Term paper on Violence In Society

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Running head: VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOCIETY Violence in the

Media and its Effects on Society: Definitions, Effects on Society, Statistics, and Prevention

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the effects of violence in the media and how it effects our

society. First a definition of media and violence will be presented. Then an explanation about who

violence can effect and what effects of violence are evident in our society today. Finally, various

ways of prevention are explored and a discussion of whether these paths are just or appropriate in

our present day society. Violence in the media has been proven to be an ongoing problem in our

society. The more relaxed nature that the mass media has been moving toward has caused great

disturbances in the minds of the people in our society. In order to understand this problem, if there

is one, we must first define what exactly the mass media and violence are. Next, we must see how it

effects the people that watch it and examine the statistics to back this up. Then, we will see why our

society is attracted to violence. Finally, we should look to see if the ways that we are addressing

this problem are actually helping to resolve it. Definitions Mass Media Mass media is defined as

“those means of communication that reach and influence large numbers of peoples, especially

newspapers, popular magazines, radio, and television” (McKechnie 1976). This means that not

only is television at fault for infecting our society, but that everything from movies to comic books

are as well (Larsen 1968). Violence Violence is defined as “to assault; to injure; also, to bring by

violence; to force” (McKechnie 1976). This means any type of fighting, blood, gore, or killing

would constitute as violence in the mass media. Who it effects This issue undeniably affects

virtually everyone, considering that almost everyone takes part in viewing some aspect of the media

everyday. The average American spends eleven years in front of the television set during a

seventy-two year lifespan (Jeffries 1998). Although this does effect everyone, we should focus on

children because it seems that they are the most impressionable viewers. It seems that “younger

and younger children are committing more and more serious crimes”, and that these children are

exposed to more and more violence in the media (Larsen 1968). Whether it is an eight-year-old

child watching Power Rangers? or a fourteen-year-old watching a R rated movie, it seems that our

major problem lies in the younger generation (DeGaetano 1998). Good Effects Many people think

that violence in the media has had only bad effects on our society. However, there are many people

who think that violence being shown and discussed has helped society (Barbour 1994). It is

obvious that the violence on television is brutal, but the brutality makes for an unsheltered

existence. It helps to show that what is going on in the world, may be in your front yard. It helps

people understand what effects may come out of certain situations in our every day life (Barbour

1994). The media is here to inform us, whether good or bad. We have the right to know what goes

on in the world and the media brings us this information. Movies and television shows occupy our

free time with entertainment, and the daily news keeps us informed with current events (Barbour

1994). Bad Effects Through the ages, the media has seemed to loosen its morals and in turn

showed more and more violence (Dudley 1999). There are many areas in which this has caused

problems. Now I will discuss those problems and their effects on society. The one major problem

that has been brought forward by the many studies done on the effects of violence on society, is the

“monkey see, monkey do” factor. This means that if a person, a child in particular, sees something

on television, they will imitate it (Keller 1997). Whether this is done because of curiosity, because

they don’t think it is wrong, or because they think it looks “fun”, most of the time they don’t

know what the after effects are because they are not shown by the media (Larsen 1968). The

reason this is a problem is because there are murders every year that have definite connections to

programs on television, movies, and comic books (Easterbrook 1999). The recent murders in

Colorado by the so-called, “Trench-Coat Mafia” were connected to the movie “The Basketball

Diaries”. In the movie there is a dream sequence in which the main character goes around his

school and shoots the classmates which he did not like. This is made attractive because of the rock

music played in the background and the smile on his face while he kills his enemy classmates

(Easterbrook 1999). Another reason that we have problems with the violence is the fact that we are

numbed to what we are actually seeing (Kim 1998). Repeated exposure to media violence,

especially when found on television, is directly responsible for the increase in aggression and

desensitization in our children, Madeline Levine writes in Viewing Violence: How Media Violence

Affects Your Child’s and Adolescent’s Development (Kim 1998). The fact that a person is being

killed right before our eyes is not offensive, and anymore we may not even notice it. This is the

effect of too much violence, bloodshed, and gore in our everyday lives (Kim 1998). One of the

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