Violence and TV

• CDC-public health – Average child views 3 hours of TV a day– Adolescents see thousands of assaults and

homicides– Up to age 4 children cannot differentiate between

fantasy and reality– After age 4 children begins to differentiate cognitively,

however this does not change the emotional imprinting- under stress children revert to emotional imprinting

TV Models

• Huesmann and Eron (1988)• found identification with TV models to be an

important predictor of aggressiveness and suggested that if children like and identify with aggressive models, they rehearse “aggressive scripts” in their own mind, thereby strengthening the tendency to behave in a similar manner..

Canadian Study on TV violence

• 3 towns in northern Canada– 2 obtained TV for the first time– 1 did not obtain TV– Investigators took baseline observations of

children interacting with each others at play– Followed up in all 3 towns

• Control children – no change in violent/aggressive responses

• Experimental children – violence/aggressive acts increased 120%

Belson Study

Studied men’s lifetime rate of TV violence in young men between 12 and 17

Interviewed for acts of violence

The more violent TV watched in higher the relationship to serious crime, rape, assaults, animal abuse

Prospective Study

• In 1960, took all 3rd graders in rural county in NY and followed to age 30 yrs.

• Frequency of serious crimes related to TV Viewing

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South Africa Study

• South Africa had no TV until after 1975

1945 1950 1965 1975

TV USA

Homicide USA

South AfricaNO TV \homicide

TV and Homicide rates

• The relationship between the acquisition of TV predicting the timing of subsequent increase in violence rates can be found in various subpopulations.

• Black versus white TV ownership• Rural versus metropolitan ownership• Getting a TV predicts an increase in violence• R=.87 this is 72% of variance• Lag time of approximately 10 to 15 years

believed to be due to effects to children.

Exposure to violent television has been found to increase subsequent aggression, especially among

boys ( Liebert and Baron, 1972)