Learning objectives:
- To understand the arguments surrounding violence in the media
- To consider the various theories about the effects of media violence
- To analysis whether there are any links between violence on film and violence in reality
Cathartic Effects
- Media violence can be positive
- people release violent inclinations by seeing them portrayed
Socially Positive Action
- Media portrayals of violence can increase awareness of social problems
Aggressive Stimulation Theory - Albert Bandura
- Media-depicted violence has potential to cue real life violence
- Criticezed for overstating cause-and-effect connections
- Causality is overstated
- Conclusions are simplistic
- much of evidence is anecdotal
- other factors could be involved
- aggressive people may gravitate to violence
Catalytic Theory
- media trigger violence only when certain non-media factors are alsopresent
- violence rewarded
- media exposure is heavy
- violent person meets a certain profile
- violence in realistic and exciting
- violence rights a wrong
- violence includes characters and situations similar to viewers own experience
Bottom Line.
- violence is factor complex to be explained by a single factor
- effects of media violence vary from person to person
Desensitizing theory
- people beomcing hardened by media violence
- society's tolerance for antisocial behavior is increasing
