Does media violence cause aggression.

Media Violence and Actual Aggression
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Introduction
Despite the fact that violence is not a new thing to the human population, its increase in the contemporary society is alarming. With easy access to explosives and firearms, the extent of effectiveness in aggressive behavior has been a problem and has had severe consequences. More evidently, the recent shootings and increased cases of violence in schools in America are an indication of the increase in violent activities in our society and this has come during the era of technology, particularly the media. Initially, the causes of violent behaviors in the youth included substance abuse, family psychopathology and exposure to community and family violence together with poverty. However, recent pieces of literature have found that the exposure to media content has had a great bearing in the increased violent behaviors in our society. While it is difficult to establish which group of people is at a higher risk of being influenced by the violence in the media, there seems to be solid evidence to support the correlation between the media violent content and the aggressive behavior seen not only among the youth in our society but also the adults. As such, this paper shall review the impact of televised or media violence on our society by reviewing the correlation between the media violence and the aggressive behaviors seen in our society. The paper shall focus on reviewing the existing literature on this topic to support the argument that there is a correlation between the media violent content and the aggressive behavior seen among the members of our society.

Literature Review
Over the last 30 years, there has existed wide research done to ascertain the connection between televised violence and the violent behaviors among the youth in our society. Cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental studies have all established that media violent content has been the cause of violence and aggression witnessed in our society. In fact, with the increase in the number of homes with television, the number of violent cases has significantly increased. According to Huesmann & Taylor, (2006), the influence of the media begins with the youth. According to him, 40 years ago, only 10% of the homes in America were in possession of television sets and no violent films were shown on television sets during this time. Currently, close to 99% of the homes in America have television sets and the films shown in these television sets have violent content. In fact, more than 50% of the youth in America have television sets in their bedrooms reducing the level of supervision by their parents (Huesmann & Taylor, 2006). Also, according to this research, a child in America spend around 28 hours a week watching television which means that by the age of 18, the child has been exposed to over 16,000 murder content and 200,000 forms of violence. In this regard, according to psychology, children are more likely to imitate the violent acts on TV. In fact, at the age of 4 years, the child is incapable of distinguishing between a fantasy and a fact leading him or her into believing that violence is a part of the society. These children tend to be aggressive when they grow up and this is the reason why there is an increase in the number of violent cases in our society today.
Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, (2008) agree with previous researchers that have come to the same conclusion that media violence cause aggression among the members of our society. In their paper, they review the reports published by the American Psychology Association in 1994, 2000 and 2005, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians which have all come to a conclusion that exposure to media violence began to escalate aggressive behaviors in the year 1974. In fact, the American Psychology Association has published a number of recommendations to the parents to limit their children to 1-2 hours of television a day and also watch programs and media content with their children to avoid exposure to violent content (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008). In their studies, they look at the instant and the long-term effects that the exposure to media violence has on our population. To ascertain this and to examine the validity of the previous researches that have been done on the same topic, the research examined the behaviors of those children that are exposed to the violent media content and those that whose parents follow strict viewer discretion (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008). In fact, the research was based on the behaviors of those children that have television sets in their bedrooms and are not supervised by their parents on what to watch and what not to watch. In their finding, aggressive behaviors were witnessed more on children that do not have restrictions with regards to watching or being exposed to media content. On the other hand, children that are restricted by their parents from accessing certain content on the television were not as violent. The findings revealed explicit substantiation that media violence raises the probability of aggressive and violent behaviors in both instant and long-term context.
Thirdly, Huesmann, (2007) elaborates the psychological theory that explains why exposure to media violence has both the short-term and long-term damaging effects on our society. According to his review, the most common short-term effects of media violence exposure are priming, mimicry and arousal. First, priming denotes the process by which content is extended from the locus in place of an external experimental stimulus to the brain’s neural network which excites an additional brain node that represents emotion, cognition or behavior. In essence, what a person sees on television is processed in the brain’s neural network. For instance, when a person sees a gun on television, the first thing that comes to mind is violence or aggression (Huesmann, 2007). As such, they are likely to be influenced by the sight of the gun in the television which explains why media influences behavior. Mimicry is also another form of media influence on the population and the youth. This process can be looked at as the imitation of certain behaviors which are as a result of long-term practices of the observational culture. In essence, when a person observes an act for a long time, they are more likely to imitate the act which explains why people replicate or imitate the actions they watch on television. In fact, most people experiment with the guns they see on television as a result of the influence. Lastly, arousal is another form of the short-term effects of the media violence. The appearances in the media in most cases arouse the viewer. As such, the violent behavior in the media in these cases becomes the most probable result of watching violent content in the media as a result of the general arousal and excitation transfer. As such, with these psychological explanations, it is clear that there is a correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior we witness in our society.
Lastly, according to Pozios, Kambam & Bender, (2013), in a meta-analysis involving 217 studies published between 1950 and 1990, the psychologists Haejung Paik and George Comstock found that the short-term effects of media violent content on real physical aggression against a person was strong which indicated positive results. In fact, psychologists strongly link media violence to actual physical violence (Pozios, Kambam & Bender, 2013). Also, the meta-analysis conducted by the two psychologists on the connection between usual viewing of media violence and violent behavior indicates that 200 studies indicated a positive connection between watching violent content and physical violence against other people. In essence, media violence has a great influence on a person’s behavior and the emulation and imitations that occur as a result of watching violent content on the media are psychologically inflicted.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the correlation between the violent content in the media and the physical aggressions witnessed in our society today has been established by the various researches that have been carried out in this area. In the researches, there has been established the psychological connection between the violent content people watch in the media and the violent behavior people manifest after watching such content. In this regard, in the contemporary society, people’s views and behaviors are greatly influenced by what they watch on the media and the content they are exposed to on the media. Psychologically, imitation is a natural behavior of a human being and the fact that media is part of our lives today; people are more than likely to imitate and replicate what they see and hear in the media which makes the media so powerful with regards to the influence they have on our behavior. As such, there is a strong relationship between the violent content we watch on the media and the violent or aggressive behavior we manifest against other people.
References
Escobar-Chaves, S. L., & Anderson, C. A. (2008). Journal Issue: Children and Electronic Media Volume 18 Number 1 Spring 2008. Journal Issue: Children and Electronic Media Volume, 18(1).
Huesmann, L. R. (2007). The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S6-S13.
Huesmann, L. R., & Taylor, L. D. (2006). The Role of Media Violence in Violent Behavior. Annu. Rev. Public Health, 27, 393-415.
Pozios, V. K., Kambam, P. R., & Bender, H. E. (2013). Does Media Violence lead to the Real Thing. New York Times.