Media Violence

THESIS STATEMENT: The world’s media today seem to have more violence than ever. Video games have vivid depictions of accident catastrophes, fighting and murder. Television news programs generally lead with a violent story in order to gain an audience. This is free society people can stay what they want. ‘’ Media violence has many negative effect on youth today to commit crimes in society.’’

The public has a fascination and obsession over crime and criminals, but people want to know how those crimes are dealt with in the criminal justice system, in court and on the streets. “Now that the penal system has forsworn the former, and confined the latter within prison walls, the public turns to the news media. Stories relating to criminal justice are never far from the front pages and from the collective consciousness” (Roberts 99). We as American citizens have no choice but to watch the news or read the daily newspaper and get the latest crime right across the headlines. Learning about the new political and economic burning topics of the day seem to be at the majority of peoples interest.

Situational and social approaches to crime prevention are both proactive where they anticipate and prevent crime but are different in the way on how crime is prevented, each having their own strength and weaknesses. In this essay, I will briefly talk about what is crime prevention and how situational and social approaches are derived, followed by providing a critical comparison of situational and social approaches by first explaining what is situational and social approaches to crime prevention, the differences between the two approaches, their strength and weaknesses and lastly, to show understanding that besides situational and social approach, there are other approaches to crime prevention.

As one author notes, the debate surrounding this topic has been increasingly polarized, with arguments either completely for, or against, the causal influence of media on violence (Trent). The lack of middle ground prevents many important types of ideas and arguments that would arise if we were to make some distinctions. Have studies that showed

In the media there is a great deal of violence and nobody can really deny that. However, the effects media has on children and young adults have been debated for years. In this paper I will be discussing the effects of media violence, the other factors, and the possible solutions to alleviate this global issue.

Society has high expectations for criminal justice. Controlling the behavior of people is a difficult task, and there are several differing opinions on how this should happen. Many believe this can best accomplished by prevention through deterrence. Deterrence can be achieved from increased police patrols, good relationships with the community, and through tough penalties for convicted criminals. When deterrence fails, criminals need to be identified and held accountable for their actions. Law enforcement enforces many different crimes; some of the most serious crimes are violent crimes.

Many people still have several questions they want answered, such as, is media violence actually affecting children or are children already prone to violence drawn to media violence? Some experts have shown short and long-term negative effects occur in children from watching violent media; however another group of experts have shown that media violence is only one of many risk factors leading to aggression developed in children. These two groups need to continue more research and go beyond that to find true solutions. Nevertheless, no sources were found to say that media violence has no influence on the increase in modern culture’s violent actions. The key to discovering the true correlation between violence in children and media violence is to continue research until a solution is

For hundreds of years communities around the world have struggled with the criminal justice system and how it operates. Although many of the rules have changed, there are still groups of people who disagree with the existing guidelines. At a large, many of these people do not fully understand what they are opposing. These people have been manipulated and forced to believe in the ideas that they mindlessly back. Be it right or wrong, many of these ideas were created not for the gain of the masses, but for the gain of the persuasive few. In the past, these views would be established through different forms of printed materials and through word-of-mouth. Now these views are forced upon any person consuming any form of mass media. Some of the outlets include newspapers, tv, and sites used for communication. Even Though time has passed, the issues behind the criminal justice system are still being manipulated. One of the biggest issues being faced, concerns the desensitization of the community towards violent crimes such as serial killings. With this issue in mind, one question rises: how will media affect the the process of catching violent criminals in the future? Instead of media focusing on ways to get more potential views it should focus on ways to better the community in the future, such as better promoting the processes of the criminal justice system.

Living in a world full of crime and violence, people begin to wonder what the cause of the violence is and how it can then be prevented. Unfortunately, there is not a single root cause that can be found when people attempt to decipher why children are deciding to bring guns to school and murder their peers. Some may believe that it was influenced by being exposed to a hostile family, violent films, or gory video games. Although sometimes this might be the case, a lot of the time it is not as black and white, making this topic very difficult to analyze and understand. Both Jonathan L. Freedman in “Villain or Scapegoat? Media Violence and Aggression” and L Rowell Huesmann and Laramie D. Taylor in “The Role of Media Violence in Violent

For a child, almost any type of conflict, such as a heated discussion on a radio talk show or between two experts during a newscast, may seem as aggressive as two comic book characters throwing anvils. As of yet, we do not have a clear explanation of what causes violence and aggression in our youth, whether we analyze media content or explore the everyday aggressive behavior that may cause violent behavior, Individual studies define these notions in a lot of different ways; Thus, the rules of the game are constantly changing for those who try to analyze the situation as a whole. The difficulty in quantifying aggression and violence in ways that make it almost impossible to answer the following question: "Does violence in the media cause people to commit acts of violence? "

I don’t know if media violence contributes to the amount aggression in the world, but I think it definitely normalizes it. People are so used to seeing violence and aggression on and in the news that the news organizations have to hunt for a feel-good story so the whole broadcast isn’t all negative. Adults and young adults are typically able to control their aggression, but kids who grow up watching the news with their parents are learning that violence and aggression is normal, and no one will really only talk about it, instead of doing anything about it. When I was a kid, my family would watch the news together while having dinner. This was just after 9/11 happened, so all of the news coverage was over in Iraq and Afghanistan about how many

Many parents go through the same cycle in regards to dealing with their children. Kids come home from a long day of school and want a distraction from all the knowledge they consumed that day. However, a parent does not always have the time or even the ability to entertain their kids, so while they remain in the kitchen finishing preparing dinner, their children sit on the couch and engage in video games. Obviously, each parent wants what is best for their child and worries about the effect of all these violent video games corrupt with shooting, punching, blood, gore, and of course, death. Which is exactly what leads them to this question. Researchers at Ohio State University asked parents, media researchers, pediatricians, and psychologists of their opinion on this matter and here is what they observed: 66

          Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.

            In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Following events such as the Columbine massacre, news sources have vilified violent media, claiming that it is a primary cause of violent behavior in youths. This analysis provides firm research on the subject from the opposing and supporting sources, giving a thorough definition to the term “violent media” and  brings forth evidence that other psychological effects and environmental factors are more significant causes of increased youth aggression than violent media.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the