To what extent is Media Violence related to Aggressive and Violent Behavior?

To what extent is Media Violence related to Aggressive and Violent Behavior?

Introduction

I have chosen to discuss the role that media violence plays in aggression in children, specifically as related to Albert Bandura's experiments. I specifically chose this topic based on Bandura's observations with his famous Bobo doll study (which has been very influential to linking media exposure to violent aggressive behavior in children). In researching this paper, I hope to find an answer to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the media is to blame to the extent that Bandura would have us believe or are there other forces accountable. Is it logical to blame media for the escalating violence or are there other forces at play? On one hand Bandura, conducted a study where children saw a film of an adult beating the Bobo doll wildly and then most mimicked that behavior but on the other hand, the results of that study stated 88% of the children copied that behavior, not 100%. Is there a possibility that aggression could be taught, as Albert Bandura suggests? Is it possible that aggression could be a genetic? Or, is it possible that aggression is tied to some type of mental illness? My hypothesis is that while media may play a role in desensitizing children to aggressive or violent behavior it; however, does not create violent or aggressive behavior in children.

Discussion

My first claim is if media violence is related to aggressive and violent behavior then why isn't everyone violent and aggressive? To use Bandura's Bobo doll study as an example, 88% of the children who participated mimicked the behavior of the models but the other 12% did not. What makes them different? Why they were not manipulated into behaving in the same aggressive manner? Could it be correct to assume that the social learning theory does in fact ignore the biological state, genetic, brain, and learning differences in each of us? C. Ray Jeffery believes that behaviors are biological and not learned. If this is the case, does it mean that some people are just more evolved than others? Jeffery also believes that behaviors can be passed down from generation to generation, which may explain why children of abusers are likely to grow up to be abusers. His research shows that people do not react the same when witnessing a violent act and that while some may faint, others may vomit, or may have an increased heart rate (Jeffery, 1990). These are all biological responses which are ignored by the social learning theory (Jeffery, 1990).

Was the Bobo doll study carried out in an uncompassionate manner or was it immoral? Camille Wortman and Elizabeth Loftus are among those who have argued that the children used in the Bobo doll experiment were "manipulated, teased, and became frustrated", they along with other critics of this study also charge that the experiment was unethical and morally wrong and implied the children were trained to become ...