Media Influences On Violent/Criminal Behaviour

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses various newspaper articles on the influence of violent videos and movies. The paper discusses comments by various authors and researchers who recommend that reseachers study violent people, not the media, to understand them. The paper concludes that the researchers expect that the debate about whether or not media exposure constitutes a significant risk factor for violent behavior, will continue to claim a number of audiences in the future.

Outline:
The Ongoing Debate
Media's Power
Distorted and Troubling Images
Myths and Facts
Gaps in Answers
News Media's Coverage
Portrayal from the Past
Positive Media Impact Potential

From the Paper:

"Anderson argues that according to a historical assessment of the research, debate regarding whether media exposure constitutes a significant risk factor for aggressive and violent behavior should have been dismissed years ago. (Bushman & Anderson, 2001, cited by Anderson) "After 40+ years of research," Anderson stresses, "one might think that debate about media violence effects would be over. Four types of media violence studies [nevertheless] provide converging evidence of such effects: laboratory experiments, field experiments, cross-sectional correlation studies, and longitudinal studies." Whether the media's power is frail, as noted by Aquino (cited by Simpson) in this paper's introductory quote, or whether the media contributes to challenging concerns regarding criminal/violent behaviour, the question, as noted by Anderson, along with Danl and Vigna in the following excerpt, still merits debate."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions." Psychological Science Agenda Volume 16: No. 5, October 2003. 19 Mar. 2008 <http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html>
• Barker, Martin , and Petley, Julian. (2001). Ill Effects: The Media/Violence Debate Routledge. 19 Mar. 2008 <http://books.google.com/books?id=hdw2DTrIlLAC&dq=media+influence,+crime,+vio ence&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0>
• Broder, Sharon. (2008). Fighting Media Violence! Family Education. 19 Mar. 2008 http://fun.familyeducation.com/television/violence/34926.html
• Coyne, Sarah M. (2007, June 1). Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2 HE, Lancashire, UK. 19 Mar. 2008 <http://www.springerlink.com/content/j70x4w4j24325n62/>.
• Dahl, Gordon and Vigna, Stefano Della. (2007, April 18) "Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?" 19 Mar. 2008 http://econ.ucsd.edu/seminars/0607seminars/dahl_paper.pdf

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