Psychology:

The Effects of Media Violence

By:

Ryan Hagens
Joe Santamaria
Jack Adamson
Dewey Bunfill

12/15/06
 NEEDS INTRO

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_

I. MUSIC

Before one can discuss the effects of specifically violent music on children and

adolescents, one must first examine the main idea of music, and the role it plays in

today’s society. In short, what is the overall purpose of music itself? Ralica Radeva

writes, “A lot of the time people choose music based on how they are feeling at the

moment. They also choose to listen to music that suits their moods and activities. People

also use music to inform others about themselves…music is the language of all people.”

Whatever the reason, it is evident that music in today’s culture tunes into people’s

emotions and feelings in one way or another. But how does this idea relate to

adolescents?

A survey taken of junior high and high school students in Northern California

asked students which type of media they would choose to take with them, if forced to live

on a desert island. “At all grade levels, music media was preferred over television…by

eleventh grade, music was selected by a margin of two to one.” (Roberts 1) In addition to

its importance, music takes up an immense amount of time in a child’s life. On average,

children listen to around 21 hours of music a week. (Roberts 2) There is no question as to

the exposure adolescent’s have to music – and when violence and aggressive lyrics are

put into play, a variety of effects can be observed.

“For most young people, music use is driven primarily by the motivation to

control mood and enhance emotional states.” (Roberts 4) Music itself has a way of

changing an adolescent’s mood or emotional state. When a young person has feelings of

anger, listening to violent music can elevate this emotion. Although for many it might

seem that violent lyrics in no way influences any violent actions, young people in

particular are more easily influenced. C. DeLores Tucker, chair of the National Political

Congress of Black Women, says that many kids are “unable to separate the twisted

fantasies on records from the realities of life.” (Chappell) They have not yet reached the

stage where they are able to decipher music and its content from their own lives and their

own actions. In a sense, they often take their music to heart. Many also feel that music

“makes them feel less alone when they are by themselves.” It can also have social

implications, per say, acting as almost as social influence rather than just an activity.

(Roberts 5) As a result, adolescents listening to violent music can be influenced almost as

if they were around violent peers.

Repeated exposure to this type of violent media can eventually change an

adolescent’s overall perception of what violence is in society. Think in terms of horror

movies for example. A few decades ago, parents and children alike were absolutely

terrified to see the breathtaking scenes of blood and murder, even though the murder

being committed was never actually shown. Today, old movies like this may seem

“corny” to most kids. The new age horror movie shows every little bit of the gruesome

murder intact and in full color, no detail left behind. Adolescents are constantly being
exposed to this type of media, and have become almost numb to what violence and gore

really represent. “When entertainment glorifying violence is honored and celebrated, it

sends a signal that violence is normal and that lawlessness is glamorous.” (Brownback)

This concept is no different when it comes to music.

Lyrical content contained in such music also has substantial effects on

adolescents. In one particular study, high school students were asked to rank music

among other moral influences. These included parents, teachers, co-workers, friends, and

church leaders. Twenty-four percent of these students ranked music in the top three.

(Roberts 6) It is clear that lyrics in music do provide moral influence on adolescents to

some extent. They take the words to heart, often committing them to memory. Although

violent lyrics alone will not necessarily make someone immediately violent, they do have

an influence – especially for those with predisposed violence in their lives. “Listeners

(adolescents) respond in terms of various social, psychological, and physical conditions

that influence how they use music, how they interpret messages, and whether, when, and

how they act on what they have learned.” (Roberts 8) For example, a deeply depressed

child will interpret lyrics about suicide (in heavy metal music for example) much

differently than a normal child would. An angry child would be more likely to act out

because of violent lyrics. It is a reinforced aggression due to the influence of violent

music. (Roberts 10)

Summing up, it is clear that music plays a role in how some children think, feel,

and sometimes act. In some cases, violent music can “desensitize” adolescents to the

violence they see in other types of media. Although this is true in some instances, many

adolescents will listen to this type of music without any negative effects. They simply
 enjoy listening to the music. “That said, for most kids, most of the time, music is a source

of pleasure (even angry music!). They listen not to analyze lyrics and learn about the

world, not to sort out emotions and feelings, not to facilitate social interaction, but

because they like it.” (Roberts 18) Music has always been, and always will be the

“language of all people,” some just interpret it differently.

II. TELEVISION

Another area in which violence in mass media affects the development of children

is television. The U.S. Surgeon General stated this as a fact when he said, “televised

violence, indeed, does have an adverse effect on certain members of our society”

(Blakey). Over 3,500 studies have examined the relationship between violence portrayed

on TV and violent behaviors by viewers and all but 18 have shown a negative

relationship (Committee on Public Education). As well as studies being conducted to

show the correlation between TV aggression and violent actions, research is also being

done to find a tangible connection between the ages of the viewers, the duration of

watching, and the intensity of the actions affected by observed violence. Negative effects

of violent TV viewing can be split into three main classes: aggression, desensitization and

fear (Murray). These categories will be explained in the next few pages as the

psychological connection linking adverse effects to violence on TV.

The development of children’s value system can be powerfully influenced by

what they see on TV. Recent surveys show that the typical American child watches

approximately 30 hours of TV per week (American Psychological Association). Besides

sleeping, the activity of watching television consumes more time than any other activity

including school for most children especially very young kids. Over time those thirty
hours a week translate into witnessing 8,000 murders by the time he or she completes

elementary school at around age 11. This repetitive viewing affects the children by

increasing general feelings of hostility amongst young viewers and can lead to

desensitization and lack of empathy.

Observations and research has shown that TV violence may be the initial cause of

violence and not the effect. Psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, and Leonard Eron have

found through their research that children who watched many hours of televised violence

in elementary school were much more likely to commit acts of aggression when they

grew into adolescents. Interestingly, however, observing that naturally aggressive

children did not predict viewing violent TV as a teenager. Huesmann and Eron suggested

that this observation could be proof that TV watching may more often be a cause than an

effect of violent behavior. (American Psychological Association)

From this knowledge about TV and violent behaviors, we can begin to understand

why violence is so prevalent in our modern world. Because of biological reasons—

elevated heart rate, stimulated brain activity, and others, people are attracted to violence.

In this sense, violence in television can be compared to drugs. You are addicted or

attracted to illicit substances but are ultimately injured or harmed by them, however, you

continue to use them and further damage yourself. I found an example of this downward

spiral in the Wall Street Journal Magazine called Smart Money. One article in the May

edition shed light upon a way in which News programs contribute to the spread of

aggression. Most local news stations rely on “sweeps” to track viewership and is thus a

major factor in marketing. During the month or week for which the “sweeps” lasts,

reports and stories involving crime skyrockets. The news stations play to their advantage
because they know that “if it bleeds, it leads” (Derringer). Although views would like to

see local TV news to be more responsible and comprehensive, research shows that the

highest ratings go to the newscast that isn’t. The Project for Excellence in Journalism

issued a report stating that approximately 25 percent of local TV news content is directly

related to crime and violence. (Derringer)

Young children, particularly those in preschool and kindergarten, are most

vulnerable to the adverse effects of media violence because they are more easily

impressionable and have a more difficult time distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

This becomes a great problem because young children do not understand the pain and

suffering of violence which is most of the time left off screen. Children at this age also

have trouble discerning the motives for violence and are very strongly influenced by what

they observe. This is also a huge problem because children often imitate the actions that

they see and if violent people are being portrayed as “cool,” then they will want to be just

like the actors. (National Institute on Media and the Family)

The first of three possible negative effects of violence is aggression. This effect is

the most obvious and usually the most drastic. From the research after the shootings,

investigators have made ties between media violence and the shooting which occurred at

Columbine High School. Not all violence in media is detrimental however. It is all in

how it is presented. Take Saving Private Ryan for example, the violence in the movie is

accompanied by the pain and sorrow that violence of that nature is associated with. In

this case views learn about the sadness, suffering, and loss victims and perpetrators suffer

when committing these actions. It is unfortunate though, because most shows use

violence as entertainment for immediate thrills without valuing human cost. This usage
 of violence is very dangerous and can easily lead to aggression because it associates

positive feeling with harming others. (Committee on Public Education)

Another adverse effect that televised violence has on viewers is desensitization.

This particular consequence is extremely troubling because it starts to strip the value of

life away from people’s minds. In continuation of our analogy earlier, violence is like a

drug because you build a tolerance to it. TV has gotten more and more violent and gory

over the past decade because in order to achieve the same effect, producers must up the

stakes. This is such a potent effect because it desensitizes all of us to real life violence.

The last detrimental effect violence in TV has on people is fear. Coupled with the

aggression it is spurring, TV violence can be blamed for cultivating the “mean world”

syndrome. Under this condition, people’s outlook on society is overrun with violence

and hatred and therefore the affected person begins to fear the world and view it as a

dangerous place. For some children exposed to extreme amounts of violence at a young

age, anxiety, depression and in severe cases, posttraumatic stress disorder can inflict the

child. Fear overcomes these people and causes them to take defensive steps like carrying

a weapon, or even aggressive behavior and the attitude of “get them before they get me.”

(Committee on Public Education)

There is no doubt that violence in TV has and adverse affect on people and most

especially on growing children. It is sad to see the effects of aggression, desensitization,

and fear amongst everyday television viewers. The only way to overcome or prevent

these effects from happening is to simply not watch them until you can fully understand

the consequences of the violent media.

III. VIDEO GAMES

 Though other forms of media violence bombard children with visual or auditory

images, they can’t compare to the virtually interactive world of video games. As children

play video games they are not only watching and listening to graphic events, but they are

taking part in them and dictating their outcome. Rather than seeing the killer kill his

victims, they become the killer and follow story lines that force them to act accordingly.

The outcome is an age of desensitized, “Manchurian Children” (Michele Steinberg),

trained to kill by their Nintendo’s and Xbox’s.

The use of Video games in order to turn children into trained killers now has a

name, “New Violence” (Michele Steinberg). Coined by Presidential pre-candidate

Lyndon LaRouche “New Violence” arose following a series of school shootings and

murders committed by video-game-addicted children. The more famous of these

shootings is the Columbine High School massacre that occurred in April of 1999. Two

social outcasts killed thirteen of their peers and teachers, before turning the guns on

themselves. These kids were addicted to the popular first person shooters Doom and

Quake, both games with extremely vivid and graphic detail of people being mutilated by

heavy machine guns and blown away by bazookas and shotguns. As the two high school

students moved from room to room killing students, the tactics they used resembled those

of Special Forces units and SWAT teams. Why? Because the military, as well as police

forces, use violent video games in order to desensitize recruits to killing and gore while

simultaneously training them in what is, essentially, a simulator. The Army uses MACS,

a Multipurpose Arcade Combat Simulator, as one of there more effective and widely used

simulators. MACS is only a modified Nintendo game, much like Duck Hunt. “The point

of all of this is to create a stimulus-response that becomes engrained into the soldiers and
police officers heads,” says David Grossman, Military psychologist and author of the

book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.

Grossman was proven correct in February of 1999 when Amadou Diallo was gunned

down by four police officers in New York City. Diallo was a West African immigrant

(Michele Steinberg) with no police record. At close to midnight Diallo was entering his

house when four off duty officers approached him. They later claimed that Diallo was

“acting suspiciously”. Flashing their badges they asked for identification. When Diallo

went for his wallet one officer yelled “Gun!” and all four of them opened fire on him.

Diallo was hit 19 times and died within minutes.

The stimulus for the officers was the way that Diallo reached for his wallet. The

deliberate motion of his arm toward the rear of his pants and out of the officers view was

reminiscent of the motions made by the virtual “perps” in the Fire Arms Training

Simulator (FATS) which is nearly identical to the popular arcade game Time Crisis. The

immediate response of the officers was to draw their weapons and open fire. A total of

forty-one bullets were fired at Diallo, the standard police hand guns generally hold

between eight and twelve bullets. This means that the officers nearly unloaded an entire

clip each. In Time Crisis a player burns through clip after clip, without ammunition

discipline, and reloads by simply shooting off of the screen. Is there a similarity between

the shooting of Diallo and Time Crisis? Or was it just a misjudgment on the officers’

part? The only thing that can be sure is that when the police opened fire on Diallo they

weren’t using fake guns.

Not only do violent video games train elite killers, they can be linked to anger and

attitude problems in children. A Psychological Science article looked at over 30 reports

and found that “high video game violence was definitely associated with heightened

aggression.” (Mothering Magazine). The reason for the increase in violent behavior and

aggression can be found in simple learning techniques. Video games deal with repetition

as well as practice, reinforced by reward. For example, in the game Road Rash the more

opposing riders you knock off of their motorcycles and the more pedestrians you run over

the more points you get and the cooler weapons you receive. Upgrade yourself from a

bat to a sledge hammer to a chainsaw, and increase your stopping power. However,

should you be knocked off your bike you lose points, time, and your weapon of choice

(Mothering Magazine).

But, perhaps the most infamous game to ever be produced is, by far, Grand Theft

Auto. The most popular game ever conceived is also the most violent. The story line

begins with you working your way through various mafias and gangs by stealing cars,

killing pimps, selling drugs, and raping hookers in order to ultimately rule the “Liberty

City” criminal underworld. The more innocent people you kill, ranging from gangsters to

grandmothers, the more respect you earn from rival gangs and the more you will be

called upon to help start gang wars and carry out high profile hits on politicians and

business owners. If that wasn’t enough, there is also a secret code in the game, which can

be accessed through a download, which allows the main character to engage in virtual sex

acts, uncensored and uncut. The game is so popular that it has stemmed an

unprecedented number of sequels and knockoffs. However, its controversy has also

stemmed legislation and lawsuits that threaten to put a ban on violent video games.

In 2002 Senator Joe Lieberman proposed the Protect Children from Video Game Sex and

Violence Act which would make it a federal crime to sell violent games to minors (Mary
 Jane Irwin). Though the bill did not pass, it was the first step in numerous other bills

passed at the state level. In Illinois a fine of $1000 is the penalty for selling violent games

to kids under 17 years old (Mary Jane Irwin). Rating labels on game covers are meant to

deter parents from purchasing violent video games for their kids. Even though 83 % of

parents claim to be involved with buying and renting games, only 40% understand the

ratings and only 53% use them as buying guides while 90% of households in the United

States have owned or do own video or computer games (Mothering Magazine, Mary Jane

Irwin).

There are several law suits pending with the video industry. One as a result of the

Heath High School shooting in which the killer fired eight shots and which hit eight

student sin the chest, neck, and face. The killer had only practiced with his weapon once

and had never fired a gun before, but he played numerous first-person shooters. The

other comes after 20-year old Devin Moore killed three police officers in Alabama in

2003. Devin was addicted to Grand Theft Auto. He was sentenced to death by the courts,

but the families of the deceased are suing Rock Star Games, Sony, and THQ, who created

and manufacture the game. Despite the attempts by legislation and rating labels the fight

against violent video games is still losing. All bills proposed at the Federal level have

been denied. And those four cops that killed Diallo, they were acquitted of all charges

leading to a wave of national protest (Mary Jane Irwin, Michele Steinberg).

IV. MOVIES

Violence in movies is a major issue in American society, and reaches all the

spectrum of the American public. Why is violence in movies such a huge problem in our

society? According to Clint Cooper “part of the answer lies in the simple fact that people
have always been attracted to the gross and the sensational.” Clint Cooper also brings up

an extremely questionable notion by stating “In the 18th century, French citizens took to

the streets to witness beheadings. In the 20th century, there is an endless fascination with

even the most marginal aspects of the lives of Hitler and Stalin.” Basically Cooper is

saying that the reason for this violence is that it is due to human nature. Subconsciously

people enjoy watching others struggle. Also it is questionable that people are so used to

this behavior that it does not even phase them. Cooper states “As a result, our society has

become desensitized enough to such content that we're willing to accept it in a dramatic

format such as film, but not so desensitized that it doesn't titillate.” What Cooper is

saying is that we do not even pay attention to these violent acts in film because we are so

used to them. The fact at hand is also that directors are choosing to make films including

violence, Cooper states “Filmmakers, ever the ones to go where no one has gone before,

have never had such freedom in expressing their deepest and darkest fears, desires, and

proclivities.” These facts suggest that violence in movies are desensitizing the American

public. (Cooper).

It is evident that Americans' like films with violence, or else these films would not

be so successful. The question is, is how many Americans enjoy violent films?

According to the article “Moviegoers unhappy despite Blockbusters” suggests that

“Criticism of film content was extraordinarily high: Eight in 10 respondents said most

new films have too much violence and too much profanity in them.” This suggests that a

good number of Americans think that there is too much violence in movies. Moreover

this article states that “Fifty-six percent overall said the quality of movies has been

getting worse over the years. That sentiment ranged from 42 percent of the youngest
group to 76 percent of the oldest.” This statement proves that both younger generations

and older generations believe that the quality of movies has decreased due to an excessive

amount of violence.

Another question to ask might be, “is the violence in movies due to the amount of

violence in culture?” According to David J. Slocum, “Over the last twenty or so years,

and especially during the 1990s, popular cinema generally and film violence specifically

have continued to evolve.” This commentary simply states that American Cinema is just

reacting to the American culture. Although in past eras there was just as much violence

pertaining to war, but there was not as much violence within the American society. In the

few past eras we have seen an upward trend of the formation of gangs and other groups

of crime. The question in this scenario is, “Who is influencing Who?.” According to

David J. Slocum “Beyond recognizing the historical claims made by (and familiar

representational forms used in) contemporary films in their depiction of specific events,

the challenge is to explore how the representation of historical violence affects viewers'

relationship to cinema and cinema's relationship to the society the history pertains to.”

(Slocum). He is simply stating that the challenge of this predicament is exploring the

twos' codependency on one another.

Through research, another intriguing issue is how people fight against violence

in movies, and how long they have been doing so. According to Kay S. Hymowitz

“Protests against the supposedly corrupting effects of mass entertainment are nothing new

in America.” Early 20th-century reformers fretted about nickelodeons, with their garish

crime stories and come-hither starlets; the Chicago Tribune denounced them as

"ministering to the lowest passions of childhood.” (Hymowitz). Hymowitzs' statement

proves that this has always been somewhat of an ongoing problem. Hymowitz also

indicates that what is seen as violent and pushing the envelope today, will be seen as a

social norm tomorrow. This is true in the movie industry, what we perceive as violent

today, probably will not phase us within a few years time. This holds true that violence in

movies has a desensitizing effect on American citizens. This also proves that violence

does effect our society, whether it is positively or negatively, it creates issues for our

society and causes many to challenge the way the film industry is ran.

_______________________________________________________________________

NEEDS CONCLUSION

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Murray, John P., Ph.D. “TV Violence and Brainmapping in Children.” Psychiatric Times
Oct. 2001. psychiatrictimes.com. 18 Nov. 2006 <http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/‌
p011070.html>.
Research conducted over the past 30 years leads to
the conclusion that televised violence does influence
viewers’ attitudes, values and behavior. This article aims to
explain how.

National Institute on Media and the Family. “Children And Media Violence.” Children
And Media Violence. Nov. 2006. MediaWise. 11 Dec. 2006
<http://www.mediafamily.org/‌facts/‌facts_vlent.shtml>.
Fact sheet providing education and awareness on
Media Violence, Video Game Violence, Media Usage,
Addiction, Internet Safety, Health, Adolescents, Teens and
Children.
Parents Television Council. Violence on TV Research - TV Bloodbath: Violence on Prime
Time Broadcast TV - A PTC State of the Television Industry Report. 11 Dec.
2006 <http://www.parentstv.org/‌PTC/‌publications/‌reports/‌stateindustryviolence/‌
main.asp>.
PTC- A nonprofit organization dedicated to
educating parents about television content, improving the
quality of prime time television, promoting family friendly
entertainment, restoring positive values, and making
Television a socially responsible medium -- the Parents
Television Council based in Hollywood, California.

Roberts, Donald F., Peter G. Christenson, and Douglas A. Gentile. "The Effects of
Violent Music on Children and Adolescents." Iowa State University Department
of Psychology. 16 Oct. 2003. Iowa State University Department of Psychology. 1
Dec. 2006 <http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~dgentile/106027_08.pdf>.

Slocum, J. David. "Film Violence and the Institutionalization of the Cinema." Social
Research 67.3 (Fall 2000): 649. Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson
Gale. Jesuit High School (CA). 13 Dec. 2006
<http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-
Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A66888954&sour
ce=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=sacr42027&version=1.0>.

Steinberg, Michelle, “Programmed to Kill: Video Games, Drugs, and the ‘New
Violence’,” 21st Century Science and Technology, Fall 2000 pp. 16-22.

Szaflik, Kevin. “Violence on TV: The Desensitizing Of America.” Ridgewood High

Publications 24 Nov. 2004. 6 Dec. 2006 <http://www.ridgenet.org/‌szaflik/‌
tvrating.htm>.
Sex and violence on television and its effects, plus the V-chip and
Television Ratings System guidelines.

Torr, James D. Is Media Violence a Problem? San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002.
Discusses the growing problem of violence in conventional media vehicles
including TV, video games, movies, and music.

Wekesser, Carol. Violence in the media. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1995.
This book addresses many questions about violence
in the media including: if media violence affects society,
should it be censored, and if music promotes violence.