Teen Violence Discussed

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Katz and Jhally argue that teen violence is a male-centric occurrence caused by socialization that promotes violent masculinity. Males provide a gender-neutral view of teen violence that he believes is caused by parents who engage in domestic violence. It shows how both articles deal with the subject of teenage violence and avoid placing blame on teens for their troubled behavior. Instead, these articles present the idea of imitation as a cause of teen violence, but they differ on who the kids are imitating.

From the Paper:

"Males presents his theory of teen violence in a gender-neutral presentation. He focuses on violence in general and omits cases of shootings and mass murder carried out by male teams such as the infamous Columbine High School event. Males points to differences in occurrences of violence between different races and classes as proof that images in mass media aren't as important as family circumstances to contributing to the violence. According to Males, "In practical terms, media-violence theories are not about kids, but about race and class. If TV accounts for any meaningful fraction of murder levels amid poorer, nonwhite youth, why doesn't it have the same effect on white kids?" Unlike Males, Katz and Jhally, believe that trying to view teen violence in a gender-neutral fashion will blind us from understanding and resolving the youth violence problem. They point to school shootings such as Columbine, murder, assault and rape as being predominately a male phenomenon. They also argue that girls are growing up in the same environment as males, but are not responding to their situation in the same violent ways as males are."

More papers on Teen Violence Discussed:

• Analytical Essay # 46582 : "Teen Violence in the United States"
• Analytical Essay # 130660 : "Teen Violence and Society"
• Cause and Effect Essay # 7160 : "Teen Violence"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: