Violence in the media

Question 1

High profile case in which many blamed media violence

Answer 1

• 1993 murder of 2 year old James Bulger by 2 10 year old boys
• judge commented “I suspect that exposure to violent video films may in part be an explanation”
• however the police said they found no evidence that videos viewed by the family could have encouraged the boys to kill the toddler
• the Sun in particular focused on blaming the film Child’s Play 3, but police found no evidence the boys had seen this

Question 2

Newson (1994) report

Answer 2

suggested that violent videos could lead to violent actions - referenced James Bulger case

Question 3

Anderson et al (2003) claimed that

Answer 3

research showed that media violence increased the likelihood of aggressive and violent behaviour, both immediately and in the long term

Question 4

Cumberbatch (1994) criticised Newton’s report (which suggested that media violence leads to violent actions)

Answer 4

arguing that its findings were merely speculation fuelled by the popular press

Question 5

A review by Newburn and Hagell (1995)

Answer 5

of more than 1,000 studies concluded that the link between media violence and violent behaviour is ‘not proven’ and children displaying violent tendencies may have had these tendencies regardless of media consumption

Question 6

A 2003 report by the Broadcasting Standards Commission

Answer 6

found that children are sophisticated media users and are fully aware that TV production is a process and that they are not watching reality, so they can distinguish between real and media violence

Question 7

Cumberbatch (2004) for the Video Standards Council found

Answer 7

that the evidence that television causes violence is weak

Question 8

Ferguson (2014)

Answer 8

conducted research into the effects of violent movies and video games in the US, finding no evidence of the long-term links between media violence and real-life violence, and that in both cases more violence on screen and more people playing violent video games was associated with a decline in violence in wider society

Question 9

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media

Answer 9

• copycatting or imitation
• catharsis
• desensitisation
• sensitisation
• psychological disturbance in some children
• exaggerated fear of violence

Question 10

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - copycatting or imitation

Answer 10

• hypodermic syringe model
• causes people to copy the violence which they see in media
• shown in Bandura et al’s ‘Bobo doll’ experiments

Question 11

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - catharsis

Answer 11

media violence does not make viewers more aggressive, but reduces violence as it allows people to live out their violent tendencies in the fantasy world of media rather than in reality

Question 12

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - desensitisation

Answer 12

writers like Himmelweit et al (1958) and Newson (1994) suggested that repeated exposure to media violence has a long term ‘drip-drip’ effect , socialising audiences into accepting violence as normal and are less sensitive and disturbed by violence (even in real life), have less sympathy for victims and have an increased risk of aggressive behaviour

Question 13

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - sensitisation

Answer 13

exposure to violence in the media can make people more sensitive to the consequences of violence and less tolerant of real-life violence

Question 14

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - media violence causes psychological disturbance in some children

Answer 14

watching violent media may frighten young children, causing nightmares, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression, and these effects may be long-lasting

Question 15

Competing claims about the effects of violence in the media - the exaggeration of the fear of violence

Answer 15

media may make people believe we live in an overly violent society
Gerber (1998) found that those who watch more television have exaggerated fears about crime and overestimate their risk of being victimised, assuming that the crime rate is increasing

Question 16

Livingstone (1996) points out that any link between media violence and violent behaviour does not mean media violence causes the behaviour. This means that

Answer 16

researchers must resolve 3 questions
- whether more aggressive people choose to watch more violent programmes (selective exposure)
- whether violent programmes make viewers aggressive (media effects)
- whether certain social circumstances both make people more aggressive and lead them to watch more violent content (eg a common 3rd cause)

Question 17

Livingstone and Ferguson (1994) both point out that media effects models have

Answer 17

attempted to use experimental methods of research, using small samples in artificial laboratory conditions to determine the effects of media violence (eg Bandura et al’s bobo doll experiments)

Question 18

Bandura et al (1961) - Bobo doll experiments

Answer 18

• exposed a range of children to violent scenes involving attacks on a large inflatable plastic doll
• one group was shown the doll being attacked by an adult in real life, another was shown the same adult attacking the doll in a film and a third was shown the same scene involving cartoon characters
• all 3 groups who saw violence towards the doll acted in the same violent ways they had observed
• the group who was not shown violence scenes against the doll displayed no violent behaviour

Question 19

Hawthorne effect definition

Answer 19

when the presence of the researcher, or the group’s (or individual’s) knowledge that it has been specifically selected for research, changes the behaviour of the group or individual, raising problems with the validity of research

Question 20

Methodological problems of researching media violence

Answer 20

• problem with how ‘media violence’ is defined (boxing, shoot-outs, parents hitting children, cartoon fights, violent protests etc)
• the hypodermic syringe model underlies much of the research, presuming passive audiences
• almost impossible to avoid the Hawthorne effect - Gauntlett (1998) criticises experimental studies because people behave differently than in real life, and Ferguson (2014) suggests that the researcher presence may provide an opportunity for participants to be aggressive as they feel it is acceptable in the study
• laboratory experiments are short-term
• laboratory experiments use small samples (not generalisable)
• difficult to separate effects of media from other potential causes of reactions
• almost impossible to find a group who has not been exposed to media
• new media makes it impossible to test media effects - Livingstone points out that people surf different media and may not consume entire programmes