Violent Media Consumption and Violent Criminal Behavior in Young Adults

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/0/2/4/5/p202454_index.html

This article talks about how media violence showed a criminal behavior in children.

Less Exposure to Violent Media Makes Youths Less Aggressive

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_71013.html

This article talks about how less exposure to media violence results in less aggressive behavior.

This is your brain on violent media

http://www.physorg.com/news116155534.html

This article talks about how violent media effects minds. It also explains how violent media destroys behaviors related processing.

Violent Media Effects

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~ker/scholarly_research.htm

Violent media has been terrorizing kids decades. Long term media violence can result it aggression in your personal life. Media violence results in a violent society.

Do Violent Games Make For More Violent Kids?

http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/11/do-violent-game.html

This article states if Games are violent to kids or not. The article says it does and that some of the very popular games are very harmful to kids of young age. It says that the behavior is very violent after playing the games used to be tested.

Media Violence & Children

http://actagainstviolence.apa.org/mediaviolence/index.html

What this article is trying to say is that media violence is here and will not leave. It is the job of the parents to limit what there son/daughter are watching, hearing, or playing.

Media Violence is Harmful to Kids!

http://www.drgreene.com/21_455.html

This Information tells how much violence a kid might see by the time that he is at the age of 18. Also what provokes them to act in a violent manner.

less Exposure to Violent Media Makes youth less aggresive

Children and young teens with only minimal exposure to violent entertainment in the media are far less likely to engage in aggressive behavior, a new survey suggests.
Ybarra and her colleagues were expected to present the findings Wednesday at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting, in San Diego.
Earlier this year, researchers out of Dartmouth Medical School drew attention to the scale of exposure to violence among youth when they released results from a poll indicating that almost 13 percent of the nation's 22 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 routinely witness graphic violence while watching films, TV and/or DVDs.
The current work analyzes data collected by the national "Growing Up With Media" survey, which focused on almost 1,600 American boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 15.
The poll asked the children to rank the amount of violence they were exposed to via five key media outlets: TV and movies; music; computer games; Web sites depicting cartoon imagery; and Web sites involving real people.
Violence was defined as visual and/or verbal depictions of physical fighting, hurting, shooting or killing.
After reviewing the responses, the research team characterized exposure to such media violence as "none or almost none" among 6 percent of the kids. This minimally exposed group tended to include more girls, younger kids and white children.
Alittle more than 43 percent had "some" exposure, while just over 49 percent witnessed "more" violence than the rest.
Household income and marital status of the parents appeared to have no affect on violent media exposure levels, the authors noted.
Among those youth who had "none" or "some" exposure to media violence, the study authors found that 85 percent and 50 percent of each group, respectively, said they were less likely engage in seriously violent behavior, bullying or fighting -- as compared with children who had "more" exposure to violent media.
Ybarra and her colleagues pointed out, however, that other variables also play a role in influencing youthful violent behavior. A history of substance abuse, bearing witness to violence in the neighborhood, having difficult familial relations, being predisposed toward angry behavior, and having delinquent friends were all highlighted as influential factors.
They nonetheless concluded that a reduction in exposure to violent media could help decrease bullying, fighting and generally violent behavior among children and adolescents.

What Do Children Learn from Media Violence?

Does media violence promote violent behavior?

"Since 1955, about 1,000 studies, reports, and commentaries concerning the impact of television violence have been published. The accumulated research clearly demonstrates a correlation between viewing violence and aggressive behavior."

That statement, made by the American Psychological Association in 1992, summarized its comprehensive review of research on the effects of media violence. Other organizations including the American Medical Association, National Institutes of Mental Health, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control came to similar conclusions.

One key study that showed the connection between media violence and real violence was the one by Dr. Leonard D. Eron. He followed a group of young people for 22 years and found that those who watched more television at age eight were more likely, at age 30, to have committed more serious crimes, to be more aggressive when drinking, and to punish their children more harshly than others. Others have repeated Eron's study and found similar results throughout the United States and other countries as well.

Another researcher, University of Washington epidemiologist Brandon Centerwall, surveyed young male felons imprisoned for committing violent crimes. Between one-quarter and one-third reported having consciously imitated crime techniques they saw on television.

"Laboratory" studies, says Ronald Slaby, media-violence expert at the Education Development Center, also show that media violence has an "aggressor effect." Children who watch a violent TV show, for example, act more aggressive immediately after the show.

How does TV violence mislead young people?

Children and youth are affected by the sheer quantity of violence on TV and in the movies. But perhaps more damaging are the false messages that media violence sends.

* Violence is often rewarded and seldom has negative consequences. According to the 1992 National Television Violence Study by Media scope, perpetrators go unpunished in 73 percent of all violent scenes on television.

* Violence is everywhere. Slaby tells the story of a preschooler who was informed of the death of her friend's father. "Who killed him?" she asked. Her question reflected the assumption, drawn from television, that violence was the normal cause of death.

* Violence is justified. Much of the violence on television is committed by the "hero" of the show. The National Television Violence Study found that aggression by "good guys" is rarely punished; Power Rangers, like countless war movies, teaches that violence by "good guys" is not only justified but heroic. even "bad guys" are punished only 62 percent of the time.

* Violence is funny. Laugh tracks in shows like The Three Stooges often follow actions like whacking someone over the head. Children's cartoons are especially likely to present violence as funny.

* Violence is pleasurable. Clint Eastwood, in Dirty Harry, finds violence so enjoyable that he encourages people to provoke him -- a violent act would "make my day."

Which young people are most susceptible to influence by media violence?

Three factors are strong predictors, according to List:

1) Identifying with one of the characters. The response, therefore, depends on which character the viewer identifies with. Since aggressors in the media are usually male and females are usually victims, for example, boys are more likely to respond with aggression and girls with fear.

2) Interpreting what they see as realistic and relevant to their own lives. Media violence is more likely to have a strong effect, therefore, on children who see violence in their lives. It also has a stronger effect on young children, who lack the real-life experience to judge whether something they see is realistic.

3) Personal fantasizing about the characters on a violent show. Daydream "reruns" increase the influence of scenes a child has watched.

In addition, says Slaby, the context in which violence is presented is crucial. In Shakespeare's tragedies and in TV shows like the popular Civil War series, violence is shown realistically, with its suffering and tragic aftermath. But such realistic, "pro social" portrayals of violence account for only about 4 percent of TV programming.

How do most children and young people react to media violence?

Most people, of course, don't become violent when they watch TV or movie violence. But they may be affected in other ways. Here is a lists four effects of media violence:

* an aggressor effect--encouraging violent behavior
* a victim effect--increasing fearfulness
* a bystander effect--leading to callousness, accepting violence as normal
* an appetite effect--building a desire to watch more violence.

These effects combine, says media expert George Gerbner of the Annenberg Center for Public Policy, University of Pennsylvania, to create a "mean world syndrome," a perception that the community and society in which we live are frightening and crime-ridden.

On a personal level, according to Gerbner, these fears lead to alienation and isolation. On a policy level, they fuel support for "repressive policies and increased incarceration." Violence-prevention expert Deborah Prothrow-Stith of the Harvard School of Public Health, says media violence both reflects and contributes to a growing "culture of meanness," a fertile ground for real-life violence.

The influence of aggressive and neutral cartoons and toys on the behaviour of preschool children

This study addressed an issue of current community concern about which there is little relevant research, namely the behavioral effects of viewing an aggressive cartoon and playing with the toys associated with it, in comparison to a neutral cartoon and toys. Sixty preschool children were observed in groups of five after viewing either an aggressive cartoon, a neutral cartoon, or no cartoon, when playing with each type of toy in turn. Levels of aggression were considerably higher when children played with the aggressive toys after watching the aggressive cartoon, than after exposure to the neutral cartoon and toys. The opposite trend occurred for pro social behavior. The effects of watching cross-matched cartoons and toys (e.g., aggressive cartoon and neutral toys) were less clear-cut, but still indicated negative effects of both aggressive cartoons and toys. Results are interpreted in terms of a cognitive information-processing model, and the implications for the development of aggression, and for policy decisions on television programming and toy marketing, are explored.

Cartoon Idol for Kids Blamed for Violence

The Guangzhou Daily reports that a Japanese cartoon idol aimed at kindergarten children has become a cause of concern for many Chinese parents.

The cartoon series "Ultraman", in which a superman-type figure fights all kinds of evil-minded monsters, has already been banned in Japan during prime time for its excessive violence.

But the paper says, the series has been a "must-see" for local kids during the just-concluded summer vacation. And it adds that many parents have complained that that their children become more aggressive after watching the animation.

Experts say young children between the ages of three and four are at an extremely sensitive stage of their development; they warn that during this period kids tend to imitate everything around them, and need definite guidance.

Some suggest that a rating system be introduced for such cartoons, and that laws and regulations be established to help control them.