: A Research Summary" [ONLINE] http://www.uncg.edu/edu/ericcass/violence/digests/ed366329.htm "Violence on Television" [ONLINE] APA Public Communications http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/violence.htm Read More