Violence in the media
Violence thrills us by serving as a platform for big budget blockbuster movies. Violence is constantly entertaining our children in cartoons and making us laugh in some of our favorite slapstick comedies. However, it is the consequences of such violence that is often overlooked making it easy for us to glamorize it. A national television study, in which 10,000 hours of broadcast programming was examined reveals that 61% of programming portrayed personal violence, much of it in an entertaining or glamorized manner. The highest proportion of violence was found in children’s shows (Baron & Butross). Numerous studies show that television violence has a negative effect on human aggression. ... Since then more than 3,500 studies have examined the relationship between media violence and violent behavior; all but 18 have shown a positive relationship (Baron & Butross). The preceding statistics suggest that media violence seems to exacerbate the effects on human behavior. This research paper will examine the factors that cause media violence to prime aggressive behavior, including the plot elements and characterizations in television and movies that can exacerbate or mitigate the effects of media violence on human behavior. There are four main effects that violence can have on behavior. ... Second is a process know as desensitization in which repeated exposures to graphic media violence can lessen a person’s reaction to real life violence(Huesmann, Sept 30). ... In their content analysis Baron and Reiss concluded that mass media portrayals of violence can cause imitative responses among the public. ... Perhaps a significant number of people who viewed the fight were desensitized to the repeated actions of violence on display, meaning that consequences for going out and getting into a real fight would not be as severe. Perhaps some of the people who saw the fight already had violent tendencies that were primed by observing the continuous violence. ... Baron and Phillips’ statistics and data references suggest that violent sporting events, such as boxing, can only exacerbate the effects of violence on human behavior. In her pediatric journal article, Faith Mclellan discusses a correlation between media violence and behavior by interviewing and studying the work of Robert DuRant. Since the early 90’s DuRant has studied the effects of exposure to violence on outcome measures including fighting, carrying a visible or concealed weapon and intention to uses violence which correlates most strongly with media violence (Mclellan). ... Those who were frequently exposed were though to be more violent in school, and children already predisposed to violence were more likely to imitate the behavior they saw on television. ... Children who were already predisposed to violence were primed to act aggressively. ... This is why it is important to understand how viewers decided about the realism of television content in order to find out what types of programming will mitigate or exacerbate the effects of violence. ... Also very important are the Contextual factors of programming or movies that might serve to mitigate or exacerbate the effects of violence on human behavior. Perhaps the most important factor is the nature of the perpetrator, or the person who is doing the violence. ... This basically means that media violence can have an exacerbated effect on human behavior when a likeable character is the one doing the violence. ... ) are also of this same genre involving beautiful perpetrators of violence. Also important to making an attractive perpetrator are his or her motives for the violence. ... A Berkowitz study reflects these same results, “Actions that appear to be justified or morally defensible are likely to facilitate viewer aggression, whereas unjustified violence can actually diminish the risk of learning aggression” (Wilson & Smith). ... In the movie the four main characters (the mutant ninja turtles) use violence to solve their problems as well, however their actions are also justified because they are beating up evil ninjas who’s intent is to harm innocent people.