Title:Media Violence: Cause or Effect?
Violence in the media has been a complicated social issue since the popularization of television in the 1950’s. Although arguments vary, there are three basic stances on the problem.
The first argument claims that media is wholly responsible for the extreme levels of violent crimes in America. The second stance is that the media bears no responsibility for crime rates. The final argument is that media is a reflection of the corruption of society, as well as driving the violence and encouraging children to be hostile.
Many people who completely blame the media for problems they see in society site the recent school shooting as examples. They argue that video games glorify violence and desensitize children to killing. The American Psychological Association has conducted studies that indicate that the average American child will see eight thousand television deaths and one hundred thousand acts of violence on television before leaving elementary school. People contest that after seeing so many violent acts any child would quickly be desensitized. Many activists argue that children are unable to filter what they see on television from reality. Children will quite readily imitate what is presented to them, so if violence is shown, they will assume that this is acceptable. Many children get most of their societal conditioning from various media sources, so media that presents heroes that resort to violence quickly instill the belief in children that they must kill in order to be heroes.
Other people believe that violence is a completely a corruption of society, and has nothing with the media. These people see the media only as a scapegoat for people who will not admit the wrongs in our culture. They explain the rise in crime rates as a result of parental neglect and too little nurturing. They argue that children whose parents do not support them will more often have tendencies towards antisocial behavior and violent crime. There are many different arguments other than that opposing the media, including blaming genes, family violence, the criminal justice system, drug trade, and capitalism. The basic stance of people who take the blame entirely off the media is that the problems in our society are far more deeply rooted than a few talk shows or commercials.
While these may be a compelling arguments, both sides have their faults. What the conservative politicians who voice the first opinion do not see is that no one thing can be blamed for the corruption of our society. What the liberals attempt to do is show that violence is caused by many things. Yet, as liberals, they feel they have to take the exact opposite stance of the conservatives. While many of their opinions are justified, their opposition limits their ability to see the true problem. They take the blame completely off the media which holds as much responsibility as any other source of violence that they see fit to blame.
The final stance, and perhaps the most reasonable, is similar to the one argued by liberals. This argument is that the media does contribute to the problems of violence in America, yet it is not completely to blame. With this argument, I take into account the many parts of our society that advocate violence, including deeply rooted corruption in our government system and the tendency of elected officials to resort to violence when solving problems.
Our violent society can also be attributed in many ways to our criminal justice system. Our system of punishment does not help to rehabilitate criminals in any significant way. Therefore, the court system makes criminals feel as if they are the victims, without ever attempting to understand the wrong they did to put then in this situation. A criminal in jail offers only resistance, and in the best cases apathy, but the problem of crime cannot be solved until society eliminates any need a criminal might feel to commit a crime.
The various stances on violence in the media seem to agree on one point: there is to much violence presented to children at a very early age. Even though the members of the movements can agree upon a cause and effect, no one seems to agree on a solution. Even people within the same movement offer different solutions. As I have, the more radical thinkers condemn the criminal justice system, while conservatives would opt to strengthen punishment for violent juveniles. Through these arguments one general conclusion can be drawn: violence is a growing concern, and, no matter what the cause, we need to find a solution, for the adult as well as youth population of America is destroying itself.
1) Sherrow, Victoria. Violence and the Media: The Question of Cause and Effect. Brookfeild, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1996.
2) Bok, Sissela. Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
3) Barbour, Scott, and Karin L. Swisher, eds. Violence: Opposing Veiwpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1996.
4) Berger, Gilda. Violence and the Media. New York: Franklin Watts, 1989.