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125 Media Violence Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Media violence has been a hotly debated topic for decades, with studies showing mixed results on its effects on viewers. While some argue that exposure to violent media can lead to aggressive behavior in individuals, others believe that it has no significant impact. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, media violence is a complex and important subject that is worth discussing.

If you are tasked with writing an essay on media violence, you may be struggling to come up with a compelling topic. To help you get started, here are 125 media violence essay topic ideas and examples that you can use as inspiration:

The impact of violent video games on children's behavior

How violent movies influence viewers' attitudes towards violence

The role of social media in perpetuating violent behavior

The effects of violent TV shows on teenagers' mental health

The relationship between media violence and real-world violence

The portrayal of violence in the news media

The ethics of depicting violence in the media

The influence of violent music lyrics on listeners' behavior

The use of violence in advertising and marketing

The representation of violence in comic books and graphic novels

The role of violence in shaping popular culture

The psychological impact of exposure to violent media

The impact of violent cartoons on children's behavior

The relationship between gender and media violence

The effects of violent video games on adults' behavior

The portrayal of violence in reality TV shows

The impact of violent movies on viewers' empathy towards victims

The influence of violent news coverage on public perception of crime

The role of violent video games in desensitizing players to violence

The effects of violent music videos on viewers' attitudes towards women

The relationship between media violence and school shootings

The portrayal of violence in sports media

The influence of violent movie scenes on viewers' emotions

The impact of violent video games on children's academic performance

The role of violent TV shows in shaping viewers' attitudes towards authority figures

The effects of violent movies on viewers' perceptions of justice

The relationship between media violence and domestic violence

The portrayal of violence in children's cartoons

The influence of violent video games on players' decision-making skills

The effects of violent music on listeners' mood and behavior

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' perceptions of crime

The role of violent news coverage in shaping public policy on crime

The effects of violent video games on players' social skills

The portrayal of violence in horror movies

The influence of violent music lyrics on listeners' self-esteem

The relationship between media violence and mental health disorders

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sleep patterns

The role of violent video games in promoting teamwork and cooperation

The effects of violent movies on viewers' memory and cognitive abilities

The portrayal of violence in music videos

The influence of violent news coverage on viewers' sense of safety

The relationship between media violence and body image issues

The effects of violent video games on players' aggression levels

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of morality

The role of violent news coverage in shaping public opinion on crime prevention strategies

The portrayal of violence in action movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' political beliefs

The relationship between media violence and cyberbullying

The effects of violent video games on players' ability to empathize with others

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of humor

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' trust in the media

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of justice

The portrayal of violence in war movies

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' perceptions of beauty

The relationship between media violence and hate crimes

The effects of violent video games on players' self-control

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of community

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' political beliefs

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of identity

The portrayal of violence in superhero movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' sense of empowerment

The relationship between media violence and substance abuse

The effects of violent video games on players' decision-making skills

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of belonging

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of justice

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of purpose

The portrayal of violence in historical dramas

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' sense of freedom

The relationship between media violence and political polarization

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of agency

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of security

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of hope

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of progress

The portrayal of violence in science fiction movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' sense of creativity

The relationship between media violence and environmental issues

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of purpose

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of balance

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of unity

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of empathy

The portrayal of violence in fantasy movies

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' sense of connection

The relationship between media violence and social justice

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of responsibility

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of empowerment

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of community

The portrayal of violence in dystopian movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' sense of belonging

The relationship between media violence and cultural diversity

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of justice

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of empathy

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of purpose

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of security

The portrayal of violence in animated movies

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' sense of hope

The relationship between media violence and economic inequality

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of balance

The impact of violent TV shows on viewers' sense of unity

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of progress

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of agency

The portrayal of violence in Western movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' sense of purpose

The relationship between media violence and technological advancements

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of security

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of identity

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of belonging

The portrayal of violence in disaster movies

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' sense of justice

The relationship between media violence and global politics

The effects of violent video games on players' sense of empathy

The role of violent news coverage in shaping viewers' sense of security

The portrayal of violence in romantic movies

The influence of violent music on listeners' sense of agency

The relationship between media violence and social mobility

The effects of violent movies on viewers' sense of community

The portrayal of violence in psychological thrillers

The influence of violent music videos on viewers' sense of identity

The relationship between media violence and personal growth

These essay topic ideas and examples should give you plenty of inspiration for your media violence essay. Whether you choose to focus on the impact of violent video games on children's behavior, the portrayal of violence in music videos, or the influence of violent news coverage on viewers' sense of justice, there are countless angles to explore in this complex and important topic. Good luck with your essay!

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88 Media Violence Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best media violence topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ most interesting media violence topics to write about, 📑 good research topics about media violence, ❓ research questions about violence in the media.

Media Violence Effect on Youth and Its Regulation It is also important to note that the more important the media puts on violence, the more people are tempted to engage in it for the sake of attention.
Media Violence and Importance of Media Literacy Media literacy is the public’s ability to access, decode, evaluate and transmit a message from media. Improved media literacy and education will enable the responsible consumption of information.
Relation Between Media Violence and Cause of George Floyd The media coverage of the end of George Floyd exposed the prevalence of police brutality against a colored population that led to nationwide protests.
Violence in Media: Contribution to Public Violence Present scholarship affords a more intricate integration flanking the media and community, with the media on engendering in rank from a structure of associations as well as manipulation and with personal definitions and analysis of […]
Fear in News and Violence in Media In the proposed paper I intend to present the prevailing fear in American society and which has been produced by news media and the rise of a “problem frame” which is used to delineate this […]
Media Violence, Its Reasons and Consequences Regarding the matters of media violence, first of all, it is necessary to mention, that this term is usually regarded in two senses: Information that is provided without any will or determination by the recipient […]
The Media Violence Debate and the Risks It Holds for Social Science On the other hand, research on the matter is inconclusive showing that the correlation between violence and aggression varies from null to weak.
Media Violence and Aggression Risk Factors The topic of exposure to violence in mass media and a consequent probability of developing more aggressive behaviors is widely investigated and discussed in the literature.
Violence in Media and Accepted Norm in Society At the same time, these concerned groups represent the stratum that has the most power in influencing the spreading of media violence and mitigating its effects. The government can ensure that that rules and regulations […]
Canadian Media Violence, Pornography, Free Speech To fill the gap, the researchers developed a critical analysis of the problem in Canada based on the concept of “moral panic” and a study on the coverage of youth violence in the Canadian media.
Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior From one perspective, it is said that the person will learn to like the violence and use it in real life.
Does Exposure to Media Violence Promote Aggressive Behavior? One of the major changes that have been prominent in the social environment is the satiety of the mass media. It is incorrect to focus on the irregularities witnessed in the studies whilst the researches […]
Research of Violence in the Media The left frontal lobe of the participants was analyzed and found to be more active in the control group than in the exposed group. Exposure of children to violence in the mass media leads to […]
Effects of Violence Media on Aggression In case a child is exposed to continuous violent media, chances are high that such a child would develop a deviant behavior, which might lead to the development of aggressive behavior.
The Main Cause of Increasing Violent Behavior Among Youths Is Violence in the Media Although the question is controversial, it is possible to state that the media promoting violent films, video games, and music is the cause for increasing violent behaviours because the media provokes the young people’s reflection […]
The Effects of Media Violence on People Despite the fact that there is some evidence that, lengthy exposure to violent media increases aggressive behavior in people, this exposure alone cannot cause people to become violent and aggressive for there is no established […]
Media Violence and Altruism Consistent presence of children in violent media avenues is a major factor that results to increased aggression even as they grow up. In this case, there is a close link of social aggressive behavior with […]
Media Violence and Its Effect on Children’s Aggression
Brutal Legacies: Media Violence and America’s Youth
Media Violence Should Be Restricted by Government and Does Cause Real-World
Children and the Effects of Media Violence
Reasons Why Children Suffer From Media Violence
Communication as the Easiest Way to Eliminate Media Violence on Children
Correlation Between Media Violence and Aggression
Defining Criteria for Evaluating Media Violence
Media Violence and Its Effects on Society
Correlation Between Media Violence, Video Games, and Aggressive Behavior
Juvenile Crime and the Influence of Media Violence
Linking Media Violence and Negative Behavior
Media Violence Affecting Our Mental Stability
The Link Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior in Children and Teens
The Relationships Between Media Violence and Crime Violence
Media Violence and Effects on the American Family
Correlation Between Media Violence and School Shootings
Media Violence and How It Affects Our Conscience
Linking Media Violence and the Violent Male Adolescents
Media Violence and Its Contributions to Aggressive Behavior in Our Society
The Controversy About Media Violence and Violent Video Games
Media Violence and Its Effects on School, Grades, and Social Activities
Analysis of the Problem Associated With Media Violence
Media Violence and Its Impact on Increasing Violence in Young People
Relationship Between Video Games and Television Media Violence
Media Violence and the Effect It Has on Actual Behavior
Television and Media Violence: Is Aggressive Behavior Linked to TV Violence?
Media Violence: Censorship Not Needed
Television and Media Violence – TV Violence and Common Sense
Media Violence Does Not Cause Violent Behavior
Television and the Effects of Media Violence on Society
Media Violence Increases the Risk of Aggressive Behavior Among Children
The American Battle Against the Culture of Media Violence
Media Violence May Increase Behavioral Violence
The Assumptions Regarding the Myth of Media Violence
Media Violence? Media Whatever You Want
The Growing Concerns Over Media Violence and Its Effect on Society
Media Violence: Not the Real Culprit for the Problems of Society
U.S. Population Consumes Much Media Violence
Media Violence Turning Good Kids Bad: Fact or Fiction?
What Is the Impact of Media Violence on Mental Health?
What Is the Contribution of Media Violence to Aggressive and Violent Behavior in Our Society?
How Common Is Concern About the Effects of Violence in Media, Video Games, the Internet, and Television?
What Are the Ways to Deal with Stress and Violence in the Media?
Should the Government Limit Violence in the Media?
How Does Violence-Based Media Affect Human Behavior?
Why Do Video Games Cause Less Violence Than Other Forms of Media?
How Do Media Violence and Advertising Affect the Minds of Young Children and Adults?
Does Violence in the Media Increase the Risk of Aggressive Behavior in Children?
What Is the Relationship Between Media Violence and Crime?
How Does Media Violence Affect Deviant Behavior, Particularly Criminal Behavior?
What Does Research Say About the Relationship Between Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior?
Is Aggressive Behavior Related to Media Violence?
Which Hypothesis Explains That Violence in the Media Causes More Aggressive Behavior?
How Does Family Conflict Increase the Effect of Media Violence Exposure on Adolescent Aggression?
What Are the Ethical Issues Related to the Portrayal of Violence in the Media?
To What Extent Does Media Violence Lead to Aggression?
What Are the Negative Consequences of Media Violence for Today’s Youth?
How Is America Dealing with a Culture of Media Violence?
Is Violence in the Media the Real Culprit of Society’s Problems?
What Is the Relationship Between Substance Abuse, Media Violence, School Violence, and Family Violence?
Does Intense Media Coverage of Violence Contribute to Its Spread in Our Society?
Is Communication the Easiest Way to End Media Violence Against Children?
What Are the Clear Connections Between Violence in the Media and Violence in Society?
To What Extent Do Sociologists Agree That Violence in the Media Leads to Violence in Real Life?
What Explanations Are Offered for Media Violence Against Women?
Does Violence in the Media Contribute to Violent Behavior Among Youth?
Is It Fact or Fiction That Media Violence Makes Good Kids Bad?
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Article contents

Violence, media effects, and criminology.

Nickie D. Phillips Nickie D. Phillips Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, St. Francis College
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.189
Published online: 27 July 2017

Debate surrounding the impact of media representations on violence and crime has raged for decades and shows no sign of abating. Over the years, the targets of concern have shifted from film to comic books to television to video games, but the central questions remain the same. What is the relationship between popular media and audience emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? While media effects research covers a vast range of topics—from the study of its persuasive effects in advertising to its positive impact on emotions and behaviors—of particular interest to criminologists is the relationship between violence in popular media and real-life aggression and violence. Does media violence cause aggression and/or violence?

The study of media effects is informed by a variety of theoretical perspectives and spans many disciplines including communications and media studies, psychology, medicine, sociology, and criminology. Decades of research have amassed on the topic, yet there is no clear agreement about the impact of media or about which methodologies are most appropriate. Instead, there continues to be disagreement about whether media portrayals of violence are a serious problem and, if so, how society should respond.

Conflicting interpretations of research findings inform and shape public debate around media effects. Although there seems to be a consensus among scholars that exposure to media violence impacts aggression, there is less agreement around its potential impact on violence and criminal behavior. While a few criminologists focus on the phenomenon of copycat crimes, most rarely engage with whether media directly causes violence. Instead, they explore broader considerations of the relationship between media, popular culture, and society.

media exposure
criminal behavior
popular culture
media violence
media and crime
copycat crimes

Media Exposure, Violence, and Aggression

On Friday July 22, 2016 , a gunman killed nine people at a mall in Munich, Germany. The 18-year-old shooter was subsequently characterized by the media as being under psychiatric care and harboring at least two obsessions. One, an obsession with mass shootings, including that of Anders Breivik who ultimately killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 , and the other an obsession with video games. A Los Angeles, California, news report stated that the gunman was “an avid player of first-person shooter video games, including ‘Counter-Strike,’” while another headline similarly declared, “Munich gunman, a fan of violent video games, rampage killers, had planned attack for a year”(CNN Wire, 2016 ; Reuters, 2016 ). This high-profile incident was hardly the first to link popular culture to violent crime. Notably, in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine shooting massacre, for example, media sources implicated and later discredited music, video games, and a gothic aesthetic as causal factors of the crime (Cullen, 2009 ; Yamato, 2016 ). Other, more recent, incidents have echoed similar claims suggesting that popular culture has a nefarious influence on consumers.

Media violence and its impact on audiences are among the most researched and examined topics in communications studies (Hetsroni, 2007 ). Yet, debate over whether media violence causes aggression and violence persists, particularly in response to high-profile criminal incidents. Blaming video games, and other forms of media and popular culture, as contributing to violence is not a new phenomenon. However, interpreting media effects can be difficult because commenters often seem to indicate a grand consensus that understates more contradictory and nuanced interpretations of the data.

In fact, there is a consensus among many media researchers that media violence has an impact on aggression although its impact on violence is less clear. For example, in response to the shooting in Munich, Brad Bushman, professor of communication and psychology, avoided pinning the incident solely on video games, but in the process supported the assertion that video gameplay is linked to aggression. He stated,

While there isn’t complete consensus in any scientific field, a study we conducted showed more than 90% of pediatricians and about two-thirds of media researchers surveyed agreed that violent video games increase aggression in children. (Bushman, 2016 )

Others, too, have reached similar conclusions with regard to other media. In 2008 , psychologist John Murray summarized decades of research stating, “Fifty years of research on the effect of TV violence on children leads to the inescapable conclusion that viewing media violence is related to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behaviors” (Murray, 2008 , p. 1212). Scholars Glenn Sparks and Cheri Sparks similarly declared that,

Despite the fact that controversy still exists about the impact of media violence, the research results reveal a dominant and consistent pattern in favor of the notion that exposure to violent media images does increase the risk of aggressive behavior. (Sparks & Sparks, 2002 , p. 273)

In 2014 , psychologist Wayne Warburton more broadly concluded that the vast majority of studies have found “that exposure to violent media increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in the short and longterm, increases hostile perceptions and attitudes, and desensitizes individuals to violent content” (Warburton, 2014 , p. 64).

Criminologists, too, are sensitive to the impact of media exposure. For example, Jacqueline Helfgott summarized the research:

There have been over 1000 studies on the effects of TV and film violence over the past 40 years. Research on the influence of TV violence on aggression has consistently shown that TV violence increases aggression and social anxiety, cultivates a “mean view” of the world, and negatively impacts real-world behavior. (Helfgott, 2015 , p. 50)

In his book, Media Coverage of Crime and Criminal Justice , criminologist Matthew Robinson stated, “Studies of the impact of media on violence are crystal clear in their findings and implications for society” (Robinson, 2011 , p. 135). He cited studies on childhood exposure to violent media leading to aggressive behavior as evidence. In his pioneering book Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice , criminologist Ray Surette concurred that media violence is linked to aggression, but offered a nuanced interpretation. He stated,

a small to modest but genuine causal role for media violence regarding viewer aggression has been established for most beyond a reasonable doubt . . . There is certainly a connection between violent media and social aggression, but its strength and configuration is simply not known at this time. (Surette, 2011 , p. 68)

The uncertainties about the strength of the relationship and the lack of evidence linking media violence to real-world violence is often lost in the news media accounts of high-profile violent crimes.

Media Exposure and Copycat Crimes

While many scholars do seem to agree that there is evidence that media violence—whether that of film, TV, or video games—increases aggression, they disagree about its impact on violent or criminal behavior (Ferguson, 2014 ; Gunter, 2008 ; Helfgott, 2015 ; Reiner, 2002 ; Savage, 2008 ). Nonetheless, it is violent incidents that most often prompt speculation that media causes violence. More specifically, violence that appears to mimic portrayals of violent media tends to ignite controversy. For example, the idea that films contribute to violent crime is not a new assertion. Films such as A Clockwork Orange , Menace II Society , Set it Off , and Child’s Play 3 , have been linked to crimes and at least eight murders have been linked to Oliver Stone’s 1994 film Natural Born Killers (Bracci, 2010 ; Brooks, 2002 ; PBS, n.d. ). Nonetheless, pinpointing a direct, causal relationship between media and violent crime remains elusive.

Criminologist Jacqueline Helfgott defined copycat crime as a “crime that is inspired by another crime” (Helfgott, 2015 , p. 51). The idea is that offenders model their behavior on media representations of violence whether real or fictional. One case, in particular, illustrated how popular culture, media, and criminal violence converge. On July 20, 2012 , James Holmes entered the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises , the third film in the massively successful Batman trilogy, in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. He shot and killed 12 people and wounded 70 others. At the time, the New York Times described the incident,

Witnesses told the police that Mr. Holmes said something to the effect of “I am the Joker,” according to a federal law enforcement official, and that his hair had been dyed or he was wearing a wig. Then, as people began to rise from their seats in confusion or anxiety, he began to shoot. The gunman paused at least once, several witnesses said, perhaps to reload, and continued firing. (Frosch & Johnson, 2012 ).

The dyed hair, Holme’s alleged comment, and that the incident occurred at a popular screening led many to speculate that the shooter was influenced by the earlier film in the trilogy and reignited debate around the impact about media violence. The Daily Mail pointed out that Holmes may have been motivated by a 25-year-old Batman comic in which a gunman opens fire in a movie theater—thus further suggesting the iconic villain served as motivation for the attack (Graham & Gallagher, 2012 ). Perceptions of the “Joker connection” fed into the notion that popular media has a direct causal influence on violent behavior even as press reports later indicated that Holmes had not, in fact, made reference to the Joker (Meyer, 2015 ).

A week after the Aurora shooting, the New York Daily News published an article detailing a “possible copycat” crime. A suspect was arrested in his Maryland home after making threatening phone calls to his workplace. The article reported that the suspect stated, “I am a [sic] joker” and “I’m going to load my guns and blow everybody up.” In their search, police found “a lethal arsenal of 25 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition” in the suspect’s home (McShane, 2012 ).

Though criminologists are generally skeptical that those who commit violent crimes are motivated solely by media violence, there does seem to be some evidence that media may be influential in shaping how some offenders commit crime. In his study of serious and violent juvenile offenders, criminologist Ray Surette found “about one out of three juveniles reports having considered a copycat crime and about one out of four reports actually having attempted one.” He concluded that “those juveniles who are self-reported copycats are significantly more likely to credit the media as both a general and personal influence.” Surette contended that though violent offenses garner the most media attention, copycat criminals are more likely to be career criminals and to commit property crimes rather than violent crimes (Surette, 2002 , pp. 56, 63; Surette 2011 ).

Discerning what crimes may be classified as copycat crimes is a challenge. Jacqueline Helfgott suggested they occur on a “continuum of influence.” On one end, she said, media plays a relatively minor role in being a “component of the modus operandi” of the offender, while on the other end, she said, “personality disordered media junkies” have difficulty distinguishing reality from violent fantasy. According to Helfgott, various factors such as individual characteristics, characteristics of media sources, relationship to media, demographic factors, and cultural factors are influential. Overall, scholars suggest that rather than pushing unsuspecting viewers to commit crimes, media more often influences how , rather than why, someone commits a crime (Helfgott, 2015 ; Marsh & Melville, 2014 ).

Given the public interest, there is relatively little research devoted to exactly what copycat crimes are and how they occur. Part of the problem of studying these types of crimes is the difficulty defining and measuring the concept. In an effort to clarify and empirically measure the phenomenon, Surette offered a scale that included seven indicators of copycat crimes. He used the following factors to identify copycat crimes: time order (media exposure must occur before the crime); time proximity (a five-year cut-off point of exposure); theme consistency (“a pattern of thought, feeling or behavior in the offender which closely parallels the media model”); scene specificity (mimicking a specific scene); repetitive viewing; self-editing (repeated viewing of single scene while “the balance of the film is ignored”); and offender statements and second-party statements indicating the influence of media. Findings demonstrated that cases are often prematurely, if not erroneously, labeled as “copycat.” Surette suggested that use of the scale offers a more precise way for researchers to objectively measure trends and frequency of copycat crimes (Surette, 2016 , p. 8).

Media Exposure and Violent Crimes

Overall, a causal link between media exposure and violent criminal behavior has yet to be validated, and most researchers steer clear of making such causal assumptions. Instead, many emphasize that media does not directly cause aggression and violence so much as operate as a risk factor among other variables (Bushman & Anderson, 2015 ; Warburton, 2014 ). In their review of media effects, Brad Bushman and psychologist Craig Anderson concluded,

In sum, extant research shows that media violence is a causal risk factor not only for mild forms of aggression but also for more serious forms of aggression, including violent criminal behavior. That does not mean that violent media exposure by itself will turn a normal child or adolescent who has few or no other risk factors into a violent criminal or a school shooter. Such extreme violence is rare, and tends to occur only when multiple risk factors converge in time, space, and within an individual. (Bushman & Anderson, 2015 , p. 1817)

Surette, however, argued that there is no clear linkage between media exposure and criminal behavior—violent or otherwise. In other words, a link between media violence and aggression does not necessarily mean that exposure to violent media causes violent (or nonviolent) criminal behavior. Though there are thousands of articles addressing media effects, many of these consist of reviews or commentary about prior research findings rather than original studies (Brown, 2007 ; Murray, 2008 ; Savage, 2008 ; Surette, 2011 ). Fewer, still, are studies that specifically measure media violence and criminal behavior (Gunter, 2008 ; Strasburger & Donnerstein, 2014 ). In their meta-analysis investigating the link between media violence and criminal aggression, scholars Joanne Savage and Christina Yancey did not find support for the assertion. Instead, they concluded,

The study of most consequence for violent crime policy actually found that exposure to media violence was significantly negatively related to violent crime rates at the aggregate level . . . It is plain to us that the relationship between exposure to violent media and serious violence has yet to be established. (Savage & Yancey, 2008 , p. 786)

Researchers continue to measure the impact of media violence among various forms of media and generally stop short of drawing a direct causal link in favor of more indirect effects. For example, one study examined the increase of gun violence in films over the years and concluded that violent scenes provide scripts for youth that justify gun violence that, in turn, may amplify aggression (Bushman, Jamieson, Weitz, & Romer, 2013 ). But others report contradictory findings. Patrick Markey and colleagues studied the relationship between rates of homicide and aggravated assault and gun violence in films from 1960–2012 and found that over the years, violent content in films increased while crime rates declined . After controlling for age shifts, poverty, education, incarceration rates, and economic inequality, the relationships remained statistically non-significant (Markey, French, & Markey, 2015 , p. 165). Psychologist Christopher Ferguson also failed to find a relationship between media violence in films and video games and violence (Ferguson, 2014 ).

Another study, by Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna, examined violent films from 1995–2004 and found decreases in violent crimes coincided with violent blockbuster movie attendance. Here, it was not the content that was alleged to impact crime rates, but instead what the authors called “voluntary incapacitation,” or the shifting of daily activities from that of potential criminal behavior to movie attendance. The authors concluded, “For each million people watching a strongly or mildly violent movie, respectively, violent crime decreases by 1.9% and 2.1%. Nonviolent movies have no statistically significant impact” (Dahl & DellaVigna, p. 39).

High-profile cases over the last several years have shifted public concern toward the perceived danger of video games, but research demonstrating a link between video games and criminal violence remains scant. The American Psychiatric Association declared that “research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression . . .” but stopped short of claiming that video games impact criminal violence. According to Breuer and colleagues, “While all of the available meta-analyses . . . found a relationship between aggression and the use of (violent) video games, the size and interpretation of this connection differ largely between these studies . . .” (APA, 2015 ; Breuer et al., 2015 ; DeCamp, 2015 ). Further, psychologists Patrick Markey, Charlotte Markey, and Juliana French conducted four time-series analyses investigating the relationship between video game habits and assault and homicide rates. The studies measured rates of violent crime, the annual and monthly video game sales, Internet searches for video game walkthroughs, and rates of violent crime occurring after the release dates of popular games. The results showed that there was no relationship between video game habits and rates of aggravated assault and homicide. Instead, there was some indication of decreases in crime (Markey, Markey, & French, 2015 ).

Another longitudinal study failed to find video games as a predictor of aggression, instead finding support for the “selection hypothesis”—that physically aggressive individuals (aged 14–17) were more likely to choose media content that contained violence than those slightly older, aged 18–21. Additionally, the researchers concluded,

that violent media do not have a substantial impact on aggressive personality or behavior, at least in the phases of late adolescence and early adulthood that we focused on. (Breuer, Vogelgesang, Quandt, & Festl, 2015 , p. 324)

Overall, the lack of a consistent finding demonstrating that media exposure causes violent crime may not be particularly surprising given that studies linking media exposure, aggression, and violence suffer from a host of general criticisms. By way of explanation, social theorist David Gauntlett maintained that researchers frequently employ problematic definitions of aggression and violence, questionable methodologies, rely too much on fictional violence, neglect the social meaning of violence, and assume the third-person effect—that is, assume that other, vulnerable people are impacted by media, but “we” are not (Ferguson & Dyck, 2012 ; Gauntlett, 2001 ).

Others, such as scholars Martin Barker and Julian Petley, flatly reject the notion that violent media exposure is a causal factor for aggression and/or violence. In their book Ill Effects , the authors stated instead that it is simply “stupid” to query about “what are the effects of [media] violence” without taking context into account (p. 2). They counter what they describe as moral campaigners who advance the idea that media violence causes violence. Instead, Barker and Petley argue that audiences interpret media violence in a variety of ways based on their histories, experiences, and knowledge, and as such, it makes little sense to claim media “cause” violence (Barker & Petley, 2001 ).

Given the seemingly inconclusive and contradictory findings regarding media effects research, to say that the debate can, at times, be contentious is an understatement. One article published in European Psychologist queried “Does Doing Media Violence Research Make One Aggressive?” and lamented that the debate had devolved into an ideological one (Elson & Ferguson, 2013 ). Another academic journal published a special issue devoted to video games and youth and included a transcript of exchanges between two scholars to demonstrate that a “peaceful debate” was, in fact, possible (Ferguson & Konijn, 2015 ).

Nonetheless, in this debate, the stakes are high and the policy consequences profound. After examining over 900 published articles, publication patterns, prominent authors and coauthors, and disciplinary interest in the topic, scholar James Anderson argued that prominent media effects scholars, whom he deems the “causationists,” had developed a cottage industry dependent on funding by agencies focused primarily on the negative effects of media on children. Anderson argued that such a focus presents media as a threat to family values and ultimately operates as a zero-sum game. As a result, attention and resources are diverted toward media and away from other priorities that are essential to understanding aggression such as social disadvantage, substance abuse, and parental conflict (Anderson, 2008 , p. 1276).

Theoretical Perspectives on Media Effects

Understanding how media may impact attitudes and behavior has been the focus of media and communications studies for decades. Numerous theoretical perspectives offer insight into how and to what extent the media impacts the audience. As scholar Jenny Kitzinger documented in 2004 , there are generally two ways to approach the study of media effects. One is to foreground the power of media. That is, to suggest that the media holds powerful sway over viewers. Another perspective is to foreground the power and heterogeneity of the audience and to recognize that it is comprised of active agents (Kitzinger, 2004 ).

The notion of an all-powerful media can be traced to the influence of scholars affiliated with the Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School, in the 1930–1940s and proponents of the mass society theory. The institute was originally founded in Germany but later moved to the United States. Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes outlined how mass society theory assumed that members of the public were susceptible to media messages. This, theorists argued, was a result of rapidly changing social conditions and industrialization that produced isolated, impressionable individuals “cut adrift from kinship and organic ties and lacking moral cohesion” (Jewkes, 2015 , p. 13). In this historical context, in the era of World War II, the impact of Nazi propaganda was particularly resonant. Here, the media was believed to exhibit a unidirectional flow, operating as a powerful force influencing the masses. The most useful metaphor for this perspective described the media as a “hypodermic syringe” that could “‘inject’ values, ideas and information directly into the passive receiver producing direct and unmediated ‘effects’” (Jewkes, 2015 , pp. 16, 34). Though the hypodermic syringe model seems simplistic today, the idea that the media is all-powerful continues to inform contemporary public discourse around media and violence.

Concern of the power of media captured the attention of researchers interested in its purported negative impact on children. In one of the earliest series of studies in the United States during the late 1920s–1930s, researchers attempted to quantitatively measure media effects with the Payne Fund Studies. For example, they investigated how film, a relatively new medium, impacted children’s attitudes and behaviors, including antisocial and violent behavior. At the time, the Payne Fund Studies’ findings fueled the notion that children were indeed negatively influenced by films. This prompted the film industry to adopt a self-imposed code regulating content (Sparks & Sparks, 2002 ; Surette, 2011 ). Not everyone agreed with the approach. In fact, the methodologies employed in the studies received much criticism, and ultimately, the movement was branded as a moral crusade to regulate film content. Scholars Garth Jowett, Ian Jarvie, and Kathryn Fuller wrote about the significance of the studies,

We have seen this same policy battle fought and refought over radio, television, rock and roll, music videos and video games. Their researchers looked to see if intuitive concerns could be given concrete, measurable expression in research. While they had partial success, as have all subsequent efforts, they also ran into intractable problems . . . Since that day, no way has yet been found to resolve the dilemma of cause and effect: do crime movies create more crime, or do the criminally inclined enjoy and perhaps imitate crime movies? (Jowett, Jarvie, & Fuller, 1996 , p. 12)

As the debate continued, more sophisticated theoretical perspectives emerged. Efforts to empirically measure the impact of media on aggression and violence continued, albeit with equivocal results. In the 1950s and 1960s, psychological behaviorism, or understanding psychological motivations through observable behavior, became a prominent lens through which to view the causal impact of media violence. This type of research was exemplified by Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll studies demonstrating that children exposed to aggressive behavior, either observed in real life or on film, behaved more aggressively than those in control groups who were not exposed to the behavior. The assumption derived was that children learn through exposure and imitate behavior (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963 ). Though influential, the Bandura experiments were nevertheless heavily criticized. Some argued the laboratory conditions under which children were exposed to media were not generalizable to real-life conditions. Others challenged the assumption that children absorb media content in an unsophisticated manner without being able to distinguish between fantasy and reality. In fact, later studies did find children to be more discerning consumers of media than popularly believed (Gauntlett, 2001 ).

Hugely influential in our understandings of human behavior, the concept of social learning has been at the core of more contemporary understandings of media effects. For example, scholar Christopher Ferguson noted that the General Aggression Model (GAM), rooted in social learning and cognitive theory, has for decades been a dominant model for understanding how media impacts aggression and violence. GAM is described as the idea that “aggression is learned by the activation and repetition of cognitive scripts coupled with the desensitization of emotional responses due to repeated exposure.” However, Ferguson noted that its usefulness has been debated and advocated for a paradigm shift (Ferguson, 2013 , pp. 65, 27; Krahé, 2014 ).

Though the methodologies of the Payne Fund Studies and Bandura studies were heavily criticized, concern over media effects continued to be tied to larger moral debates including the fear of moral decline and concern over the welfare of children. Most notably, in the 1950s, psychiatrist Frederic Wertham warned of the dangers of comic books, a hugely popular medium at the time, and their impact on juveniles. Based on anecdotes and his clinical experience with children, Wertham argued that images of graphic violence and sexual debauchery in comic books were linked to juvenile delinquency. Though he was far from the only critic of comic book content, his criticisms reached the masses and gained further notoriety with the publication of his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent . Wertham described the comic book content thusly,

The stories have a lot of crime and gunplay and, in addition, alluring advertisements of guns, some of them full-page and in bright colors, with four guns of various sizes and descriptions on a page . . . Here is the repetition of violence and sexiness which no Freud, Krafft-Ebing or Havelock Ellis ever dreamed could be offered to children, and in such profusion . . . I have come to the conclusion that this chronic stimulation, temptation and seduction by comic books, both their content and their alluring advertisements of knives and guns, are contributing factors to many children’s maladjustment. (Wertham, 1954 , p. 39)

Wertham’s work was instrumental in shaping public opinion and policies about the dangers of comic books. Concern about the impact of comics reached its apex in 1954 with the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Wertham testified before the committee, arguing that comics were a leading cause of juvenile delinquency. Ultimately, the protest of graphic content in comic books by various interest groups contributed to implementation of the publishers’ self-censorship code, the Comics Code Authority, which essentially designated select books that were deemed “safe” for children (Nyberg, 1998 ). The code remained in place for decades, though it was eventually relaxed and decades later phased out by the two most dominant publishers, DC and Marvel.

Wertham’s work, however influential in impacting the comic industry, was ultimately panned by academics. Although scholar Bart Beaty characterized Wertham’s position as more nuanced, if not progressive, than the mythology that followed him, Wertham was broadly dismissed as a moral reactionary (Beaty, 2005 ; Phillips & Strobl, 2013 ). The most damning criticism of Wertham’s work came decades later, from Carol Tilley’s examination of Wertham’s files. She concluded that in Seduction of the Innocent ,

Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain. (Tilley, 2012 , p. 386)

Tilley linked Wertham’s approach to that of the Frankfurt theorists who deemed popular culture a social threat and contended that Wertham was most interested in “cultural correction” rather than scientific inquiry (Tilley, 2012 , p. 404).

Over the decades, concern about the moral impact of media remained while theoretical and methodological approaches to media effects studies continued to evolve (Rich, Bickham, & Wartella, 2015 ). In what many consider a sophisticated development, theorists began to view the audience as more active and multifaceted than the mass society perspective allowed (Kitzinger, 2004 ). One perspective, based on a “uses and gratifications” model, assumes that rather than a passive audience being injected with values and information, a more active audience selects and “uses” media as a response to their needs and desires. Studies of uses and gratifications take into account how choice of media is influenced by one’s psychological and social circumstances. In this context, media provides a variety of functions for consumers who may engage with it for the purposes of gathering information, reducing boredom, seeking enjoyment, or facilitating communication (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973 ; Rubin, 2002 ). This approach differs from earlier views in that it privileges the perspective and agency of the audience.

Another approach, the cultivation theory, gained momentum among researchers in the 1970s and has been of particular interest to criminologists. It focuses on how television television viewing impacts viewers’ attitudes toward social reality. The theory was first introduced by communications scholar George Gerbner, who argued the importance of understanding messages that long-term viewers absorb. Rather than examine the effect of specific content within any given programming, cultivation theory,

looks at exposure to massive flows of messages over long periods of time. The cultivation process takes place in the interaction of the viewer with the message; neither the message nor the viewer are all-powerful. (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Singnorielli, & Shanahan, 2002 , p. 48)

In other words, he argued, television viewers are, over time, exposed to messages about the way the world works. As Gerbner and colleagues stated, “continued exposure to its messages is likely to reiterate, confirm, and nourish—that is, cultivate—its own values and perspectives” (p. 49).

One of the most well-known consequences of heavy media exposure is what Gerbner termed the “mean world” syndrome. He coined it based on studies that found that long-term exposure to media violence among heavy television viewers, “tends to cultivate the image of a relatively mean and dangerous world” (p. 52). Inherent in Gerbner’s view was that media representations are separate and distinct entities from “real life.” That is, it is the distorted representations of crime and violence that cultivate the notion that the world is a dangerous place. In this context, Gerbner found that heavy television viewers are more likely to be fearful of crime and to overestimate their chances of being a victim of violence (Gerbner, 1994 ).

Though there is evidence in support of cultivation theory, the strength of the relationship between media exposure and fear of crime is inconclusive. This is in part due to the recognition that audience members are not homogenous. Instead, researchers have found that there are many factors that impact the cultivating process. This includes, but is not limited to, “class, race, gender, place of residence, and actual experience of crime” (Reiner, 2002 ; Sparks, 1992 ). Or, as Ted Chiricos and colleagues remarked in their study of crime news and fear of crime, “The issue is not whether media accounts of crime increase fear, but which audiences, with which experiences and interests, construct which meanings from the messages received” (Chiricos, Eschholz, & Gertz, p. 354).

Other researchers found that exposure to media violence creates a desensitizing effect, that is, that as viewers consume more violent media, they become less empathetic as well as psychologically and emotionally numb when confronted with actual violence (Bartholow, Bushman, & Sestir, 2006 ; Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman, 2007 ; Cline, Croft, & Courrier, 1973 ; Fanti, Vanman, Henrich, & Avraamides, 2009 ; Krahé et al., 2011 ). Other scholars such as Henry Giroux, however, point out that our contemporary culture is awash in violence and “everyone is infected.” From this perspective, the focus is not on certain individuals whose exposure to violent media leads to a desensitization of real-life violence, but rather on the notion that violence so permeates society that it has become normalized in ways that are divorced from ethical and moral implications. Giroux wrote,

While it would be wrong to suggest that the violence that saturates popular culture directly causes violence in the larger society, it is arguable that such violence serves not only to produce an insensitivity to real life violence but also functions to normalize violence as both a source of pleasure and as a practice for addressing social issues. When young people and others begin to believe that a world of extreme violence, vengeance, lawlessness, and revenge is the only world they inhabit, the culture and practice of real-life violence is more difficult to scrutinize, resist, and transform . . . (Giroux, 2015 )

For Giroux, the danger is that the normalization of violence has become a threat to democracy itself. In our culture of mass consumption shaped by neoliberal logics, depoliticized narratives of violence have become desired forms of entertainment and are presented in ways that express tolerance for some forms of violence while delegitimizing other forms of violence. In their book, Disposable Futures , Brad Evans and Henry Giroux argued that as the spectacle of violence perpetuates fear of inevitable catastrophe, it reinforces expansion of police powers, increased militarization and other forms of social control, and ultimately renders marginalized members of the populace disposable (Evans & Giroux, 2015 , p. 81).

Criminology and the “Media/Crime Nexus”

Most criminologists and sociologists who focus on media and crime are generally either dismissive of the notion that media violence directly causes violence or conclude that findings are more complex than traditional media effects models allow, preferring to focus attention on the impact of media violence on society rather than individual behavior (Carrabine, 2008 ; Ferrell, Hayward, & Young, 2015 ; Jewkes, 2015 ; Kitzinger, 2004 ; Marsh & Melville, 2014 ; Rafter, 2006 ; Sternheimer, 2003 ; Sternheimer 2013 ; Surette, 2011 ). Sociologist Karen Sternheimer forcefully declared “media culture is not the root cause of American social problems, not the Big Bad Wolf, as our ongoing public discussion would suggest” (Sternheimer, 2003 , p. 3). Sternheimer rejected the idea that media causes violence and argued that a false connection has been forged between media, popular culture, and violence. Like others critical of a singular focus on media, Sternheimer posited that overemphasis on the perceived dangers of media violence serves as a red herring that directs attention away from the actual causes of violence rooted in factors such as poverty, family violence, abuse, and economic inequalities (Sternheimer, 2003 , 2013 ). Similarly, in her Media and Crime text, Yvonne Jewkes stated that U.K. scholars tend to reject findings of a causal link because the studies are too reductionist; criminal behavior cannot be reduced to a single causal factor such as media consumption. Echoing Gauntlett’s critiques of media effects research, Jewkes stated that simplistic causal assumptions ignore “the wider context of a lifetime of meaning-making” (Jewkes, 2015 , p. 17).

Although they most often reject a “violent media cause violence” relationship, criminologists do not dismiss the notion of media as influential. To the contrary, over the decades much criminological interest has focused on the construction of social problems, the ideological implications of media, and media’s potential impact on crime policies and social control. Eamonn Carrabine noted that the focus of concern is not whether media directly causes violence but on “how the media promote damaging stereotypes of social groups, especially the young, to uphold the status quo” (Carrabine, 2008 , p. 34). Theoretically, these foci have been traced to the influence of cultural and Marxist studies. For example, criminologists frequently focus on how social anxieties and class inequalities impact our understandings of the relationship between media violence and attitudes, values, and behaviors. Influential works in the 1970s, such as Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order by Stuart Hall et al. and Stanley Cohen’s Folk Devils and Moral Panics , shifted criminological critique toward understanding media as a hegemonic force that reinforces state power and social control (Brown, 2011 ; Carrabine, 2008 ; Cohen, 2005 ; Garland, 2008 ; Hall et al., 2013 /1973, 2013/1973 ). Since that time, moral panic has become a common framework applied to public discourse around a variety of social issues including road rage, child abuse, popular music, sex panics, and drug abuse among others.

Into the 21st century , advances in technology, including increased use of social media, shifted the ways that criminologists approach the study of media effects. Scholar Sheila Brown traced how research in criminology evolved from a focus on “media and crime” to what she calls the “media/crime nexus” that recognizes that “media experience is real experience” (Brown, 2011 , p. 413). In other words, many criminologists began to reject as fallacy what social media theorist Nathan Jurgenson deemed “digital dualism,” or the notion that we have an “online” existence that is separate and distinct from our “off-line” existence. Instead, we exist simultaneously both online and offline, an

augmented reality that exists at the intersection of materiality and information, physicality and digitality, bodies and technology, atoms and bits, the off and the online. It is wrong to say “IRL” [in real life] to mean offline: Facebook is real life. (Jurgenson, 2012 )

The changing media landscape has been of particular interest to cultural criminologists. Michelle Brown recognized the omnipresence of media as significant in terms of methodological preferences and urged a move away from a focus on causality and predictability toward a more fluid approach that embraces the complex, contemporary media-saturated social reality characterized by uncertainty and instability (Brown, 2007 ).

Cultural criminologists have indeed rejected direct, causal relationships in favor of the recognition that social meanings of aggression and violence are constantly in transition, flowing through the media landscape, where “bits of information reverberate and bend back on themselves, creating a fluid porosity of meaning that defines late-modern life, and the nature of crime and media within it.” In other words, there is no linear relationship between crime and its representation. Instead, crime is viewed as inseparable from the culture in which our everyday lives are constantly re-created in loops and spirals that “amplify, distort, and define the experience of crime and criminality itself” (Ferrell, Hayward, & Young, 2015 , pp. 154–155). As an example of this shift in understanding media effects, criminologist Majid Yar proposed that we consider how the transition from being primarily consumers to primarily producers of content may serve as a motivating mechanism for criminal behavior. Here, Yar is suggesting that the proliferation of user-generated content via media technologies such as social media (i.e., the desire “to be seen” and to manage self-presentation) has a criminogenic component worthy of criminological inquiry (Yar, 2012 ). Shifting attention toward the media/crime nexus and away from traditional media effects analyses opens possibilities for a deeper understanding of the ways that media remains an integral part of our everyday lives and inseparable from our understandings of and engagement with crime and violence.

Over the years, from films to comic books to television to video games to social media, concerns over media effects have shifted along with changing technologies. While there seems to be some consensus that exposure to violent media impacts aggression, there is little evidence showing its impact on violent or criminal behavior. Nonetheless, high-profile violent crimes continue to reignite public interest in media effects, particularly with regard to copycat crimes.

At times, academic debate around media effects remains contentious and one’s academic discipline informs the study and interpretation of media effects. Criminologists and sociologists are generally reluctant to attribute violence and criminal behavior directly to exposure to violence media. They are, however, not dismissive of the impact of media on attitudes, social policies, and social control as evidenced by the myriad of studies on moral panics and other research that addresses the relationship between media, social anxieties, gender, race, and class inequalities. Scholars who study media effects are also sensitive to the historical context of the debates and ways that moral concerns shape public policies. The self-regulating codes of the film industry and the comic book industry have led scholars to be wary of hyperbole and policy overreach in response to claims of media effects. Future research will continue to explore ways that changing technologies, including increasing use of social media, will impact our understandings and perceptions of crime as well as criminal behavior.

Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects

Early research on the effects of viewing violence on television—especially among children—found a desensitizing effect and the potential for aggression. Is the same true for those who play violent video games?

Video Games
Physical Abuse and Violence

Television and video violence

Virtually since the dawn of television, parents, teachers, legislators, and mental health professionals have wanted to understand the impact of television programs, particularly on children. Of special concern has been the portrayal of violence, particularly given psychologist Albert Bandura’s work in the 1970s on social learning and the tendency of children to imitate what they see.

As a result of 15 years of “consistently disturbing” findings about the violent content of children’s programs, the Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior was formed in 1969 to assess the impact of violence on the attitudes, values, and behavior of viewers. The resulting report and a follow-up report in 1982 by the National Institute of Mental Health identified these major effects of seeing violence on television:

Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.
Children may be more fearful of the world around them.
Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

Research by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron, and others starting in the 1980s found that children who watched many hours of violence on television when they were in elementary school tended to show higher levels of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers. By observing these participants into adulthood, Huesmann and Eron found that the ones who’d watched a lot of TV violence when they were 8 years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults.

Interestingly, being aggressive as a child did not predict watching more violent TV as a teenager, suggesting that TV watching could be a cause rather than a consequence of aggressive behavior. However, later research by psychologists Douglas Gentile and Brad Bushman, among others, suggested that exposure to media violence is just one of several factors that can contribute to aggressive behavior.

Other research has found that exposure to media violence can desensitize people to violence in the real world and that, for some people, watching violence in the media becomes enjoyable and does not result in the anxious arousal that would be expected from seeing such imagery.

Video game violence

The advent of video games raised new questions about the potential impact of media violence, since the video game player is an active participant rather than merely a viewer. 97% of adolescents age 12–17 play video games—on a computer, on consoles such as the Wii, Playstation, and Xbox, or on portable devices such as Gameboys, smartphones, and tablets. A Pew Research Center survey in 2008 found that half of all teens reported playing a video game “yesterday,” and those who played every day typically did so for an hour or more.

Many of the most popular video games, such as “Call of Duty” and “Grand Theft Auto,” are violent; however, as video game technology is relatively new, there are fewer empirical studies of video game violence than other forms of media violence. Still, several meta-analytic reviews have reported negative effects of exposure to violence in video games.

A 2010 review by psychologist Craig A. Anderson and others concluded that “the evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.” Anderson’s earlier research showed that playing violent video games can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior both in laboratory settings and in daily life. “One major conclusion from this and other research on violent entertainment media is that content matters,” says Anderson.

Other researchers, including psychologist Christopher J. Ferguson, have challenged the position that video game violence harms children. While his own 2009 meta-analytic review reported results similar to Anderson’s, Ferguson contends that laboratory results have not translated into real world, meaningful effects. He also claims that much of the research into video game violence has failed to control for other variables such as mental health and family life, which may have impacted the results. His work has found that children who are already at risk may be more likely to choose to play violent video games. According to Ferguson, these other risk factors, as opposed to the games, cause aggressive and violent behavior.

APA launched an analysis in 2013 of peer-reviewed research on the impact of media violence and is reviewing its policy statements in the area.

Anderson, C.A., Ihori, Nobuko, Bushman, B.J., Rothstein, H.R., Shibuya, A., Swing, E.L., Sakamoto, A., & Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A Meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin , Vol. 126, No. 2.

Anderson, C. A., Carnagey, N. L. & Eubanks, J. (2003). Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psycholog y, Vol. 84, No. 5.

Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 78, No. 4.

Ferguson, C.J. (2011). Video games and youth violence: A Prospective analysis in adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , Vol. 40, No. 4.

Gentile, D.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2012). Reassessing media violence effects using a risk and resilience approach to understanding aggression. Psychology of Popular Media Culture , Vol. 1, No. 3.

Huesmann, L. R., & Eron, L. D. (1986). Television and the aggressive child: A cross-national comparison. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Huesmann, L. R., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C. L., & Eron, L. D. (2003). Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977–1992. Developmental Psychology , Vol. 39, No. 2, 201–221.

Huston, A. C., Donnerstein, E., Fairchild, H., Feshbach, N. D., Katz, P. A., Murray, J. P., Rubinstein, E. A., Wilcox, B. & Zuckerman, D. (1992). Big world, small screen: The role of television in American society. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Krahe, B., Moller, I., Kirwil, L., Huesmann, L.R., Felber, J., & Berger, A. (2011). Desensitization to media violence: Links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 100, No. 4.

Murray, J. P. (1973). Television and violence: Implications of the Surgeon General’s research program. American Psychologist , Vol. 28, 472–478.

National Institute of Mental Health (1982). Television and behavior: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties, Vol. 1. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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The effects of violent media content on aggression

Affiliations.

1 Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2A, 1353 Copenhagen C, Denmark. Electronic address: [email protected].
2 Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, 112 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
PMID: 29279205
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.003

Decades of research have shown that violent media exposure is one risk factor for aggression. This review presents findings from recent cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal studies, demonstrating the triangulation of evidence within the field. Importantly, this review also illustrates how media violence research has started to move away from merely establishing the existence of media effects and instead has begun to investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects and their limitations. Such studies range from investigations into cross-cultural differences to neurophysiological effects, and the interplay between media, individual, and contextual factors. Although violent media effects have been well-established for some time, they are not monolithic, and recent findings continue to shed light on the nuances and complexities of such effects.

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PMC10177625

Violent Media in Childhood and Seriously Violent Behavior in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Michele l. ybarra.

Center for Innovative Public Health Research, San Clemente, California

Kimberly J. Mitchell

Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Jay Koby Oppenheim

Independent Consultant, New York, New York

Associated Data

To quantify the relative odds of self-reported seriously violent behavior in adolescence and young adulthood given one’s self-reported violent media diet in childhood.

Baseline data were collected nationally online from 1,586 youth 10–15 years of age in 2006. Follow-up data were collected in 2010–2011 and 2016. Children reported the amount of music, video games, television, websites with real people, and cartoons that depicted “physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing.” Seriously violent behavior was assessed 5 and 10 years later.

887 adolescents completed the survey at baseline and 5-year follow-up. The relative odds of reporting seriously violent behavior over time were 2.45-fold higher ( P <.001) with each incremental increase in one’s baseline violent media diet. After adjusting for other potentially influential characteristics, results persisted (aOR = 1.70, P =.01). The relative odds also were elevated for those frequently exposed to violence in music (aOR = 3.28, p=0.03), television (aOR = 3.51, p<0.001), and video games (aOR = 3.27, p=0.02). 760 young adults completed measures at baseline and 10-year follow-up. The relative odds of seriously violent behavior increased 2.18-fold ( P =.001) with each incremental increase in one’s baseline violent media diet. After adjusting for other factors, the association persisted (aOR = 1.72, P=.03). Frequent exposure to violence in video games (aOR = 3.28, p=0.03) and television (aOR = 3.14, p=0.02) also were implicated.

Discussion:

Exposure to violent media in childhood may be one modifiable influence on seriously violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood, even for those who have other risk factors.

Youth violence is a significant public health issue that negatively affects individuals, families, and communities. 1 , 2 Estimated costs associated with youth violence in the United States is more than $20 billion anually. 3 Although juvenile arrests in 2019 were down 58% since 2010, 4 youth nonetheless account for a sizable proportion of perpetrators: 9% of all violent crimes were committed by juveniles, and 21% by 18–24-year-olds. 5

No single risk factor causes violent behavior. Instead, an accumulation of exposures increases one’s risk at each level of the social ecology (e.g., exposure to spousal abuse). 2 , 6 – 9 Because it could easily be modified, exposure to violent media has been researched for decades as a potential contributor to aggressive behavior. Cross-sectional and laboratory research frequently document linkages. 10 – 12 Studies that measure violent behaviors report similar effect sizes to those that measure aggression. 10 Although fewer in number, longitudinal studies also report linkages: Huesmann and Eron found that adult criminal and violent behavior was associated with exposure to television violence 15 years prior. 13 Findings were replicated in a Finnish sample. 14 Further, Anderson and colleagues found that frequent violent video game play predicted physical aggression three to six months later for children and adolescents in three separate cohorts, two from Japan and one from the United States. 15 Some exceptions are noted. 16 Coyne and colleagues looked at longer term associations between externalizing behavior and violent video game play and did not find a linkage over the 5-year observation period. 17 This may be because the measure reflecting externalizing behavior included items that did meet the definition of aggression.

Youth media use is nearly ubiquitous 18 : Music is by far the most widely used medium in adolescence: 82% listen to music daily. 19 Most - 83% of adolescent girls and 97% of boys 13–17 years of age – also play video games; 95% own or have access to a smartphone, and 85% say they go online and exchange content. 20 Cross-sectional research by Ybarra and colleagues suggests that one’s general media violence diet may explain the increased odds of engaging in seriously violent behavior. 21 As such, it is important not just to examine the association that specific media may have but also the association that one’s violent media ‘diet’ across media may have with violent behavior over time.

The current study aims to fill noted research gaps. First, while extant research examines exposure to violence on television and in video games, exposures through other media, such as music, are less well studied yet constitute a large part of youth media diets. Second, much of the literature focuses on aggressive rather than violent behavior. Aggression is any behavior enacted by someone who intends to harm the other person when the other person does not want to be harmed. 22 , 23 Violence is a more severe type of aggression that carries with it the possibility of serious physical harm to the other individual. All violent behaviors are aggressive, whereas not all aggressive behaviors are violent. Third, few studies examine these linkages longitudinally, particularly between 5 and 10 years postexposure. Based on previous literature, we posit that violent media will predict violent behavior over time and that this will be particularly true for a general media diet as it reflects an accumulation of exposures.

Growing up with Media is a longitudinal study designed to study the association between violent media exposure in childhood and adolescence - particularly exposures to new media, including the Internet and seriously violent behavior. The survey protocol was reviewed and approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Waves 1–3 and by Chesapeake IRB for Waves 4–7 (subsequently acquired by Advarra IRB). Parents provided informed consent for their participation and permission for their child’s participation, and youth provided informed assent by reading the assent information and then clicking either “Yes, I want to take the survey” or “No, I do not want to take the survey.”

In 2006, 1,586 child-caregiver pairs were recruited through an email sent to randomly identified adult Harris Poll OnLine (HPOL) panel members who reported having a child living in their household. HPOL was the largest online panel at the time of recruitment, including four million members. Members were recruited through online advertising, advertising at conferences and events, and referrals.

Eligible adult caregivers reported having a child 10–15 years of age living in the household, speaking English, and being equally or more knowledgeable than other adults living in the household about their youth’s daily activities. Eligible youth participants were 10–15-year-olds who read English, lived in the household at least 50% of the time, and had used the Internet at least once in the last six months. Recruitment was balanced on youth age and sex; once a demographic ‘bin’ was filled (e.g., for 10–12-year-old girls), subsequent youth who met those criteria were marked ineligible.

Seriously violent behavior.

Seriously violent behavior, as defined by the US Department of Justice, 24 includes murder, aggravated assault, robbery, and sexual violence. Youth were coded as having engaged in past-year seriously violent behavior if they endorsed any of the following five behaviors: (1) behaviors that would likely result in murder (i.e., stabbing or shooting someone); (2) aggravated assault (i.e., threatening someone with a weapon; attacking someone resulting in the need for medical care); (3) robbery (i.e., using a knife or gun or some other kind of weapon like a bat to get something from someone else); and (4) sexual assault (kissing, touching, or doing anything sexual with another person when it was not wanted by that person). This last item was written to be developmentally appropriate for 10–15-year-olds. Because it may include behaviors that extend beyond rape, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the results when this measure of sexual assault was excluded.

Exposure to violent media.

Youth reported the amount of violence they were exposed to across five different types of media: Television, computer and video games, music, websites of real people, and websites of cartoons. A similar question format was used for each medium: “When you [engage with media type], how many of them [show/talk about] physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing?” 25 Response options were captured on a four-point Likert scale [1 (almost none/none of them) – 4 (almost all / all of them)].

To reflect a general violent media diet, a factor score that included all five media, was estimated using maximum likelihood [Eigenvalue = 1.69, factor loadings ranged from .47 - .69, α = 0.70, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin ranges from 0.71 – 0.78].

For specific mediums, a categorical measure was created based upon data distributions to reflect those who reported that: (1) none/almost none, (2) some, or (3) many or almost all/all of each of the medium they consumed depicted violence. Because of low cell stability, for all longitudinal analyses, baseline exposure to violence on television was dichotomized to compare none/almost none or some versus many or almost all/all; baseline exposures to real people engaging in violence online was dichotomized to none/almost none versus some, many, almost all/all. Wave 7 longitudinal analyses included a measure of baseline exposures to cartoons engaging in violence online dichotomized to none/almost none versus some, many, almost all/all.

Background variables.

Youth age and sex were reported by caregivers; race and ethnicity were reported by youth. At the individual level, because trait anger can be increased by media violence 26 , we include youths’ self-reported baseline propensity to respond with anger, measured by the 10-item State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-CA) T-Anger scale (α = 0.86). 27 At the peer level, baseline exposure to externalizing peers was measured by asking youth the number of close friends they had who “have been arrested or done things that could get them in trouble with the police.” 28 At the family level, youth were asked if: “Ever, in real life, have you seen one of your parents get hit, slapped, punched, or beat up by your other parent, or their boyfriend or girlfriend?” 29

Randomly identified adults were emailed a link to a brief online survey that assessed their eligibility. Ineligible adults were thanked for their participation; eligible adults were invited to complete a longer 5-minute survey after obtaining informed consent. They then forwarded their survey link to their child, who provided assent and completed the, on average, 21-minute survey. Youth were encouraged to return to the survey later if they were not in a space where their responses could be kept private from others, including their caregiver.

Data were collected online in 2006 (Wave 1), 2007–2008 (Wave 2), 2008 (Wave 3), 2010–2011 (Wave 4), 2011–2012 (Wave 5), 2012–2013 (Wave 6), and 2016 (Wave 7). In this paper, we examine data from baseline (Wave 1) and five years later (Wave 4, n=887); and baseline and 10 years later (Wave 7, n=779). Incentives were $10 in Wave 1 and increased to $40 in Wave 7. The Wave 1 survey response rate (31%) is consistent with well-conducted surveys using online panels at the time of baseline recruitment. The response rate at Wave 4 was 56% (i.e., 887/1586), and at Wave 7, 49% (i.e., 779/1586).

As the recruitment target, data were weighted statistically to reflect the population of adults with children ages 10 to 15 years old in the United States according to adult age, sex, race/ethnicity, region, education, household income, and child age and sex. Using data collected from random digit dial samples, propensity score weighting also was applied to adjust for adult respondents’ propensity to be online. The weight also adjusted for nonresponse across waves.

Plan of analysis

Rates of within-wave missingness were very low: Race (1.2%) had the highest rate of declination to answer. For all dichotomous variables, “decline to answer” was recoded as “symptom absent” (e.g., not having been in a physical fight). Those who declined to answer the question about race were coded as White, the majority race. For continuous variables, “decline to answer” was recoded to the cohort mean. As a sensitivity analysis, models also were estimated with missing data imputed. Youth who did not respond to Wave 4 or Wave 7, respectively, were excluded from that specific longitudinal analysis.

Analyses were conducted using Stata 15. 30 First, co-relations of violent exposure across media were explored using a correlation matrix and Cronbach’s alpha, which reflects the inter-relatedness of the items. We also examined the percent of youth who reported varying patterns of exposure across media types. Next, to understand the long-term association between media violence and later violent behavior, we first estimated direct, unadjusted logistic regression odds (Model 1). We then estimated logistic regression odds that adjusted for baseline levels of seriously violent behavior, one’s propensity to respond to stimuli with anger, exposure to externalizing peers, exposure to caregiver spousal abuse, sex, age, race, ethnicity, and self-reported dishonesty in answering survey questions (Model 2). For each time point, six unadjusted and adjusted models were estimated: One for violent media diet and five for each of the specific types of violent media of interest.

On average, youth were 12.6 years of age (SE: 0.05) at baseline, 16.7 years of age (SE: 0.07) at 5-year and 22.1 years of age (SE: 0.07) at 10-year follow-up. As shown in Table 1 , those who completed Waves 4 and 7, respectively, versus those who did not, respectively, generally had similar baseline demographic characteristics; exposure to externalizing peers was of exception.

Responses at Wave 1 (baseline) for completers and noncompleters of Wave 4 (5 years) and Wave 7 (10 years), respectively; weighted data

Youth characteristics at baseline	Baseline All youth n=1586	Cohort 5 years later			Cohort 10 years later
Youth characteristics at baseline	Baseline All youth n=1586	Non-Completer n=699	completer n=887	p-value	Non-Completer n=807	completer n=779	p-value

		M(SE)	M(SE)		M(SE)	M(SE)
Violent media diet (a factor score; M:SE)	0.02 (0.03)	.06 (.05)	−0.02 (0.04)	0.17	0.05 (0.04)	−0.02 (0.04)	0.26
Amount of violence in TV shows consumed		% (n)	% (n)	0.03	% (n)	% (n)	0.36
None / almost none or some	69.9% (1079)	66.1% (446)	72.8% (634)		68.5% (545)	71.4% (534)
Many / almost all / all	30.1% (465)	33.9% (229)	27.2% (237)		31.5% (251)	28.6% (214)
Amount of violence in music listened to				0.21			0.42
None/almost none	43.1% (665)	43.4% (293)	42.8% (372)		41.1% (327)	45.2% (338)
Some	43.0% (664)	40.6% (274)	44.9% (391)		44.0% (350)	42.0% (314)
Many / almost all / all	14.0% (215)	16.1% (108)	12.3% (107)		15.0% (119)	12.9% (96)
Amount of violence in games played				0.38			0.10
None / almost none	35.2% (543)	33.0% (222)	36.9% (321)		31.8% (253)	38.7% (290)
Some	39.8% (615)	42.2% (285)	37.9% (330)		42.1% (335)	37.4% (280)
Many / almost all / all	25.0% (387)	24.8% (167)	25.2% (219)		26.1% (208)	23.9% (179)
Amount of violence seen in websites that show real people				0.53			0.79
None/almost none	85.3% (1317)	84.4% (569)	86.0% (748)		85.0% (677)	85.6% (641)
Some / many / almost all / all	14.7% (227)	15.6% (105)	14.0% (122)		15.0% (120)	14.4% (108)
Amount of violence seen in websites that show cartoons				0.68			0.56
None / almost none	57.7% (891)	57.6% (388)	57.8% (503)		56.8% (452)	58.7% (439)
Some	32.8% (507)	32.0% (216)	33.5% (291)
Many / almost all / all	9.5% (146)	10.4% (70)	8.7% (76)		43.3% (344)	41.3% (309)
Any seriously violent behavior	4.8% (74)	4.7% (31)	4.9% (43)	0.84	5.5% (44)	4.1% (31)	0.32
Propensity to respond to stimuli with anger (M:SE)	18.8 (0.2)	18.8 (0.2)	18.7 (0.2)	0.81	18.8 (0.2)	18.7 (0.2)	0.93
Exposure to caregiver spousal abuse	9.0% (140)	10.8% (73)	7.7% (67)	0.12	10.9% (86)	7.1% (53)	0.06
Externalizing peers	16.6% (257)	19.6% (132)	14.3% (125)	0.03	20.6% (164)	12.5% (93)	0.00
Age (M:SE)	12.6 (0.05)	12.7 (0.1)	12.5 (0.1)	0.18	12.6 (0.07)	12.6 (0.08)	0.60
Female	48.0% (741)	49.0% (330)	47.2% (411)	0.61	46.8 % (373)	49.2 % (368)	0.48
Race				0.51			0.92
White	71.2% (1099)	71.6% (483)	70.9% (617)		71.6% (570)	70.8% (530)
Black	12.5% (193)	10.8% (73)	13.9% (121)		11.8% (94)	13.2% (99)
Mixed	8.1% (125)	8.7% (59)	7.7% (67)		8.5% (68)	7.7% (58)
All other	8.2% (127)	9.0% (60)	7.6% (66)		8.1% (64)	8.3% (62)
Hispanic ethnicity	17.5% (271)	17.6% (119)	17.5% (152)	0.95	16.7% (133)	18.4% (138)	0.55
Dishonesty in answering the questions	5.1% (78)	5.6% (38)	4.7% (40)	0.54	5.3% (43)	4.8% (36)	0.70

Co-relation of violence exposure across media

The five indicators of exposure to violence in specific media were interrelated: Cronbach’s alpha, Wave 1 = 0.70 (unweighted data given the computation ability of Stata). As shown in Supplemental Table 1 , all media were significantly interrelated. The strongest correlations were noted for violence exposure in television and video games (0.46), and television and music (0.44). Although still significantly interrelated, violence exposure in video games and websites with real people was the least correlated (0.22).

As shown in Figure 1 , more than half (56%) of youth said that none of the media they consumed was mostly violent (i.e., many, almost all, or all of it depicted physical violence).

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The percent of youth who reported a specific amount of exposure to physical fighting, shooting, or killing across media types for 10–15-year-olds in the United States (n = 1,586). Different colored bars denote the number of media to which a youth were exposed to a certain level of violence. Five media were aggregated: television, video games, music, websites with real people, and websites with cartoon figures.

Relative odds of seriously violent behavior five years after exposure to youth’s general violent media diet

A factor score was estimated to reflect one’s “violent media diet,” that is, the intensity within and across youth exposures to violent content in five mediums. As shown in Table 2 and Supplemental Figure 1 , the relative odds of reporting seriously violent behavior five years later were 2.45-fold higher ( p <0.001) with each incremental increase in one’s baseline violent media diet. After adjusting for other potentially influential characteristics, the relative odds of seriously violent behavior five years later rose 1.70-fold ( p =0.01) with each incremental increase in one’s violent media diet at baseline.

The relative odds of seriously violent behavior 5 years after exposure to violence by media type and overall media diet, weighted data (n=887)

Exposure to media violence at baseline	Seriously violent behavior 5 years later
	Did not report seriously violent behavior	Reported seriously violent behavior	Unadjusted logistic regression model		Adjusted logistic regression model
	% (n)	% (n)	OR (95% CI)	p-value	aOR (95% CI)	p-value

Violent media diet (M:SE)	−0.07 (0.03)	0.60 (0.15)
Amount of violence in TV shows consumed at baseline
None / almost none or some	75.5% (606)	40.5% (27)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Many / almost all / all	24.5% (197)	59.1% (39)
Amount of violence in music listened to at baseline
None / almost none	44.9% (361)	16.9% (11)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some	43.8% (352)	58.0% (39)
Many / almost all / all	11.3% (90)	25.1% (17)
Amount of violence in video games played at baseline
None / almost none	39.0% (314)	10.9% (7)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some	37.4% (300)	44.6% (30)
Many / almost all / all	23.6% (190)	44.5% (30)
Amount of violence seen in websites that show real people at baseline
None/almost none	40.5% (27)	73.7% (49)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some / many / almost all / all	13.0% (105)	26.3% (18)			1.19 (0.53, 2.67)	0.68
Amount of violence seen in websites that show cartoons at baseline
None / almost none	59.3% (476)	27.0% (40)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some	32.8% (264)	41.4% (28)			1.30 (0.56, 3.03)	0.54
Many / almost all / all	7.9% (64)	18.1% (12)			1.46 (0.53, 4.05)	0.46

OR: Odds ratio; aOR: Adjusted odds ratio. Models are adjusted for youth age, sex, race, ethnicity; and baseline seriously violent behavior and exposure to caregiver spousal abuse, propensity to respond to stimuli with anger, externalizing peers, and self-reported honesty in answering survey questions. Bolded text denotes p<0.05; italicized text denotes p<0.20.

Specific types of media also were implicated: Frequent childhood exposure to violence in television (OR = 4.44, p<0.001), music (OR = 5.91, p<0.001), video games (OR=6.73, p<0.001), websites with real people (OR = 2.39, p=0.03) and websites with cartoons (OR = 3.35, p=0.03) each was associated with significantly elevated odds of seriously violent behavior in adolescence. Findings persisted for music (aOR = 3.28, p=0.03), television (aOR = 3.51, p<0.001) and video games (aOR = 3.27, p=0.02) even after adjusting for other childhood influences on violent behavior. Importantly, too, “some” exposure in childhood was associated with seriously violent behavior in adolescence for both music (aOR = 2.34, p=0.05) and video games (aOR = 2.72, p=0.02).

Longitudinal associations a decade later

As shown in Table 3 and Supplemental Figure 1 , the relative odds of seriously violent behavior 10 years after one’s exposure in childhood increased 2.18-fold ( p =0.001) with each incremental increase in one’s violent media diet. After adjusting for other factors, the association persisted (aOR = 1.72, p=0.03). As with adolescence, frequent childhood exposure to violence in music (OR = 4.48, p=0.008), television (OR = 4.26, p=0.001) and video games (OR = 5.38, p=0.001) each were associated with seriously violent behavior in adulthood. This longitudinal association persisted for video games (aOR = 3.28, p=0.03) and television (OR = 3.14, p=0.02) even after taking into account other potentially influential factors; violence depicted in music also was implicated (aOR = 2.85, p=0.13).

The relative odds of seriously violent behavior 10 years after exposure to violence by media type, weighted data (n=760)

Exposure to media violence at baseline	Seriously violent behavior 10 years later
	Did not report seriously violent behavior	Reported seriously violent behavior	Unadjusted logistic regression model		Adjusted logistic regression model
	% (n)	% (n)	OR (95% CI)	p-value	aOR (95% CI)	p-value

Violent media diet (M: SE)	−0.06 (0.04)	0.63 (0.28)
Amount of violence in TV shows consumed at baseline
None / almost none or some	73.5% (516)	39.4% (18)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Many / almost all / all	26.5% (186)	60.6% (28)
Amount of violence in music listened to at baseline
None / almost none	46.4% (326)	26.2% (12)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some	41.9% (294)	44.1% (20)	1.87 (0.68, 5.10)	0.22	1.72 (0.63, 4.68)	0.29
Many / almost all / all	11.8% (83)	29.8% (14)
Amount of violence in video games played at baseline
None / almost none	40.3% (283)	14.2% (6)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some	37.0% (260)	43.0% (20)
Many / almost all / all	22.7% (159)	42.8% (20)
Amount of violence seen in websites that show real people at baseline
None/almost none	86.4% (607)	73.9% (34)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some / many / almost all / all	13.6% (96)	26.1% (12)			1.43 (0.43, 4.79)	0.56
Amount of violence seen in websites that show cartoons at baseline
None / almost none	58.4% (410)	63.8% (29)	1.0 (RG)		1.0 (RG)
Some / many / almost all / all	41.6% (292)	36.2% (17)	0.80 (0.33, 1.91)	0.61

RG: Reference group; OR: Odds ratio; aOR: Adjusted odds ratio. Models are adjusted for youth age, sex, race, ethnicity, baseline seriously violent behavior, concurrent propensity to respond to stimuli with anger and self-reported honesty in answering survey questions. Bolded text denotes p<0.05; italicized text denotes p<0.20.

Contrary to other trends observed, exposure to violent websites that depicted cartoons at baseline was associated with lower odds of seriously violent behavior a decade later (aOR = 0.48, p=0.09). Given that this is in the opposite direction of other violent media exposures examined, it seems likely that this may be a statistical anomaly.

Findings were replicated when seriously violent behavior was defined without the measure of sexual assault ( Supplemental Table 2 ), and when missing data were imputed ( Supplemental Table 3 ).

In this national, longitudinal study of children initially 10–15 years of age, findings suggest that exposure to violence in specific mediums and a general diet of violent media across media in childhood are associated with seriously violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood. Measured both in intensity and diversity of exposure, as one’s violent media diet increases incrementally, so too do the odds of seriously violent behavior by 70%, over time. The increased odds are evident even after taking into account other factors that could explain violent behavior later in life, such as one’s violent behaviors in childhood, exposure to caregiver spousal abuse, one’s propensity to respond with anger, and association with peers who engage in activities that could get them in trouble with the police. Pediatricians should work with parents to identify a media consumption plan for their children that is realistic and associated with the least amount of violence as possible across the online, television, game, and music content they consume. Efforts to co-view content and talk with youth about what they are being exposed to in the media they are consuming also are likely useful. 31

Youth do not experience media in a vacuum: Exposure to violence in one medium correlates highly with exposure in another medium. This saturation of messaging may be reinforcing the idea that violence is an appropriate and common tool to address situational anger across environments and stimuli. Understanding how individual types of media are affecting youth behavior is important. Current findings suggest that it may be equally important to understand how influences across media together are affecting behavior. Findings further suggest that early, intense exposure to violence in specific media, namely music, video games, and television, may be related to seriously violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood. There appears to be a stepwise association such that those who report “some” exposure in childhood are differentially at risk than those with more intense (i.e., many, almost all/all) exposures. This suggests that if parents are unable to eliminate their children’s violent media exposure entirely, pediatricians could encourage them to reduce their exposure as much as possible, and that this may still have a positive impact.

Much of the research on exposure to violent media has focused on visual media, such as television, movies, and video games; 17 , 32 , 33 or aggregated exposure across types. 34 Less is known about aural influences, like violent music, although studies exist: In one longitudinal study of adolescents, listening to aggression in music was associated with increased aggression one year later. 35 The current study builds upon this nascent research by noting associations at 5- and 10-years post-exposure, and suggests that more research attention could be focused on the content of the music to which adolescents are listening. Given the ease of digital download of music combined with the widespread ownership of smart phones among today’s adolescents, this exposure may be more hidden and require additional effort by adults to co-experience and manage their children’s consumption.

Limitations

Self-report is a less rigorous measure than objective measures of exposure to violent media. Given the length of the survey and the multitude of questions and topics queried however, it seems unlikely that youth were able to determine the study hypotheses, thereby introducing demand characteristics. Additionally, youth report the intensity of exposure to, and not the amount of time spent with, violent media. For example, some youth who primarily play violent video games may do so for 2 hours a week, whereas others may do so for 40 hours a week. This may result in an underestimate of the association between exposure and behavior. 36

Although community-based research facilitates a wider view into youth behavior than other sources, such as juvenile justice data, self-report is vulnerable to misreporting, particularly of behaviors deemed undesirable. Efforts were made to increase the validity of self-report (e.g., surveying youth online vs in person or over the telephone, reminding them their answers were private, adjusting for self-reported dishonesty in answering survey questions). The inclusion of a social desirability scale might have facilitated a more direct examination of the prevalence and impact of misreporting in the data. That said, one in twenty youth (5%) reported at least one of the seriously violent behaviors queried at baseline. This is generally consistent with base rates observed in other large self-reported surveys, 37 suggesting that under-reporting may not have been an issue in the present study.

Additionally, the multivariate models may be over-adjusting for confounders and report artificially attenuated effect sizes. 38 For example, trait anger can be increased by media violence exposure, 26 and is therefore likely interrelated with media violence exposure. Including trait anger in the multi-variate model, therefore, partially controls for prior effects that this exposure has had on behavior. Also, controlling for prior violent behavior also essentially adjusts for prior predictors of violent behavior. Moreover, youth who consume high levels of media violence may be more likely to spend time with externalizing peers. If true, then the current models may underestimate the association between media violence and violent behavior given that youth who were associating with such peers at baseline were less likely to participate in subsequent waves.

Moreover, although the data are national, they may not be representative. Survey weights were applied to adjust for this possibility. The national reach nonetheless affords a broader view of youth experiences than might not have been observed in a local setting. Moreover, given the study’s focus on mechanism, internal validity is more important than external validity. Finally, rates of attrition are suboptimal, although differential attrition generally was not apparent.

Implications

Since 2006, when baseline data were collected, technology has changed dramatically. A growing body of literature suggests that newer, peer-to-peer, and immersive technologies may positively affect health behavior change. 39 , 40 It stands to reason that a similar learning effect could be observed if content encouraged unhealthy behaviors, including violence. The current study supports this hypothesis with older technology. Future research should both replicate the current study and examine whether newer technologies are associated with an enhanced learning effect.

During childhood, exposure to violence across a variety of media, operationalized as one’s violent media “diet,” appears to be related to engaging in seriously violent behavior in adolescence and adulthood, even beyond one’s propensity to respond to situations with anger, having peers who are engaging in behaviors that could get them in trouble with the police, being exposed to caregiver spousal abuse, and engaging in violent behaviors as a child. Specific exposures to video games and television also appear to be associated with violent behavior over time; similar linkages are suggested for music. While findings should be replicated in other community-based samples, it seems reasonable to suggest that pediatricians might work with parents to identify a media consumption plan that minimizes children’s exposure to violence across media types and is realistic within the family milieu.

Implications and Contribution

In this national, longitudinal study, exposure to violent media at 10–15 years-old was associated with increased odds of seriously violent behavior 5 and 10 years later, adjusting for aggression, externalizing peers, and caregiver spousal abuse. This was true for a general ‘violent media diet;’ and video games, television and music.

Supplementary Material

Acknowledgements:.

We would like to thank the entire Growing up with Media study team from the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, Princeton Survey Research Associates International, Harris Interactive, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who contributed to different parts of the planning and implementation of the study. Finally, we thank the families and youth for their time and willingness to participate in this study.

Funding/support

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HD083072, and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Award Numbers U49 CE000206; R01 CE001543. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Neither funder was involved in data analysis or manuscript preparation.

Conflict of interest disclosure:

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Contributor Information

Michele L. Ybarra, Center for Innovative Public Health Research, San Clemente, California.

Kimberly J. Mitchell, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire.

Jay Koby Oppenheim, Independent Consultant, New York, New York.

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55 Media Violence Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on media violence, 🎓 most interesting media violence research titles, 💡 simple media violence essay ideas.

Media Violence and Children
Does Media Violence Cause Violent Behavior?
The Representation of the Violence in the Media
Violence in Media and Its Impact on Children
The Issue of Violence in Media and Movies
“Ordinary” Sexual Violence in Media and Society
Aggression and Violence in the Media
Mass Media Depictions of Violence and US Citizenship
Media Violence Effects on Brain Development
Understanding Causality in the Effects of Media Violence
The Effects of Media Violence Exposure on Criminal Aggression
Television Commercial Violence: Potential Effects on Children
The Media Violence Debate and the Risks It Holds for Social Science
The Disempowering Effects of Media Violence Against Women
Examining Facilitative Effects of Media Violence on Helping
The Just Do It Riots: A Critical Interpretation of the Media’s Violence
The Impact of Mass Media Violence on Suicide and Homicide
Priming Effects of Media Violence on the Accessibility of Aggressive Constructs in Memory
Graphic Violence on Social Media and Its Impact on Young Adults
The Influence of Media Violence on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration
The Effects of Media Violence Exposure and Dark Personality Traits
A Sociological Perspective on Television Violence and Aggression
The Effects of Media Violence on Anxiety in Emerging Adults
Long-Term Effects of Repeated Exposure to Media Violence in Childhood
Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others
Aggression and Popular Media: From Violence in Entertainment Media to News Coverage of Violence
The Impact of Mass Media Violence on Homicides in the US
Media Violence and Judgments of Offensiveness: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
Examining Media Violence Effects on Cooperative Behavior
Reassessing Media Violence Effects Using a Risk and Resilience Approach to Understanding Aggression
The Relationship Between Exposure to Media Violence and School Bullying
Examining the Immediate Effects of Media Violence on Behavior
Direct and Indirect Relationship Between Media Violence Exposure and Cyberbullying Perpetration
The Mediating Role of Sympathy in the Relationship Between Media Violence and Adolescents’ Social Behaviors
The Evolution of Scientific Skepticism in the Media Violence Debate
Media Violence in Inducing Neural Changes During Emotional Face Processing
Catharsis and Media Violence: A Conceptual Analysis
Examining Exposure to Graphic Media Violence Through a Theory of Vivid Media Violence
Media Violence and Adolescents’ ADHD-Related Behaviors: A Genetic Susceptibility Perspective
Types of Media Violence and Degree of Acceptance in Under‐18s
The Effects of a Media Literacy Program on Critical Attitudes Toward Media Violence
Investigating How Media Violence Causes Antisocial Behavior
The Role of Attention Problems and Impulsiveness in Media Violence Effects on Aggression
Early Exposure to Media Violence and Later Child Adjustment
Transportation Into Vivid Media Violence: Attention, Emotions, and Mental Rumination
The Proliferation of Media Violence and Its Economic Underpinnings
A Meta-Analytical Review of Selective Exposure to and the Enjoyment of Media Violence
Public Policy and the Effects of Media Violence on Children
Fronto-Parietal Regulation of Media Violence Exposure in Adolescents
Exploring the Public Health Risks of Media Violence
Repeated Exposure: Desensitization to Media Violence Over a Short Period
Imitation and the Effects of Observing Media Violence on Behavior
The Interplay of Media Violence Effects and Behaviorally Disordered Individuals
Violent Video Games as the Newest Media Violence Hazard
Aggression‐Consistent, ‐Inconsistent, and ‐Irrelevant Priming Effects on Selective Exposure to Media Violence

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Violence And Media Research Paper

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Public and academic concern about media’s contribution to real world violence are about as old as the mass media and the social sciences themselves (Wartella and Reeves 1985). Despite frequent framing of the matter as ‘controversial,’ extensive research—an estimated 3,000 (Donnerstein et al. 1994) to 3,500 (Wartella et al. 1998) studies in the United States alone—have examined the impact of media violence, and a number of recent major reviews (Huston et al. 1992, Murray 1994, see also Potter 1999, Paik and Comstock 1994, Comstock and Paik 1991), have concluded that media violence plays a measurable role in real-world violence. A variety of US agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control of the US Public Health Service (1991), and medical and public interest organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Conference of Parent-Teacher Associations, have identiﬁed media violence as a public health problem. The review below focuses most heavily on US research and US media, most notably American television, primarily because a large majority of the published social science research on media and violence is US research on American audiovisual media. Potter (1999, pp. 44–5), for example, reports 42 published content analyses of US television since 1954, and just 19 from the rest of the world. Moreover, American media are among the world’s most violent—and most exported—and real-world violence is a recurring public policy issue. Further, much of this literature concerns impacts of media violence on children and adolescents, for the inter-related reasons that young audiences are considered the most impressionable and most vulnerable. Adults are generally viewed to be more resistant to the deleterious inﬂuences of violence, and, as some would argue (cf. Huesmann 1997), violent behaviors in adulthood may be traced to media use during childhood.

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Get 10% off with 24start discount code, 1. theories of eﬀect.

Three models have been proposed to describe the process by which such learning and imitation of media violence occurs: social learning theory, priming eﬀects theory, and a social developmental model of learning (Wartella et al. 1998).

First proposed by Albert Bandura in the 1960s, social learning theory is the best known theoretical account of violence eﬀects. Bandura asserts that through observing television models, viewers come to learn behaviors which are appropriate, that is, which behaviors will be rewarded and which punished. In this way, viewers seek to attain rewards and therefore imitate these media models. When both children and adults are shown an aggressive model who is either rewarded or punished for their aggressive behavior, models who are positively reinforced inﬂuence imitation among the viewers. Even research in the ﬁeld has demonstrated that aggression is learned at a young age and becomes more impervious to change as the child grows older. In a longitudinal study to examine the long-term eﬀects of television violence on aggression and criminal behavior, Huesmann et al. (1984) studied a group of youth across 22 years, at ages 8, 18, and 30. For boys (and to a lesser, though still signiﬁcant extent for girls), early television violence viewing correlated with self-reported aggression at age 30 and added signiﬁcantly to the prediction of serious criminal arrests accumulated by age 30. These researchers ﬁnd a longitudinal relationship between habitual childhood exposure to television violence and adult crime and suggest that approximately 10 percent of the variability in later criminal behavior can be attributed to television violence.

Priming eﬀects theory serves to augment the more traditional social learning theory account of television violence eﬀects. In the work of Leonard Berkowitz and his colleagues, this theoretical account asserts that many media eﬀects are immediate, transitory, and short-term (Berkowitz 1984). Berkowitz suggests that when people watch television violence, it activates or ‘primes’ other semantically related thoughts which may inﬂuence how the person responds to the violence on television. Viewers who identify with the actors on television may imagine themselves like that character carrying out the aggressive actions of the character on television, and research evidence suggests that exposure to media aggression does indeed ‘prime’ other aggressive thoughts, evaluations, and even behaviors such that violence viewers report a greater willingness to use violence in interpersonal situations.

Only Rowell Huesmann’s (1986; see also Huesmann1997) theoretical formulation of the social developmental model of violence eﬀects oﬀers a true reciprocal theoretical account of how viewers’ interest in media violence, attention to such violence, and individual viewer characteristics may interact in a theory of media violence eﬀects. Using ideas from social cognition theory he develops an elaborate cognitive mapping or script model. He argues that social behavior is controlled by ‘programs’ for behavior which are established during childhood. These ‘programs’ or ‘scripts’ are stored in memory and are used as guides to social behavior and problem solving. Huesmann and Miller (1994, p. 161) submit that ‘a script suggests what events are to happen in the environment, how the person should behave in response to these events, and what the likely outcome to those behaviors would be.’ Violence from television is ‘encoded’ in the cognitive map of viewers, and sub-sequent viewing of television violence helps to maintain these aggressive thoughts, ideas, and behaviors. Over time such continuing attention to television violence can thus inﬂuence people’s attitudes toward violence and their maintenance and elaboration of aggressive scripts.

This theory suggests that while viewing violence may not cause aggressive behavior, it certainly has an impact on the formation of cognitive scripts for mapping how to behave in response to a violent event and what the outcome is most likely to be. Television portrayals, then, are among the media and personal sources that provide the text for the script which is maintained and expanded upon by continued exposure to scripts of violence.

Huesmann has demonstrated that there are key factors which are particularly important in maintaining the television viewing–aggression relationship for children: the child’s intellectual achievement level, social popularity, identiﬁcation with television characters, belief in the realism of the TV violence, and the amount of fantasizing about aggression. According to Huesmann, a heavy diet of television violence sets into motion a sequence of processes, based on these personal and interpersonal factors, that results in many viewers becoming not only more aggressive but also developing increased interest in seeing more television violence.

It must be emphasized that all serious scholars of the impacts of media on violence are careful to note that media are not the only, nor perhaps among the most important, contributors to real-world violence. Violent behavior is a complex, multivariable problem, formed of many inﬂuences. Racism, poverty, drug abuse, child abuse, alcoholism, illiteracy, gangs, guns, mental illness, a decline in family cohesion, a lack of deterrents, the failure of positive role models, among others, all interact to aﬀect antisocial behavior. As Huesmann has argued, aggression is a syndrome, an enduring pattern of behavior that can persist through childhood into adulthood. The impact of media violence appears strongest as a predictor of real-world antisocial behavior as one facet of a ‘culture of violence.’

2. Types Of Eﬀects

As Potter (1999, Chap. 9) notes, media-violence eﬀects fall into ﬁve categories—physiological, emotional, cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral—and both immediate or short-and long-term eﬀects have been studied. While some attention has focused on direct, short-term imitative or modeling eﬀects (cf. Phillips 1980, 1982, but see Hessler and Stipp 1985), more attention and public policy concern has focused on the long-term impact of repeated exposure to violence. More generally, three overarching categories of eﬀect receive most attention: learning of aggression, desensitization to real-world violence, and the cultivation of fear in repeated exposure to media violence (Wilson et al. 1997).

Clearly, not all violent depictions should be treated equally, nor all viewers. The (US) National Television Violence Study (Wilson et al. 1997) identiﬁed several contextual factors within a representation that may inﬂuence audience reactions to media violence which include the following.

2.1 The Nature Of The Perpetrator

Where individuals perceive perpetrators of violence as attractive, as heroes, and/or as similar to themselves, the likelihood of stimulating attention (Bandura 1986) and aggression (Paik and Comstock 1994) increases.

2.2 The Nature Of The Victim

While the commission of violence on an attractive character with which an audience member identiﬁes might serve to inhibit aggressive behavior, its principal impact would seem to be in arousing fear among the audience members.

2.3 The Reason For The Violence

Wilson et al. (1997, p. 24) note that violence viewed as justiﬁed likely heightens aggression, while violence viewed as unjustiﬁed arouses fear. The impact of justiﬁcation has been documented with ﬁctional as well as realistic programming (Meyer 1972), and with adult as well as child viewers (Liss et al. 1983). In fact, a recent meta-analysis of 217 media studies documents that a justiﬁed portrayal of violence can enhance aggressive behavior among viewers (Paik and Comstock 1994).

2.4 The Presence Of Weapons

A number of studies, including a meta-analysis of 56 published experiments (Carlson et al. 1990) have demonstrated that the presence of weapons, either pictorally or in the natural environment, can enhance aggression among subjects. While, for ethical reasons, the large majority of such research involves adult subjects, in at least one study (Frodi 1975) the presence of weapons enhanced aggression among adolescents. ‘Conventional’ weapons such as guns and knives are more likely than unconventional means for priming the eﬀect, social learning theory would suggest, because their use as a means of aggression are stored in memory (Berkowitz 1990, Leyens and Parke 1975).

2.5 The Extent And Graphicness Of The Violence

A review (Wilson et al. 1997) for the National Television Violence Study suggested that more research is needed, but several tentative conclusions about extent and graphicness could be reached: (a) extensiveness of violence within media presentations should be associated with increased desensitization to violence, at least in the short to medium-term; (b) graphicness of violence should be associated with increased cultivation of fear; (c) longitudinal studies clearly suggest that extensiveness of viewingviolent media presentations heightens the likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior.

2.6 The Degree Of Realism Of The Violence

In brief, realistic violence has been found to induce aggressive behavior, and to induce fear, more than violence believed to be less realistic or more fantastic. An extremely important qualiﬁcation deals with younger children, who may be unable to distinguish realistic from fantastic characters, behaviors, and situations. In one study, however, where perceived realism was manipulated for older children (9 to 11 in Feshbach 1972; 10 to 13 in Atkin 1983), those subjects who were led to believe that footage was realistic news were more likely subsequently to behave aggressively than those led to believe it was taken from an entertainment program.

2.7 Whether Violence Is Rewarded Or Punished

Rewarded violence is more likely to be imitated than violence which is punished. Signiﬁcantly, and particularly for children (since, as we will show below, television programming most frequently presents violent actions that are neither rewarded nor punished), the absence of punishment may enhance imitation, even in the absence of explicit reward (Bandura 1965, Walters and Parke 1964). Paik and Comstock’s meta-analysis (1994) suggests that rewarded violence stimulates aggression among both child and adult audiences. One study suggests that punishment of criminal violence decreases fear (Bryant et al. 1981).

2.8 Consequences Of Violence

In general (and exceptions are noted in Wilson et al. 1997, p. 30), mediated depictions of violence which show either pain cues or other short or longer-term negative eﬀects or consequences of violence are likely to depress the learning of aggression. There is little research on the eﬀects of pain cues or violence consequences on desensitization and the cultivation of fear.

2.9 Presence Of Humor

As the National TV Violence Study review also noted, further research is needed here as well, but the present state of knowledge suggests, other things being equal, that violence coupled with humor is more likely to heighten aggression, and to increase desensitization, than violence without the presence of humor:

Several mechanisms can be used to explain such a facilitative eﬀect of humor on aggression. Humor might elevate a viewer’s arousal level over that attained by violence alone, and increased arousal has been shown to facilitate aggression. … Humor could serve as a reinforcement or reward for violence, especially if the perpetrator is funny or admired or his or her wit. And humor may diminish the seriousness of the violence and therefore undermine the inhibiting eﬀects of harm and pain cues in a scene. … However, we should underscore that our conclusion about the facilitative eﬀect of humor on aggression is tentative until more systematic research … is undertaken (Wilson et al. 1997, p. 32).

3. Young Viewers

As noted, research indicates that certain factors may be processed diﬀerently by young viewers. First, children below about age 8 have more diﬃculty distinguishing reality from fantasy and often imitate superheros with magical powers such as the Power Rangers (Boyatzis et al. 1995). Second, young children may have diﬃculty connecting scenes and drawing inferences from the plot. Timing of punishments and rewards becomes important in this instance. In many programs, the crime or violent behavior may go unpunished until the end of the program. Young children may have diﬃculty connecting the ending punishment with the initial violent act and may, therefore, believe that the violence went unpunished (Wilson et al. 1997). Thus, learning of aggressive attitudes and behaviors from television varies by both the nature of the portrayals and the nature of the viewers. The presence of contextual factors in the portrayals which may inhibit young children’s social learning of aggression decreases the negative consequences of such portrayals and should be encouraged. Not all violent portrayals are the same and the context of violence is clearly quite important. Similarly, young children, those under the age of seven or eight, may be particularly susceptible to learning from exposure to television violence because of diﬀerences in how they make sense of television compared to adults.

4. The Media Environment

Television’s role as the central mass medium in much of the world for the past half-century, and its ubiquity and ability to enter almost every home, often without parental supervision, has meant that more public and scholarly concern has focused on its contents than on any other medium’s, and this concern has accompanied its diﬀusion into every corner of the earth.

Unfortunately, cumulative and comparative research on television’s violent content is hampered by a lack of consistency in deﬁning violence and especially deﬁning the population and sampling frame in studies of television.

The most extensive single content study of US television was the 1994–7 National Television Violence Study (National Television Violence Study 1997, Center for Communication and Social Policy 1997, 1998). Examined were the 6 a.m.–11 p.m. contents of a multistage probability sample constructed sample week of programming on 23 network-station, independent-station, and basic-cable and premium-cable channels; thus about 8,000 programs were analyzed over the 1994–5, 1995–6, and 1996–7 television ‘seasons.’ Certain programs, including ‘hard news,’ religious shows, sporting events, quiz shows, and educational shows, were sampled but not analyzed. About three-ﬁfths of the remaining programs contained some visual violence, a ﬁgure that like most summary statistics remained stable over the three years of the study. In descending order, premium cable, basic cable, independent-station, broadcast network station, and public broadcast stations’ programming were likely to contain violence. By content genre, in decreasing order, movies, dramas, children’s shows, music videos, and reality-based and comedy programs were likely to contain violence. Violence was far more prevalent during prime-time than during daytime hours.

Of signal concern to the NTVS researchers was the context of televised violence; it was often glamorized (more than a quarter of all violence was perpetrated by ‘good’ or attractive characters, and some 40 percent by characters with at least some good qualities); sanitized (about 7 8 of violent scenes show no blood and gore; almost half show no harm to victims of violence, although more than half of violent interactions show inﬂiction of harm that would be lethal in ‘real life,’ and about half depict no pain cues in victims of violence); and unsanctioned (in a majority of scenes, violence perpetrators were neither rewarded nor punished [‘punishment’ was considered any noticeable sanction, including a perpetrator’s oral expression of remorse], and among other scenes, rewards and punishments were about equally likely; in three-quarters of cases, characters perpetrating violence were either never punished, or were punished only at the program’s conclusion). Moreover, only three percent of programs with violence had any antiviolence theme (Center for Communication and Social Policy 1998, Chaps. 3–4). Potter (1999) has an extensive discussion of deﬁnitions of media violence and the results of content analyses from a variety of studies.

5. Media Violence And Public Policy

As noted, the consensus in the social scientiﬁc community regarding media violence is that it serves as a contributor to aggression in the real world, and virtually all public opinion surveys conﬁrm that wider publics believe this as well. Nonetheless, such ﬁndings are ‘controversial’ in the media industries, and among a minority of academics (see, e.g. Fowles 1999 and sources cited therein). In the United States in particular, since the 1950s the media industries—television in particular, but also recorded music, motion pictures, pictorial comic books, and video games— have responded to public and governmental outcries against violent content by promises to reform under self-regulation. Motion pictures, video-games, and recorded music all list ‘ratings’ for their products which suggest age-groups for which the industry self-regulatory groups think the content for these products is appropriate. The US Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandated that the television networks create a ‘voluntary’ ratings system or face creation of one by the federal government. The system the broadcast industry has created suggests appropriate age categories and levels of sex, language, and violence to allow consumers and parents to make program choices. The same act mandated a ‘v-chip’ in newly manufactured television sets to allow parents to screen or ﬁlter out violent programs. There is to date insuﬃcient research to indicate whether and what sorts of parents and other viewers are using either the ratings or the v-chip technology to screen violence. However, experimental research by Cantor and her colleagues (Cantor and Nathanson 1998, Cantor et al. 1997) suggests that young children may use aged-based ratings systems to shield themselves from violent content while for older children and adolescents, there may be a boomerang or ‘forbidden fruit’ eﬀect whereby ratings attract them to more ‘adult’ violent or sexually explicit material. In the United States Congress, a moratorium on discussion of television violence is in eﬀect, pending further information on the eﬀects of ratings and the v-chip, but the legislature is focusing its attention on violent video-games, the target of signiﬁcant public criticism in the wake of a number of ﬁrearms murders in public schools.

6. Conclusion

It is clear that where children and television violence are concerned, the question that remains is not whether media violence has an eﬀect, but rather how important that eﬀect is in comparison with other factors in bringing about the current level of crime in the United States and other industrialized nations. Future research should also aim to establish who precisely is most susceptible to media violence, and, most importantly, what sorts of intervention might help diminish its inﬂuence. At the same time, any interventions that help establish policies and practices to reduce the socially inappropriate ways of portraying violence and increase the socially responsible ways (such as using violence to assert antiviolence messages) should be encouraged as well. Long-term solutions to problems caused by violence in the real world, however, will require attention to a much wider variety of causal agents.

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Symposium on 20 years of the Research Centre

Symposium on 20 years of the Research Centre , Date: 2024.09.19 , format: Report , area: Authority

In May 2025, the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees ( BAMF -FZ) celebrates its 20th anniversary and therefore invites to an international, scientific conference that will be held on 21 and 22 May 2025 in Nuremberg. The latest topics in migration and integration research will be discussed, such as the recruitment of skilled labour or the social participation of refugees. Ahead of the international conference, another conference will be held specifically dedicated to the situation of people who are obliged to leave the country on 20 and 21 May 2025. We cordially invite researchers to participate in the events with their contributions. The closing date for submissions is 30 November 2024.

In 2005, the Immigration Act mandated the Federal Office to conduct scientific research on migration and integration. This laid the foundation for today's Migration, Integration and Asylum Research Centre at the Federal Office. More than 50 employees currently work at the BAMF -FZ, which includes a Research Data Centre ( BAMF - FDZ ) since 2021.

"We can look back on 20 exciting and insightful years of migration and integration research. In recent years, these topics have become particularly important for Germany. For example, we are facing rising numbers of migrations to Germany as a consequence of international wars and crises. Furthermore, the shortage of skilled labour as a result of demographic change and educational expansion is becoming more noticeable.

Our research responds to various challenges in these areas and provides findings that policymakers can utilise in dealing with them. Wherever possible, we seek dialogue and network with scientists from other research institutions in order to broaden our perspectives and join forces. Our international conferences in May 2025, which I am very much looking forward to, will also provide such a networking opportunity."

Call for Papers - submit your contribution now!

For the international conference "analyse. evaluate. inform - Conference on 20 years of the BAMF Research Centre" on 21 and 22 May 2025, we invite you to submit contributions on the following topics:

Immigration of skilled labour to Germany
Living situation of refugees in Germany
Innovative methods of migration and integration research

The deadline for submission is 30 November 2024, further information on the submission process can be found in the call for papers .

Contributions will be selected by 31 January 2025 and information on the registration will be made available in spring 2025.

Regardless of the above-mentioned conference, we would also like to draw your attention to the call for papers for the closing conference of the research project "Feasibility Study on the Immigration/Mobility of Persons Required to Leave Germany ( MIMAP )" entitled "Irregularly staying Migrants: Empirical Findings and Methodological Advances" on 20 and 21 May 2025. Contributions can address the topic from various thematic and methodological perspectives. The deadline for submissions is also 30 November 2024. Further information can be found in the call for papers.

Further information

Call for Papers: International conference on "20 years of the BAMF Research Centre" on "analyse. evaluate. inform"
International Conference on "20 Years Research Centre at the BAMF": Submission of abstracts pdf, 102KB, accessible
Call for Papers for the MIMAP closing conference
MIMAP-Abschlusskonferenz: Formular zur Beitragseinreichung / MIMAP closing conference: Submission form pdf, 104KB, accessible
Flyer on "Migration Research"

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To help you get started, here are 125 media violence essay topic ideas and examples that you can use as inspiration: The impact of violent video games on children's behavior. How violent movies influence viewers' attitudes towards violence. The role of social media in perpetuating violent behavior.
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Most media violence research involves youth aggression rather than violence, noted Douglas Gentile (Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA). Aggression is defined as any behaviour—physical, verbal, or relational—that is intended to do harm, he said, whereas violence is "a very narrow subtype of aggression that is physical and extreme, [and ...
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The effects of extremely violent comic books on social information processing. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17 (11), 1160-1178. View our collection of media violence essays. Find inspiration for topics, titles, outlines, & craft impactful media violence papers. Read our media violence papers today!
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Media Violence is a topic that has been researched for many years. Researchers have found that media violence has profound effects on the behavior of adolescents with ADHD-related behaviors. Researchers believe that parents play a vital role in what their children are exposed to. This paper will discuss research done on the relationship between ...
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Symposium on 20 years of the Research Centre
In May 2025, the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) celebrates its 20th anniversary and therefore invites to an international, scientific conference that will be held on 21 and 22 May 2025 in Nuremberg.The latest topics in migration and integration research will be discussed, such as the recruitment of skilled labour or the social participation of refugees.