Research Proposal (Revised)

Does Violence in Media Create Violent Viewers?

Jarrett Johnson

English 102

February 9, 2014

Violence is something that has always been around. It’s a part of nature and all living creatures create acts of violence in one form or another. One animal might kill another just so that they can eat and survive for the day, while another animal might fight an intruder preying in his/her territory. No matter what, there is some sort of natural drive for an animal to create an act of violence. Humans, for the most part, seem to have different intentions. People sometime inflict pain on others out of rage, anger, or revenge. Sometimes, they will because it gives them pleasure. Not all humans are violent and many would rather stay away from it, but the problem with humans is that we are drawn and entertained by violence. Why is society so obsessed with violence? The bigger question is does this violent entertainment desensitize its viewers and turn them into violent people themselves?

This has been a huge topic of debate over the past many years and people have many different opinions about how violent media affects its viewers. In the article “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth,” by Craig A. Anderson and colleagues from 2003, they state that when youth is exposed to media violence, these adolescents can be affected later in their lives by causing them to create violent crimes. Richard B. Felson’s “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior,” in 1996 explains that although humans have always been entertained by violence, the rise in technology is making violent entertainment to easy to obtain and might be the cause of violent crimes rising.  This claim might go hand in hand with Nicholas L. Carnagey’s “Current Directions in Psychological Science.” In 2007 when he talked about how the General Aggression Model will predict a rise in aggression the more accessible violent media becomes. In Anthony Rivas’ article, “Does Violent Media Lead To Violence? Studies Link Graphic Images To Impulsive Behavior and Aggression” published in the Medicaldaily, lbt Media Inc in 2013, he explains how research has shown that gamers who play violent video games have the reduced ability to inhibit impulsive behavior and proactive control. On the other hand Dr. Stanton Samenow in his article, “Inside the Criminal Mind: Watching Violence in the Media Does Not Cause Crime,” on the website Psychologytoday, published by Sussex Publisher in 2012, about how criminals are not directly made from violent media and people that already have aggressive behaviors are attracted to this kind of entertainment. Craig A. Anderson disagrees when he wrote in his article, “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth” in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest in 2003, that youth is affected negatively when exposed to both short-term and long-term violent entertainment and may even affect their adulthood. Eugene V. Beresin makes a point in “The Impact of Media Violence on Children and adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions,” on the website AACAP, published by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in 2013, that accessibility to technology might be one of the defining factors. Just on television alone, there are an average of 813 violent acts per hour and they continue to rise. Richard B. Felson agrees with Beresin when he mentions in “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior,” in the Annual Review of Sociology in 1996, that although violence has always been a form of entertainment for humans, the rise of technology is making violent entertainment more accessible and there might be an increase in violent crimes because of it. Eugene Beresin talks about in his article, “Inside Out, Outside In: Violent Video Games and Movies Causing Violent Behavior,” on the website Psychologytoday, published by Sussex Publishers in 2012, even though groups like the National Rifle Association and Powerful Political figures such as Mitt Romney claim that violent entertainment is the main cause for mass violence, there is very little evidence that supports their claims.

The general public will always look for someone to blame when something goes wrong. It’s human nature to find the source of a problem and try to correct it. True scientific research is the best way to settle an issue or a lack there of. Maybe readers can get a better idea about what second hand violence does to a person through research and tests, and not from repeating what others might have said or how the media itself explains it. Video games have been a huge target for the cause of violence in young adults since nearly the first games began releasing to the public. There wasn’t really much evidence as to why these games might create murderers but they were an outlet and something to blame. In the times before video games, society pointed their fingers at rock and roll for causing young adults to behave violently. Even before that, it was comic books.

Researching how violence in media might affect people in any way and finding an explanation or two is my first goal. From my research so far, it seems that violence in any form of media doesn’t necessarily cause violent viewers. Do these scientific studies seem accurate or abundant? A question that I might look for is why where did this idea come from and why is it not debunked already. As of right now my biggest goal on my timeline is to get everything organized and start focusing on making sure that everything I have thus far will help me with my final research paper one way or another. Once things are more organized and straightened out, I can start getting rid of sources I don’t need and sources that are repetitive. If I find that too many of my sources seem to be similar, I will then navigate JSTOR and the Olympic College Library resources with different refined searches that might help me find some more interesting articles that will help me out with my research. I’m hoping to get all of the organization done by the end of this weekend so I can begin to continue working on my literature review by at least the 24^th of this month.

Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A., et al. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature.” Psychological Science. 12.5 (2001): 353-359. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Collier, Joel E., et al. “Exposure of Violent Video Games to Children and Public Policy Implications.” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 27.1 (2008): 107-112. Web. Feb 2014.

Felson, Richard B. “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior.” Annual Review of Sociology. 22 (1996): 103-128. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Beresin, Eugene V. “The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions.” Aacap. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2013. Web. Feb 2014.

Anderson, Craig A., et al. “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 4.3 (2003): 81-110. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Beresin, Eugene. “Inside Out, Outside In: Violent Video Games and Movies Causing Violent Behavior” Psychologytoday. Sussex Publishers, Dec 22, 2012. Web. Feb, 2014.

Rivas, Anthony. “Does Violent Media Lead To Violence? Studies Link Graphic Images To Impulsive Behavior and Aggression” Medicaldaily. Ibt Media Inc., 4 Aug, 2013. Web. Feb, 2014.

Dr. Samenow, Stanton. “Inside the Criminal Mind: Watching Violence in the Media Does Not Cause Crime” Psychologytoday. Sussex Publishers, Feb 24, 2012. Web. Feb, 2014.

“Violence in the Media – Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects” Apa. American Psychological Association. Nov. 2013. Web. Feb. 2014

Carnagey, Nicholas L., et al. “Current Directions in Psychological Science.” Media Violence and Social Neuroscience: New Questions and New Opportunities. 16.4 (2007): 178-182. JSTOR. Web.

Anderson, Craig A., et al. “Psychological Science in the Public Interest.” The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. 4.3 (2003): 81-110. JSTOR. Web.

annotations

Annotated Bibliography

Jarrett Johnson

SOURCES FOR RESEARCH PAPER.

~~~Beresin, Eugene. “Inside Out, Outside In: Violent Video Games and Movies Causing Violent Behavior” Psychologytoday. Sussex Publishers, Dec 22, 2012. Web. Feb, 2014.

Groups like the National Rifle Association and powerful political figures such as Mitt Romney claim that violence in media and video games are the main cause of mass violence not unlike the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings.  There is little evidence that supports them on their theories and even more evidence against what they believe. This article will help me build general facts showing that violence in media is not the culprit.

~~~Rivas, Anthony. “Does Violent Media Lead To Violence? Studies Link Graphic Images To Impulsive Behavior and Aggression” Medicaldaily. Ibt Media Inc., 4 Aug, 2013. Web. Feb, 2014.

Video games are always under constant scrutiny for their violent nature. Especially from organizations like MAVVG (Mothers Against Violent Video Games). They blame violent video games for causing real life violence. Others combat these claims by saying violent people are violent before they start playing these games. Research shows that these types of gamers have reduced ability to inhibit impulsive behavior and proactive control. This article will give me research on the effects of violent video games on controlled subjects.

~~~Dr. Samenow, Stanton. “Inside the Criminal Mind: Watching Violence in the Media Does Not Cause Crime” Psychologytoday. Sussex Publishers, Feb 24, 2012. Web. Feb, 2014.

The assumption of playing violent video games and/or witnessing crime on television desensitizes its viewers to become violent criminals is absurd. People that are into these violent games and shows are already interested in these kinds of things and it only reflects their personality. Yes there are copycat crimes, but these criminals that might recreate crimes from their favorite movies are maybe one or two people out of millions of others that have seen the same thing but are repulsed by it. This article brings up convincing points as to how violence in media only attracts already violent people.

~~~Beresin, Eugene V. “The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions.” Aacap. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2013. Web. Feb. 2014.

Violence seems to be an increasing problem in our society. Guns and explosives are easier to obtain and violence among the televised media and now the internet have been on a rise in the past recent years. There are 813 violent acts per hour on televised programs and more than 200,000 acts of violence that the average American child will be exposed to. There is a correlation between watching violence and committing it among young children through imitation. If the hero on the T.V. can be violent to save the day, then why shouldn’t the child? This article will help me with my research because it seems to be a mix of opinions and possible facts that show violent media causes violent children.

~~~“Violence in the Media – Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects” Apa. American Psychological Association. Nov. 2013. Web. Feb. 2014.

Evidence suggests that children exposed to many hours of televised violence during their childhood are more likely to be prosecuted at a later age. Although research shows that violent media creates desensitized children, it seems to be just one of many factors that cause them to increase in aggressive behavior. This article will help with my research on what factors may cause aggression in children and the effects in their later lives. 

~~~Freedman, Jonathan. “No real evidence for TV violence causing real violence.” Firstamandmentcenter. 27 Apr, 2007. Web. Feb, 2014.

People who say that violence in media causes a rise of aggression in its viewers are both right, and misinformed at the same time. The study in 2001 reports young viewers that watch violent television became more aggressive, but only for a short amount of time. Real violence caused by violent television is not a risk factor and the latest FCC reports pick and choose what to cite causing a lot of confusion. This article will help because it seems to be less biased and wants to show the entire reports instead of just clips and pieces of the.

~~~Nauret, Rick. “In New Study, Video Games Not Tied to Violence in High-Risk Youth.” Psych Central. 2013. Web. Feb 2014.

It seems that researchers have published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, that when adolescents with attention deficit symptoms play violent video games, the kids became calmer and had reduced aggression and bullying behavior. Although fingers are always pointed at violent video games for mass violence, researchers have found no association between the two. This article will help strengthen the side that believes violent entertainment is not the culprit.

~~~Beresin, Gene, et al. “Research Shows Violent Media Do Not Cause Violent Behavior.” Mass General. 26 Dec 2012. Web. Feb 2014.

There is a very large amount of research done showing the effects of violent television on adolescent’s behaviors, but the research doesn’t support evidence that shows that violent television is a direct cause of youth violence in our society. The F.B.I. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and The U.S. Secret Service both do not support that there is a connection between real violence and violence on television. This article will give me more information on the lack of direct evidence between actual violence and violence in the media.

~~~Soave, Robby, “Study: Violent video games do not cause real violence.” Daily Caller. 23 May 2013. Web. Feb 2014.

It seems that violence on the television does not contribute to a person’s violent behavior but the way they are raised mixed with how they are wired biologically have the defining factors. Recent studies show that “A history of teen delinquency, lower intelligence, and a history of school problems all predicted adult criminality. Media use was not associated with either increased or decreased risk of adult criminality.” This article will help me with my research paper because it includes how these violent adolescents were brought up other than just how much they played violent video games.

~~~Bineham, Jeffery L. “How does media violence influence us?” MinnPost. 7 Mar 2007. Web. Feb 2014.

Forbes speaks of studies where the more hours that are put into watching violent television, the more violent the viewer will become and that “findings are consistent with a causal association.” Susan Perry, on the other hand, cites that many studies show that violent behavior does not increase from playing violent video games. The biggest problem is with these arguments is that there is really no specifics on what aggression exactly is and what accounts for violent television. This article will help me with my paper because it is focusing less on the actual arguments and their results and looking at the wording instead and how it could be misinterpreted by each side of the argument.

~~~Carnagey, Nicholas L., et al. “Media Violence and Social Neuroscience: New Questions and New Opportunities.” Current Directions in Psychological Science. 16.4 (2007): 178-182. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Violent video games are becoming more and more popular and the problem is that research has shown that exposure to any forms of violence on television can increase aggressive behavior through arousal, cognitions, and affect. Scientists are able to understand the interactions of physiological and psychological mechanisms now more than ever and certain questions regarding the development of violent video games can now be answered. I will use this source to show the prediction and the possible outcome of the General Aggression Model.

~~~Felson, Richard B. “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior.” Annual Review of Sociology. 22 (1996): 103-128. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Violence has always been a hugely popular form of entertainment to humans. The Romans had Gladiator battles and the Middle East has their cockfights. Technology has created a way for almost anyone to be part of an audience to some sort of violence and researchers believe that there is some type of connection to the rise in television violence and real life violent crime. This source will help explain the causal effect in the rise of violent crimes with the rise of violent television.

~~~Anderson, Craig A., et al. “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 4.3 (2003): 81-110. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

When youth is exposed to media violence (such as television and video games) in both short-term and long-term, both physical and verbal aggressive behaviors are more likely to show in those particular adolescents. Studies are showing that these exposures may even affect these children later in life from them causing violent crimes as adults. This source will help show the link between adolescents being exposed to violent media and how it affects their adulthood.

~~~Anderson, Craig A., et al. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature.” Psychological Science. 12.5 (2001): 353-359. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

Doug Lowenstein who is the president of the Interactive Digital Software Association believes that all these accusations that violent entertainment and media is the cause of mass shootings is absolutely ludicrous and there is no evidence supporting the relationships between them. Although he may be right that there is very little evidence to show the direct relationship between them, there is a decent amount of evidence showing that exposure to violent television will increase aggressive behavior in it’s viewers. This study will help expand on my argument that violent television does in fact increase aggression.

~~~Collier, Joel E., et al. “Exposure of Violent Video Games to Children and Public Policy Implications.” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 27.1 (2008): 107-112. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

With all the accusations of violent video causing children to commit crimes and the research showing that exposure to violent video games can increase violence, states across the nation have been trying to find ways to restrict access of mature rated games to adolescents with little to no success. This article shows the political side and the public policy implications which is a fresh look at what kind of politics were behind the restriction of these violent video games and why.

~~~Anderson, Craig A., et al. “The Effects of Reward and Punishment in Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior.” Psychological Science. 16.11 (2005): 882-889. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

There are many different beliefs and accusations of what exposure to violent

video games may do to adolescents. With all these different speculations, studies have made one thing crystal clear: exposure to violent video games increases aggressive affect, and aggressive behavior. This article will help my paper because it makes it clear that violent video games affect aggression and not bringing anything else into the equation.

~~~Harnagel, Timothy F., et al. “Television Violence and Violent Behavior.” Social Forces. 54.2 (1975): 341-351. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

It is widely believed that people who view violence on television will more likely end up engaging in a violent or criminal, act or behavior. There has been a tremendous amount of research done to answer these questions but it seems that each study has inconsistent research with one another. This article will be a good insight to the conclusions of many different studies and it will show how they are very inconsistent to each other.

~~~Cook, Thomas D., et al. “The Implicit Assumptions of Television Research: An Analysis of the 1982 NIMH Report on Television and Behavior.” The Public Opinion Quarterly. 47.2 (1983): 161-201. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

The surgeon-general was ordered to look into the direct relationship between television violence and aggression in children in 1969. The Scientific Advisory Committee that was appointed found and stated in a 1972 report that violence in television does cause aggression in some children. This article will show evidence and finding in an old report that show that aggression does increase in children when exposed to violent television.

~~~Johnson, Jeffery G., et al. “Television Viewing and Aggressive Behavior during Adolescence and Adulthood.” Science. 295.5564 (2002): 2468-2471. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

This article shows a 17-year interval in a community sample of 707 individuals and their television habits and how aggressive they were. This research article will give me the numbers and outcomes to show if aggressive behavior is directly related to television viewing and how it affects adolescents and adults.

~~~Anderson, Daniel R., et al. “Early Childhood Television Viewing and Adolescent behavior: The Recontact Study.” Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 66.1 (2001): i-viii+1-154. JSTOR. Web. Feb 2014.

The goal of this 570 adolescent study was to find relationships between their television viewing habits and how they interacted and faired in every day activities and life in general. Not only was aggression looked at, but participation with others, use of substances, self image and some other similar things of that nature. This study will help with my research because it gives more information than just how aggression is affected.

sources for paper

Working Bibliography

Jarrett Johnson

SOURCES FOR RESEARCH PAPER.

~PEER-REVIEWED~

Violent Video Games and Movies Causing Violent Behavior

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-out-outside-in/201212/violent-video-games-and-movies-causing-violent-behavior

Does Violent Media Lead To Violence? Studies Link Graphic Images To Impulsive Behavior And Aggression

http://www.medicaldaily.com/does-violent-media-lead-violence-studies-link-graphic-images-impulsive-behavior-and-aggression

Watching Violence in the Media Does Not Cause Crime

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-criminal-mind/201202/watching-violence-in-the-media-does-not-cause-crime

The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Medical_Students_and_Residents/Mentorship_Matters/DevelopMentor/The_Impact_of_Media_Violence_on_Children_and_Adolescents_Opportunities_for_Clinical_Interventions.aspx

Violence in the Media — Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects

http://www.apa.org/research/action/protect.aspx

No real evidence for TV violence causing real violence

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/no-real-evidence-for-tv-violence-causing-real-violence

In New Study, Video Games Not Tied to Violence in High-Risk Youth

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/08/27/in-new-study-video-games-not-tied-to-violence-in-high-risk-youth/58934.html

~ARTICLES~

Research Shows Violent Media Do Not Cause Violent Behavior

http://www.massgeneral.org/children/about/newsarticle.aspx?id=3929

Study: Violent video games do not cause real violence

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/23/study-violent-video-games-do-not-cause-real violence/

Does Media Violence Cause Real Violence? A Definitive Guide

http://www.policymic.com/articles/34621/does-media-violence-cause-real-violence-a-definitive-guide

DEBATE

http://www.debate.org/opinions/does-the-media-cause-violence

How does media violence influence us?

http://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2013/03/how-does-media-violence-influence-us

Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior

http://academic.udayton.edu/CatherineLutz/psy%20368%20course%20articles/Does%20Exposure%20to%20Media%20Violence%20Promote%20Aggressive%20Behavior.pdf

Claims that 'video games lead to violence' lead to violence

http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/sep/20/video-games-cause-violence-claims-cause-violence

Violence and Media: The Real Effects

http://wgbhnews.org/post/violence-and-media-real-effects

is media violence damaging to kids?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/living/parenting-kids-violence-media/

Does viewing violent media really cause criminal violence? A methodological review

http://bscw-app1.let.ethz.ch/pub/bscw.cgi/d5907581/Savage-Does%20viewing%20violent%20media%20really%20cause%20criminal%20violence.pdf

20/20: Assesing the Impact of Violence on Kids

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124214

Violent video games not shown to cause real-world violence

http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2013/01/violent-video-games-not-shown-cause-real-world-violence

Media Violence versus Real Violence

http://prospect.org/article/media-violence-versus-real-violence

Media and Risky Behaviors

http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=32&articleid=60&sectionid=291

research start

Does Violence in Media Create Violent Viewers?

Jarrett Johnson

English 102

February 9, 2014

Violence is something that has always been around. It’s a part of nature and all living creatures create acts of violence in one form or another. One animal might kill another just so that they can eat and survive for the day, while another animal might fight an intruder preying in his/her territory. No matter what, there is some sort of natural drive for an animal to create an act of violence. Humans, for the most part, seem to have different intentions when creating acts of violence. People sometime inflict pain on others out of rage, anger, or revenge. Sometimes, they will because it gives them pleasure.

Not all humans are violent and many would rather stay away from it, but the problem is that movies, television shows, commercials, video games, billboards, and other forms of media recreate violence as if it is being promoted. Why is society so obsessed with violence? The bigger question is does this fake violence that is everywhere desensitize its viewers and turn them into violent people themselves?

This has been a huge topic of debate over the past many years and people have many different opinions about how violent media affects its viewers. The general public will always look for someone to blame when something goes wrong. It’s human nature to find the source of a problem and try to correct it. True scientific research is the best way to settle an issue or a lack there of. Maybe readers can get a better idea about what second hand violence does to a person through research and tests, and not from repeating what others might have said or how the media itself explains it.

Video games have been a huge target for the cause of violence in young adults since nearly the first games began releasing to the public. There wasn’t really much evidence as to why these games might create murderers but they were an outlet and something to blame. In the times before video games, society pointed their fingers at rock and roll for causing young adults to behave violently. Even before that, it was comic books.

Researching how violence in media might affect people in any way and finding an explanation or two is my first goal. From my research so far, it seems that violence in any form of media doesn’t necessarily cause violent viewers. Do these scientific studies seem accurate or abundant? A question that I might look for is why where did this idea come from and why is it not debunked already.