Mass Media Effects on Violent Behaviour - Dissertation Example

However, empirical studies in the mid-twentieth century suggested more limited effects of the media. Experts conclude that current scholarship presents a more complex interaction between media and society, with the media on generating interpretations from a network of relations and influences and with the individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided, as well as generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and ramifications of the mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media.

The purpose of this study is to find out whether there is indeed a correlation between the frequencies of viewing videos with violence in content with the tendency of a person to manifest violent behaviour.II. Literature ReviewA very good article on the effects of mass media on violent behavior is one written by Felson (1996). In his essay, the literature on the effect of exposure to media violence (including exposure to violent pornography) on aggressive behavior is critically reviewed. Evidence and theoretical arguments regarding short-term and long-term effects are discussed.

Three points are emphasized: 1. Exposure to violence in laboratory and field experiments is as likely to affect non-aggressive antisocial behavior as it does aggressive behavior. According to Felson, the pattern is consistent with a sponsor effect rather than a modeling effect: an experimenter who shows violent films creates a permissive atmosphere; 2. the message that is learned from the media about when it is legitimate to use violence is not much different from the message learned from. In his essay, the literature on the effect of exposure to media violence on aggressive behavior is critically reviewed.

Evidence and theoretical arguments regarding short-term and long-term effects are discussed. Three points are emphasized: 1. Exposure to violence in laboratory and field experiments is as likely to affect non-aggressive antisocial behavior as it does aggressive behavior. According to Felson, the pattern is consistent with a sponsor effect rather than a modeling effect: an experimenter who shows violent films creates a permissive atmosphere; 2. the message that is learned from the media about when it is legitimate to use violence is not much different from the message learned from other sources, with the exception that illegitimate violence is more likely to be punished in media presentations; 3.

the fact that violent criminals tend to be versatile—they commit nonviolent crimes as well—is inconsistent with explanations that emphasize pro-violence socialization . Felson then concludes that exposure to television violence probably does have a small effect on violent behavior for some viewers, possibly because the media directs viewer's attention to novel forms of violent behavior that they would not otherwise consider. Rather than providing an easy and safe outlet for the pent-up hostility within the angered members of the media audience, film violence may well increase the probability that someone in the audience will behave aggressively in a later situation soon afterward viewing the material.