Do Violent Movies Increase Violent Crime?

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Movies have become popular this past century and as time rolls by more and more violence is being incorporated into the movies to increase entertainment value. This has caused people to think about the potential consequences of actually watching violent movies. Can this cause violent behavior? Different studies have shown that violent movies do increase aggressiveness but not specifically crime. This has led to opposing viewpoints about the correlation of violence in movies to violent crimes. Some believe there is an increase in violence, while others think the opposite – a decrease.
When people, especially juveniles, watch TV they are exposed to numerous acts of violence. Whether or not this is a problem is the issue that scientists and viewers alike are wondering. According to “Media Violence Can Lead to Juvenile Violence”, “Forty-two percent of males who viewed television more than three hours a day were reported to have been involved in aggressive acts that resulted in injury… this compared to 9% of males who viewed less than 1 hour of television a day.” Assuming these extra hours the juveniles watched had acts of violence, these numbers are very convincing. People who don’t watch as much violence at 14 have a 33% less chance of carrying out acts of violence. Also stated was the fact that this relationship still persisted after controlling other outside factors (aggressive behavior prior, child neglect, family income, etc.). Movie violence does contribute to violent mindsets and that is something to be wary about.
Contrary to the belief that violence in movies increases violent crimes, researchers Brad J. Bushman and Craig A. Anderson take quite the opposite viewpoint. They actually think that watching violent movies lowers ...

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...igna. "Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?" The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 677. 2009. Rpt. in Media Violence. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 May 2014.

Lomonaco, Carmela, Lori Ottaviano, and Tia Kim. "Media Violence Can Lead to Juvenile Violence." Juvenile Crime. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Fact Sheet: Media Violence."www.stopyouthviolence.ucr.edu. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 May 2014.

"There Is No Evidence Suggesting Media Violence Leads to Juvenile Violence."Juvenile Crime. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Is Exposure to Media Violence a Public-Health Risk?"Lancet 371 (Apr. 2008): 1137. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 May 2014.

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