Youth Violence And The Mass Media

2038 Words5 Pages

Introduction:
The problem I am researching is the desensitization of America’s youth to violence in the mass media, specifically television and video games. I am interested in studying this issue because as violence on television and the violent content contained in video games have increased, so has youth violence. I want to determine if the increasing violence shown on television and video games has a desensitizing effect on America’s youth, thus increasing the probability that they will commit an act of violence. I believe that this research is important because violence on television and video games can be a form of classical conditioning. In the movie, “A Clockwork Orange,” the character was given negative reinforcement whenever he saw acts of violence shown to him on television. Eventually, he becomes repulsed by it and feels ill every time he sees or thinks of committing an act of violence. However, I think television and violent games are having a reverse effect on America’s youth. Violence is glorified in the mass media, and youth begin to associate killing with entertainment. They see violence as the “manly” thing to do, and they see how violence on television often goes unpunished. I believe this is a cause of youth violence because of the desensitizing nature of violence on television. One study showed that network programming averages 36.6 violent acts per hour. There is no question that this would have a desensitizing effect on America’s youth over time.
Literature Review:
I reviewed five studies related to my research. The first was an article from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology entitled “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life” by Craig Anderson and Karen Dill. The article studied the effects of violent video games on youths. The study found that real-life violent video game play was positively related to increased aggressive behavior and delinquency. Additionally, academic achievement was negatively related to the overall amount of time spent playing games. This study involved two different forms of observation. The short-term effects (laboratory aggression) of the video games were studied using laboratory observation, while the long-term effects were studied using surveys.
However, the reliability of this study might be in question. It would be challenging to blame an increase in aggression levels solely on the mass media. For instance, the youth’s role models, peers, and daily routine could all play a role in the youth’s behaviors and attitudes. These factors would be extremely difficult to regulate. However, this problem exists among both groups and hopefully cancels each other out. I would like to conduct the same experiment again after a while using different groups to test the reliability. Until then, it would be impossible to predict its reliability.
Conclusion:
The goal of my study is simple. America is a culture that glorifies violence, neglects our social problems, and puts vengeful, ruthless characters on a pedestal. Violence runs rampant in the media, and video games contain ungodly amounts of realistic, animated gore. I feel America’s youth is systematically becoming desensitized to violence for these reasons, thus the levels of youth violence in America are rapidly increasing. Through my research, I want to prove my hypothesis and show that violence in the mass media must be reduced.

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