To What Extent Is Media Violence Related To Aggressive And Violent Behavior?
The topic I have chosen to discuss is the role that media violence plays in aggression in children, specifically as related to Bandura’s experiments. We must ask ourselves if media is fully to blame for all of the violence committed all over the world, or if another source is accountable. If the media is as much to blame as Bandura would like us to believe, virtually every child would be a murderer. I believe that media does play a major role in violent aggressive behavior, and I do support Bandura’s work, however, I do not believe that media is the only factor contributing to violent aggressive behavior.
I believe that media plays a major role in violent aggressive behavior. Images and situations that are viewed by the public, broadcasted by network television, seem to romanticize violence and aggression. Research supports this claim. A survey of serious and violent young male offenders imprisoned in the state of Florida showed that one-fourth of these offenders had previously attempted to commit a media-inspired copycat crime. I am aware that not everyone will agree with my opinion, but my research proves to be valid. “Several aspects of media violence may contribute to real-life aggressive behavior. For one thing, experiencing violent media content seems to lower inhibitions against carrying out aggression- watching television portrayals of violence makes aggression seem a legitimate response to particular situations.” (Bushman & Anderson, 2001; Johnson et al., 2002)
I do support as well as take a stand for Bandura’s work and experiments on how media violence is related to aggressive and violent behavior. “His theory suggests that children may learn violence and aggression from viewing others. This proved to be the case when modeling behavior was observed his Bobo Doll experiments.” While others may not agree with my stand on the topic, research shows, “The findings of this...