Media Violence and the Violent Male Adolescent
My research led me to form some new hypotheses on the correlation of violence in the media, namely television, movies, and video games, to the rise in violent behavior in adolescents. For this essay, I will focus on male adolescents. I will use multiple lenses for my research to (1) establish the increase in violent acts by adolescents in the past two decades; (2) use proven research to show the impact of media violence on the individual; and (3) to illustrate my "recipe for disaster," four correlations that contribute to the effects of media violence on male adolescents.
Rise in Youth Violence
According to the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ"), (1999) in a committee report, "The number of juvenile violent crime arrests in 1997 exceeded the 1988 level by 49%. Of that number, 2,500 were arrested for murder and 121,000 for other violent crimes. Eighteen percent of high school students now carry a knife, razor, firearm, or other weapon on a regular basis, and 9% of them take a weapon to school."
The Committee report noted that a principal cause for the increase was media violence.
" Eighty-seven percent of American households have more than one television, and 88.7% of homes with children have home video game equipment, a personal computer, or both. An average teenager listens to 10,500 hours of rock music during the years between the 7th and 12th grades. By age 18 an American child will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. Television alone is responsible for 10% of youth violence. A preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide ris...
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...f, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, "Children, Violence, and The Media,' (online document) A Report for Parents and Policy Makers. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman, 1999, Sept. 14, Available (http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary/mediavio.htm)
Mediascope Press, "How Violence Manipulates Viewers." Issue Briefs. Studio City, Calif.: 1997 Available: (http://www.mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/hvmv.htm)
Putnam, Robert, "Bowling Alone" America's Declining Social Capital, Journal of Democracy; 1995, Jan., (pp. 65-68)
Strasburger, Victor C. M.D. Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, "How much influence do the media have?" Adolescent Medicine; State of the Art Reviews--Vol. 4, No. 3, October 1993 Philadelphia, Hanley & Belfus, Inc. Available online:
http://www.cyfc.umn.edu/Documents/C/B/CB1030.html
played a kind of a passive role, he always wanted to be in the middle
Context: This part of the text is included at the beginning of the drama, telling the audience about Salem and its people. The author explains how a theocracy would lead to a tragedy like the Salem witch-hunts. This is the initial setting and is based on the principle that some people should be included and some excluded from society, according to their religious beliefs and their actions. This is basically the idea that religious passion, taken to extremes, results in tragedy. Miller is saying that even today extremes end up bad- communism, like strict puritans, was restrictive and extreme. It only made people suffer.
Setting, time, and place were among the most obvious of details in The Crucible. As with each time period, the era in which this book took place brought with it unique characteristics of the people and places associated with that decade. Through the use of cleverly constructed characters, Arthur Miller was able to capture the past and give us a glimpse of what it would have been like to live in the late 17th century. Among those characters include John and Elizabeth Proctor, spouse to one another, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Thomas Hale. Through these five people and more, the customs and general aspects of the Salem community are represented. One way the town expressed itself was through the way its inhabits dressed. The clothing that the people of Salem wore seemed very conservative and down to earth. There were no bright colors, but rather dark reds and browns which matched with the altogether oddities of Salem in Autumn. John and Elizabeth Proctor’s clothes generally were designed to be rugged for the man and yet comfortable to the woman. Most of Salem’s women, like Abigail Williams, were dressed as ladies should have been during those times; her accouterments were designed so they would reveal nothing to those who may have been curious. Among the unique and industrial designs such as Abigail’s bonnet and dress, Judge Danforth was to wear an outfit just as suitable. His dress consisted of a long gown and wig which was typical for a Judge to wear at the time. Like most of Salem, Reverend Thomas Hale tended to dress just as comfortable and casual as any of the other men.
Today’s youth is heavily influenced by the media. Video games, television, and movies make up a large part of the lives of children in America. These easily accessible forms of entertainment are lightly regulated by parents and the government; children and adolescents are exposed to extremely violent media everyday. “By the time the average American child reaches seventh grade, he or she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television. Some people say so much violence on television makes American society- including its children- more violent” (“Causes of School Violence” 1). Among the violent media, video games are the current trend. Although video games are rated by ESRB (the entertainment sof...
John and Elizabeth continue to argue. John Hale appears at their doorway. He is traveling to each house, talking to those who were mentioned in court, trying to find out more information about them. John says that he knows that Abigail and the other girls are not telling the truth. Two Salem citizens that have had wives arrested show up and a short time passes before a party comes to arrest Elizabeth.
The Crucible is a novel based on the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible demonstrates forbidden temptation between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, honor and dishonor in the town of Salem, ruthless revenge, and the strive for high social status. The narrative style of this play is standard 1950s everyday language. The Crucible is set in a theocratic society of Puritanism in 1692.
The Crucible, takes place in the small Puritan village called Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The witchcraft trials grew out of the moral system of the Puritans. This split the town into two, those who were considered witches and those who wanted good.
Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, takes place during 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The setting is important because it takes place during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The play begins with the town’s girls, led by Abigail Williams, gathering in the forest and starting to dance around a fire, chanting. Reverend Parris catches them dancing, sending the girls into a panic and causing two of the girls to go into a coma-like state. The townspeople spread rumors that there are witches lurking throughout the the town that have put the girls under their spells. This causes Reverend Parris to send for Reverend Hale, an expert in witchcraft and the devil's work, who hopes to rid the town of all witchcraft. John Proctor, a local farmer, asks Abigail to stop accusing innocent people and start telling the truth about what happened in the forest. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, excused Abigail from their house because she found out about an affair between Abigail and John. She lies to the court when she is asked about John’s affair to save him from any punishment. In doing so, they were both sent to jail for witchcraft because they knew she had lied. Abigail and the girls continued to lie about people in the town being witches, causing many innocent people to be killed, including John Proctor. Miller shows the dangers of scapegoating when lies that are regarded as the truth, and can kill innocent characters.
The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, took place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692. The people of Salem were known as Puritans, which were people who followed God, the commandments, and were required to read the Bible in their spare time. Elizabeth Proctor was known as a “good” Puritan woman, while Abigail Williams was known as what a Puritan should not be. Elizabeth and Abigail were known in the Salem community for their attitude, personality, and their actions.
While reading three articles about the play called "The Crucible" I noticed many interesting facts. Many questions as well came to mind. The main question was “What was the Arthur purpose for writing The Crucible”? Well let’s start of by saying Arthur Miller was a extremely American play writing. Miller born in 1915, but where was his childhood? He grew up in New York with a Jewish family. Arthur Millers’ play went on Broadway at the Martin Beck. This occurred in the year of 1953. The play was called The Crucible. Was The Crucible even one of his best places? Well it was yet one of his best second plays. What were the events of the play of Miller had done? The event of the play had to do with the events that took place in Salem. What happened in Salem was a witch craft trial. Most unfavorable people felt as though the play was a play about a terrible period in the American history.
“The Columbine shooters played violent video games; that has to be a factor in their decision to brutally murder their classmates!” Society is quick to point fingers and approach unknown situations with a causal mentality that often results in a false accusation of an innocent bystander. With the advent of the video game era, psychologists have debated their effect on the minds of their youthful audience. Throughout the multitude of studies and the perpetual debate, society still lacks an absolute answer. With this knowledge, when it comes to video games and their impact on the minds of children, researchers must consult a wide variety of subjects with an open mind about the potential outcomes. I conducted my research by examining my personal experience, analyzing studies refuting both sides of the argument, trying to view the American fascination with violence through an outside perspective, and reviewing the thought processes that lead the members of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in order to gain a full perspective of the issue. What correlation exists, if any, between violent video games and the violent tendencies that children exhibit after exposure to said media? Throughout my research, I have discovered that a trend does exist, but it manifests after the child has encountered puberty because of the heightened levels of testosterone that accompany this phase of development, and the trend relies heavily on other factors in a violent disposition. The age factor generally fails to exist in the violent tendencies argument; this is intriguing in that the majority of violent videogames are targeted toward an older audience. In order to truly understand the violent tendencies of mankind, we must first analyze these ...
Malcolm, T. Teen Violence: Does Violent Media Make Violent Kids? National Catholic Reporter. May 28, 1999 v35 i30 p14.
“Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence” by Craig Anderson is an argumentative essay of how and why violent games and media effect the youth of the world. The essay contains two major questions: 1.Is there a significant association between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior? And 2. Is this association casual? Over 50 years of research is reviewed while trying to get to the root of the topic. Anderson is not only a highly credible source; he also develops his essay in a manner easy to follow, and presents researched facts to back up the statements being made on such a controversial issue.
Violent video games, aggressive attitudes or behaviors, and societal violence can all be interrelated based on studies and research. The only issue is, there’s not enough evidence to directly link movie and video game violence to societal violence. Several studies in the “Movie Game Violence& Societal Violence” research paper required estimation procedures for data. This can increase the risk of over or underestimating numbers. Due to several other contributing factors, it is unknown whether or not there is a correlation. Numerous factors impact societal violence and cultural influences could also add to the cause. In five to ten years, there potentially could be more evidence to support these claims. Videogame consumption data is only available from 1996 and beyond so over the next few years more and more data will be collected. Looking at the completed historical record, there are not many connections between movie and societal violence. Overall, this is a highly debated topic among criminologists. The important part to take away from this article is the negative affects of early violence viewing in children. Starting at a very young age, children
Television violence is also a cause of both violent and aggressive behavior in teenage boys. According to the evidence in a study done by Turner, Hesse, and Peterson-Lewis, it was concluded that watching television violence had a long-term increase in aggression in boys (Hough 1). In addition to this study, Dr. William A. Belson evaluated fifteen hundred boys, aged thirteen to sixteen years, and he determined that boys with heavy television exposure are more likely to commit violent acts than other boys (Langone 51). In Belson’s study, he discovered that the effect of each violent act on television was collective, and over time, Belson discovered that the boys engaged in many aggressive acts, including painting graffiti, breaking windows, aggressive play, swearing, and threatening other boys with violence (Kinnear 26).