FREE ESSAY ON VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY

VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY

Violence in Society 
Running head: VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOCIETY Violence in the
Media and its Effects on Society: Definitions, Effects on Society, Statistics, and
Prevention
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the effects of violence in the media and how it effects
our
society. First a definition of media and violence will be presented. Then an explanation
about who
violence can effect and what effects of violence are evident in our society today.
Finally, various
ways of prevention are explored and a discussion of whether these paths are just or
appropriate in
our present day society. Violence in the media has been proven to be an ongoing problem
in our
society. The more relaxed nature that the mass media has been moving toward has caused
great
disturbances in the minds of the people in our society. In order to understand this
problem, if there
is one, we must first define what exactly the mass media and violence are. Next, we must
see how it
effects the people that watch it and examine the statistics to back this up. Then, we
will see why our
society is attracted to violence. Finally, we should look to see if the ways that we are
addressing
this problem are actually helping to resolve it. Definitions Mass Media Mass media is
defined as
"those means of communication that reach and influence large numbers of peoples,
especially
newspapers, popular magazines, radio, and television" (McKechnie 1976). This means that
not
only is television at fault for infecting our society, but that everything from movies to
comic books
are as well (Larsen 1968). Violence Violence is defined as "to assault; to injure; also,
to bring by
violence; to force" (McKechnie 1976). This means any type of fighting, blood, gore, or
killing
would constitute as violence in the mass media. Who it effects This issue undeniably
affects
virtually everyone, considering that almost everyone takes part in viewing some aspect of
the media
everyday. The average American spends eleven years in front of the television set during
a
seventy-two year lifespan (Jeffries 1998). Although this does effect everyone, we should
focus on
children because it seems that they are the most impressionable viewers. It seems that
"younger
and younger children are committing more and more serious crimes", and that these
children are
exposed to more and more violence in the media (Larsen 1968). Whether it is an
eight-year-old
child watching Power Rangers? or a fourteen-year-old watching a R rated movie, it seems
that our
major problem lies in the younger generation (DeGaetano 1998). Good Effects Many people
think
that violence in the media has had only bad effects on our society. However, there are
many people
who think that violence being shown and discussed has helped society (Barbour 1994). It
is
obvious that the violence on television is brutal, but the brutality makes for an
unsheltered
existence. It helps to show that what is going on in the world, may be in your front
yard. It helps
people understand what effects may come out of certain situations in our every day life
(Barbour
1994). The media is here to inform us, whether good or bad. We have the right to know
what goes
on in the world and the media brings us this information. Movies and television shows
occupy our
free time with entertainment, and the daily news keeps us informed with current events
(Barbour
1994). Bad Effects Through the ages, the media has seemed to loosen its morals and in
turn
showed more and more violence (Dudley 1999). There are many areas in which this has
caused
problems. Now I will discuss those problems and their effects on society. The one major
problem
that has been brought forward by the many studies done on the effects of violence on
society, is the
"monkey see, monkey do" factor. This means that if a person, a child in particular, sees
something
on television, they will imitate it (Keller 1997). Whether this is done because of
curiosity, because
they don't think it is wrong, or because they think it looks "fun", most of the time they
don't
know what the after effects are because they are not shown by the media (Larsen 1968).
The
reason this is a problem is because there are murders every year that have definite
connections to
programs on television, movies, and comic books (Easterbrook 1999). The recent murders
in
Colorado by the so-called, "Trench-Coat Mafia" were connected to the movie "The
Basketball
Diaries". In the movie there is a dream sequence in which the main character goes around
his
school and shoots the classmates which he did not like. This is made attractive because
of the rock
music played in the background and the smile on his face while he kills his enemy
classmates
(Easterbrook 1999). Another reason that we have problems with the violence is the fact
that we are
numbed to what we are actually seeing (Kim 1998). Repeated exposure to media violence,
especially when found on television, is directly responsible for the increase in
aggression and
desensitization in our children, Madeline Levine writes in Viewing Violence: How Media
Violence
Affects Your Child's and Adolescent's Development (Kim 1998). The fact that a person is
being
killed right before our eyes is not offensive, and anymore we may not even notice it.
This is the
effect of too much violence, bloodshed, and gore in our everyday lives (Kim 1998). One of
the
main reasons that children are so susceptible to violence in the media, especially on
television, is
because they are so impressionable and the television has become like a third parent to
them. In the
busy lives of parents today, it is much easier for them to just put their child in front
of the television
while they get some work done. Many times cartoons have become very dangerous situations
and
the "real life" consequences are not shown. Even though the parent may be monitoring the
show
that their child is watching, many times there will be previews for shows which will be
aired at a
later time that have violence in them (Jeffries 1998). Statistics As I stated earlier,
there were many
studies done on this topic. These studies have come to many conclusions and statistics.
One of the
reasons that acts of violence are imitated from television is because of the easiness in
which they
are presented. Characters that possess qualities, which make them attractive role models,
initiate
forty percent of all incidents on television that involve violence. At least forty
percent of the violent
scenes on television include humor. Many times these characters feature physical
aggressions that
would be lethal if they were to occur in real life (DeGaetano 1998). The way violence is
portrayed
is a problem and the amount of violent scenes in television should be looked at. "The
average
prime-time show has five violent acts per hour." "Cartoons have an alarming average of
twenty-five violent acts per hour." It is also said that by the time children have
reached
adolescence, they have seen more than eight thousand killings and over one hundred
thousand
other acts of violence (Keller 1997). Prevention There are many debates over whether
television
should be regulated. If it should be regulated, then how much control should the
government have
over it? There are many ways in which this can be done and each one has its own
repercussions.
The V-chip The V-chip is a new technology that would allow parents to block television
programs
that have violent or sexual context from their children. It does this through a
computerized chip that
receives the rating that the government has given the program, and then if there is a R
rating, the
program is not displayed (Powell 1996). This has brought about a concern because when
the
government has a direct interaction into what we see, people see it as controlling. The
other
downside of this is that, like all policies that involve the family, the guardians of the
children should
have a more interactive role in what they are watching and not rely on the chip to do the
work. Our
society must learn to teach our children how to deal with violence, instead of just
blocking it out
completely (Powell 1996). The Rating System There has been a rating system implemented in
our
television programming within the past few years. The rating system works just like the
Movie
Theater rating system. Many people would agree that this is the most sensible plan of
prevention.
This way leads the family to decide what should be seen and not the government. Although
this
would not physically prevent them from seeing the program, it would allow them to decide
whether
the child is old enough to watch the program or not (Easterbrook 1999). Regulatory acts
There
have been a number of acts that the U.S. Senate has tried to pass on regulating what is
allowed to
be posted on television. The reason that people don't like this method goes along the
same lines of
the V-chip. They do not want government intervention (Barbour 1994). Conclusion In order
to
address a problem as controversial as violence in the media, you must understand both
sides of the
story. The effects of the violence can be very harmful to our society. Though there are
ways in
which violence is needed to be shown, it does not need to be shown to the extent that we
see
through the mass media. There are many ways in which we can prevent violence from being
seen
and our society must agree on one for it to be extremely effective. But whatever way we
decide, it is
obvious that the family needs to be stronger and violence must be addressed at a younger
age and
not just learned from the television. 
Bibliography 
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