Abstract
We examined the various forms of television violence and domestic violence in America. We provided statistics showing the amounts of violence facts about adolescent exposure. We compared and contrasted the differing effects of both and implemented a study to analyze the similarities. We observed children and gathered data regarding their response to specific kinds of violence and the psychological effects of each. We expected that the effects of television violence and domestic would be strikingly similar to one another and the results of our study prove the similarities and provoke awareness to the differences.
Television Violence and Domestic Violence have Similar Effects on Children
A staggering amount of research has been done over the past several years regarding what is shown on television and how it affects American society. Much of this research has focused on television violence and its effect on a child’s aggression. According to the research that has been done, there seems to be an overwhelming indication that television violence does in fact affect a child’s personality. There has also been a significant amount of research that has been completed, analyzing actual violence, particularly domestic violence. The research has targeted physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the home and its affect on adults and children. Much of this research has been directed to the effects of domestic violence on children between the ages of 2 and 18.
Even though much research has been done describing these two studies individually, very little research has been done to compare and contrast the effects of both with one another. The purpose of this paper is to outline the effects of television and domestic violence and to try to discover if there are any similarities between the two. Even though there are other forms of multimedia such as video games and the internet we choose to exclude these, not because we think they are irrelevant, but for the sake of narrowing the topic down to a reasonable size.
Much of the research that I have done contains facts about the contents of television and domestic violence. According to the American Psychiatric Association, American children spend an average of 28 hours in front of a television per week. A recent article states, “By the time they reach age 18, they will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 2...
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...ly-functioning human being they have got to have proper influences in their life and preventative measures must be implemented a psychologically healthy individual. If they can be taught how to be aggressive then surely they can be taught how to be sympathetic.
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Television with its far reaching influence spreads across the globe. Its most important role is that of reporting the news and maintaining communication between people around the world. Television's most influential, yet most serious aspect is its shows for entertainment. Violent children's shows like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and adult shows like NYPD Blue and Homicide almost always fail to show human beings being able to resolve their differences in a non-violent manner; instead they show a reckless attitude that promotes violent action first with reflection on the consequences later. Contemporary television creates a seemingly insatiable appetite for amusement of all kinds without regard for social or moral benefits (Schultze 41). Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children (Medved 70-71).
Many Americans feel that the viewing of violence in the media reinforces negative behavior in society, especially among children and young adults. "Three thousand studies have been done since 1955 on the link between television and violence; 2,980 of them found a correlation between the two. We hear little about that because we get most of our news from television" (Peterson). With this much research one must acknowledge that there is a problem in America involving sex and violence in the media. We cannot blame all societal problems on the media and its portrayal of these issues, but we can become educated, ourselves, in order to better facilitate the healthy lives of our children.
“Myriad studies show that television violence affect children by desensitizing children to the horror of violence, teaching them to accept violence as a solution to problems, teaching them to imitate the violence they see on the television and leading them to identify with characters seen on television (and thus imitate the characters they identify with) (Parenthood Web).” The amount of violence in television programming is obviously directly related to the amount of violence witnessed by children. The more of a role that television plays in the daily activities the more of a role violence will influence that child. In 1985 alone, 85% of all television programming contained violence, with 92.1% of cartoons aired containing violence. These cartoons generally contain one violent act every three minutes ...
With television violence more prevalent than ever before, parents and professionals have been concerned about this type of programming adversely affecting behavior in children. While thousands of studies have been completed on this subject, with most of them showing a direct connection between media violence and belligerent behavior, the ensuing information will show the inadequacies of such theories by further scrutinizing these points of interest:
There is a strong agreement among American society that violence in the country is on the rise. It is easy to see why this is a strong argument among the American people, especially because of the rising popularity of violent video games and television programs. However, as these violent video games and television shows are creating their own place in our society, the reports of violence among children are escalating. This correlation has been studied extensively in the scientific community in an attempt to discover whether media violence does negatively impact children but there has yet to be a consensus. There is a split between those that believe that children are becoming more violent because they are exposed to violent media and those that believe that correlation is not causation, who argue that media violence does not have any notable effect the youth.
The television has become such a common household appliance that it goes unnoticed and is often underestimated. A normal American household has the television on for more than 7 hours a day, and children ages two to eleven spend an average of twenty eight hours a week viewing (Murray, 1994). This means that during one year a child will spend over one thousand hours watching TV, which over half of children report is unsupervised and has no time restraints (Murray 1994). During these endless hours of watching TV, many programs, particularly children’s involve violence. Sixty percent of all TV shows shown during prime time viewing hours incorporate some from of violence (Tompkins, 2013). Over years of research there as been a large debate as to whether violence on television has impact on its viewers, especially children, and there is a proven correlation. Overall this research has concluded that children who have viewed thi...
Violence and explicit themes on television have been a main benefactor in behavioral problems in children, causing educational issues as well. Studies have shown that “excessive TV viewing can lead to poor grades in school” (Boyse Online). TV has even been shown to affect the mood of the child, usually “TV doesn’t improve their disposition. They’re grouchy and irritable right after they watch” (Winn 19). When violence is included in speech or an action a child’s favorite show or movie it wouldn’t be uncommon if that youth would try to imitate it. “Many shows glamorize violence. TV often promotes violent acts as a fun and effective way to get what you want, without consequences, Even in G rated movies violence is common” (Boyse Online). As children are growing it’s important what parents put in the stomach’s of their child so it’s also important what being fed to their brain. This makes them vulnerable and susce...
Hepburn, Mary A. "TV Violence! A Medium’s Effects Under Scrutiny." Social Education. Sept 1997: pp244-249. SIRS Researcher. Available <http://researcher.sirs.com/>
On July 26, year 2000, six medical and public-health professional organizations had disseminated a Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children. This statement acclaimed that “entertainment violence can lead to the upsurges in aggressive attitudes, values, and behavior, notably in children.” The body of research on TV violence continues to grow. In addition, important changes are arising in the landscape of entertainment-media use, and some of it has aroused new areas of research. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors, which include media violence, which, individually and together, may play a part in these outcomes in childhood.
As early as 1958 investigations were being conducted of the effects of television on children. During this time, the researchers found that most of the television content was extremely violent. In almost half of the television hours monitored, the programs main focus contained violence. The common theme that was seen throughout the programs were crime, shooting, fighting, and murder. The universal definition of violence used was, "Any overt depiction of the use of physical force, or the credible threat of such force, to intend to physically harm an animated being or group of beings." In this investigation, Wilbur Schramm concluded that under some conditions, some violent television could effect some children. For the most part, most television is neither helpful or harmful to most kids under most circumstances. As you can see this conclusion is quiet vague, and does not give a lot of crucial information for us to correct and improve. Schramm and his colleagues came up with a solution for parents to provide a warm, loving, secure family environment for their children, and they would have little to worry about.
Television violence causes destructive behavior in children, however; television can be a powerful influence to young viewers in our society. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming are very violent. Many researchers like scientists, pediatricians, and child researchers in many countries have studied to find out what it is about television violence that makes it such a big affect on the way kids act and behave. Sometimes, children think that is a normal thing in our real life, by watching only a single violent program, which can increase aggressiveness on children and become violent, aggressive, and vicious.
Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (“Children” 1).
Fisher, Deborah A. "Television Violence Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television. What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html. Accessed October 23, 2001.