Media Influences on Antisocial Behaviour

Desensitisation Frequent viewing of violence may cause children to become desensitised. This would mean they would feel less anxious about violence and would be more likely to behave violently. The more aggression they watch, the more acceptable aggression becomes. Cumberpatch people might get used to screen violence, but this doesnt mean they will also get used to violent in the real world. Screen violence is more likely to make them frightened, rather than make them frightening Cognitive Priming After a violent programme, the viewer is ready to behave aggressively as memories involving aggression are retrieved. Frequent exposure to violence may lead children to store ideas for aggressive behaviour, which may be recalled if any aspect on the viewed situation is present. Study a group of hockey players were shown a violent film, & another group a non-violent film with an actor holding a walkie-talkie. In a hockey game later, players behaved most aggressively if theyd seen the violent film & the referee was holding a walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkie was a cue for aggression. Is it ethical to expose people to violence for research purposes? It may cause psychological harm or induce violent behaviour. A lot of research into this area involves children, which may be particularly damaging to their development, perhaps causing them to behave violently in the future. Justification TV violence provides moral guidelines on what is and isnt acceptable. When violence is justified or goes unpunished, this reduces the viewers guilt or concern about consequences. TV violence may also give the impression that violence can solve problems e.g. Batman used violence to fight crime. The TV series The A-Team presents the good guys behaving violently. Such shows support the idea that media violence justifies the violence of the viewer. The use of aggression by these prosocial characters justifies their aggression, which the children eagerly identify. Reductionist: may not simply be due to seeing violence, may be genes etc Support: Real Life Application - Case study of James Bulger In 1993 a 2yr old boy was abducted and murdered by two 10yr old boys. Police found they had been exposed to aggressive films such as Childs Play 3, classified as certificate 18. The exposure to aggressive media may have contributed to their violent behaviour. However, this link could never be proved Despite these suggestions and research support: St. Helena case study TV was introduced to a community but there were no differences in either prosocial or antisocial behaviour