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.