Does Media Violence Cause Societal Violence? Media violence has been a subject of heated debates. Violence on TV has been widely studied and the vast majority of researchers agree that viewing media violence poses significant risk to society. However, similar to any other issue, there society has divided into two camps, those who claim that media violence is harmful and, therefore, poses a threat to society in general and children in particular, and those, who challenge this conclusion and refute the assumption that exposure to media violence causes societal violence. The present paper explores two viewpoints (for and against media violence) and their implications and is aimed to prove that media violence inevitably causes societal violence. Those who claim that media violence poses no threat to society, thus causing no societal violence, identify positive effects of seeing violence on TV as follows. According to them, seeing violence does not obligatorily mean becoming less sensitive to violence. On contrary, they claim that children and youth may become more prepared to the real world. To support this assumption they claim that seeing violence alone cannot turn a non-violent law-abiding person into a criminal one (Research on the Effects of Media Violence).
Therefore, media violence alone cannot be blamed for having significant effect on societal violence.
However, if the opponents of media violence base their conclusions on scientific studies and ethics-related arguments, the supporters of media violence do not base their conclusions on scientific studies with contrary findings, but instead claim that these studies and researches that have been conducted are flawed. Those, who claim that media violence causes no societal violence, criticize methods that were used to study media violence. According to them, the researchers have used unrealistic measures of aggression and short-term effects. Moreover, they claim that researchers examined situations in an artificial and unrealistic manner, therefore, the results and findings are considered to be flawed. At the same time, the arguments brought by them are not sound. The vast majority of researchers agree that media violence is the primary cause of violence in society (Violence and Disrespect).
The Essay on Impacts Of Electronic Media On Pakistani Society
Introduction: In the last 50 years, media influence has grown exponentially with time. First there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. The media boom has also brought a revolutionary change in the morals and ethics of society. But a moral change in a society can sometimes prove itself to be an insincere change fraught with social evils.The ...
Indeed, the greatest exposure to violence comes from media. Video games, TV shows, movies and series have a lot of violent content.
According to statistics, an average child watches 8,000 televised murders and 100,000 acts of violence before he or she finishes elementary school (Violence in Society).
Numerous studies also confirm that children and young people who play violent video games, even for short periods, are more likely to behave aggressively in the real world; and that both aggressive and non-aggressive children are negatively affected by playing. (Research on the Effects of Media Violence).
The studies and classic experiments provide the earliest evidence of a interrelationship between media violence and increased level of aggression. Although it is impossible prove that media violence is the only source and the only cause of real-life aggression, media violence is a principal cause of violence in society and can be called a contributing factor to societal violence. According to the researchers, there is an indication of a causal relation between aggressive and violent behavior and viewing violence on television. Although not all children, who view media violence, become aggressive, however, there is still an evident correlation between media violence and aggression levels in youth. The Surgeon Generals report on youth violence (2001) also proves that that media violence increases childrens physically and verbally aggressive behavior. (TV Violence) In such a way, it is possible to come to conclusion that media violence poses significant risk to society and causes societal violence.
The Term Paper on The influence of media on society
The media is a powerful force in contemporary society, which determines our actions and identities. With reference to relevant sociological theory and evidence, discuss media effects. Society relies a great deal on technology for news, entertainment and education. Mass media is seen as one of the greatest influential factors on the opinions and viewpoints of society in the modern world. Media ...
Works Cited Research on the Effects of Media Violence. 10 October 2008 . TV Violence. 10 October 2008 . Violence and Disrespect. 10 October 2008 .
Violence in Society. 10 October 2008 ..
