Violent Media and Aggressive Behavior in Young Boys - Essay Example

?Violent Media and Aggressive Behavior in Young Boys Summary An analysis of Macrae’s article shows that the exposure of young boys to violencedepicted in different types of media reduces sensitivity to violence in real life. A general summary of the article indicates that the reduced sensitization to violence depicted in different types of media increases the chances that these young boys makes violent behavior seem normal. This in turn leads young adolescents more prone to violent behavior in their normal lives. From a study discussed in the article, the best explanation for this behavior is that, the more young boys are exposed to violent media, the less sensitive they become to the violence, meaning that they are likely to ignore violence or commit the violence themselves. Psychological issues from this article indicate that since adolescent brains are still developing, exposure to violent media over time leads to numbing of the brain parts that control emotion, meaning that the adolescents become prone to committing violence. The emotional component associated with aggression is numbed with continued exposure to violence, a fact explained by U.S. government researchers (Macrae, 2010). However, the researchers also concluded that this type of behavior is only evident in young males, as young females are less inclined to violent acts. This research also indicates that violent cartoons can also lead to the same kind of behavior. In summary, the main issue in this article is that continued exposure to media violence in young males leads to the acceptance of violent behavior as normal behavior, which may lead to the young people committing violence themselves. Examination Many researchers have approached the issue of increased violence in the youth as a result of violent media. From wide research, empirical evidence of the continued exposure of the youth to violent media indicates that this theory is actually true. In the 21st century, it can be seen that there is more exposure to violent video games and videos as opposed to earlier times. Before an analysis of the theories underlying this phenomenon, it is important to indicate the empirical evidence espoused. Violence in the media can be classified into three main groups; violence on television and in films, violence in television news and violence in video games. In this regard, Huesmann and Taylor (2006), state that the exposure of children to violent films and movies increases the likelihood of their performing in violent acts immediately after the act. The experiments conducted by these researchers indicated that children who watched violent films displayed increasingly violent behavior as opposed to children who watched non-violent films. Recent statistics as indicated by Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman (2006) show that of adults who were continually exposed to violence in films during adolescence, 11% of the males have been convicted of at least one crime at some point, 42% have displayed some sort of violence towards their spouses and 39% have thrown objects at other people. The second category of media violence; the violence in television news has not been adequately proven, though some researchers indicate that it leads to increased cases of suicide. From an analysis of violence depicted in video games, it can be seen that there is an increased exposure to the games, a fact that leads to increased aggression. Huesmann and Taylor (2006) state that currently, there are video games in more than 83% of homes, regardless of economic capability. 52% of all young boys play the video games for more than 49 minutes a day. To make the situation worse, research also indicates that more than 94% of the games rated as being suitable for teens are actually violent and can lead to aggressive behavior. Empirical experiments indicate that children who play these violent video games are more prone to exhibiting violent behavior towards like their peers like shoving, hitting and kicking. Research into the theoretical foundation of the behavior in children after being exposed to violent media exposes two main factors; short and long-term content effects of the media. The short-term content effects depicted by young boys exposed to violent media are mainly caused by three factors; the priming process, the arousal process and the imitation process. According to Huesmann and Taylor (2006), the priming process refers to the process by which an external stimulus in the environment is inherently linked to a cognition, emotion or normal action. For example, in a game, the sight of a gun is usually linked to violence, or some ethnic feature links the brain to images of violence. The second stage is arousal or excitation, where the images seen in violent media arouse the aggressive aspect of an individual. The excitement in the violent behavior serves to arouse a youth’s aggressive factor, which in turn leads to aggressive behavior. The third stage is imitation, where the young brain accommodates the violence seen and later imitates it, which is depicted in the increase in violent behavior. As already indicated, the violent behavior is imitated in the playground, where increased cases of violence are observed. In contrast, the long-term effects of violence depicted in the media in children are explained by two main theoretical models; the social cognitive theory and the desensitization model (Bushman and Huesmann, 2006). It is generally understood that repeated exposure to external stimuli influences a person’s behavior. However, for children, this behavior is learned since their brains can still be molded. Social norms and behavior are acquired by children through observation of the surrounding environment, and an exposure to violent media makes them feel that t is acceptable behavior. In this regard, the social cognitive schema of a child is built to accept the violence depicted in films and other media. The exposure of children to violent behavior as they grow up changes their normative beliefs, which in turn affects their sociological make-up. This means that the children grow up accepting the violence around them. The second theory that explains the aggressive behavior in children after exposure to violent media is called desensitization (Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman, 2006). Basically, this means that repeated exposure to factors in the media that activate emotion leads to normalization or acceptance of the violence. In this case, the children are habituated towards the violence, meaning that they are less aroused by violent behavior. The children are then prone to ignoring acts of violence or perpetrating the violence themselves. At this stage, the child is said to be desensitized or habituated to the violence depicted in the media. Conclusion From the two theories discussed above, an analysis of Macrae’s (2010) article shows the application of the two theories. However, given the focus of the article, it is evident that the desensitization theory was mostly the objective. Macrae (2010) gives evidence of researchers from the National Institutes of Health to indicate the desensitization theory. From the article, Dr. Grafman states that continued exposure to violent games makes the adolescent lose sensitivity in the real world. Comparing this to the desensitization theory, it is plausible that the youth will lose sensitization since the part of the brain controlling emotion is continually numbed. This means that the youth will not be able to connect aggressive behavior to the consequences or results of performing such actions. An in-depth analysis of the article also reveals the application of the social cognitive theory where the author states that long-term exposure to media violence causes a change in behavior. However, it can be deduced that the social cognitive theory of behavior is a more plausible explanation for long-term effects of violence in the media. In this case, the author should have explained the phenomenon by linking it more closely to this theory as opposed to the desensitization model. Regardless, the recommendation that violent video games and media should be age restricted is welcome, since the youth are continually adversely affected. References Bushman, B. J. and Huesmann, L. R. (2006). Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Violent Media on Aggression in Children and Adults. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. Vol. 160. Pp. 348-352. Carnagey , N. L., Anderson, C. A. and Bushman, B. J. The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-Life Violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 19. Pp. 1-8. Huesmann, L. R. and Taylor, R. D. (2006). The Role of Media Violence in Violent Behavior. Annual Review of Public Health. Vol. 27. Pp. 393-415. Macrae, F. (2010). Violent films, video games and TV shows DO make boys aggressive, study finds. Retrieved on November 25, 2012 from: Read More