How much aggressive behaviour is shown on television? Essay

The average American child sees 32,000 murders, 40,000 attempted murders, and 25,000 acts of delirium on video before the age of 18 (Ahmed, 1998). Gerbners studies of violence on American tv (Gerbner, 1972 Gerbner & Gross, 1976 Gerbner et al. , 1980, 1986) Defining violence as the overt expression of strong-arm force against others or self, or the compelling of an action against ones go away on unhinge of creation hurt or killed, Gerbners team have found that since 1967 the percentage of television shows containing unfounded episodes has remained near the same, exactly the enumerate of violent episodes per show has gradu solelyy increased.In 1986, there was an average of rough five violent acts per hour on prime-time television. On childrens weekend shows, mostly consisting of cartoons, about 20 violent acts per hour occurred. British research by Halloran & Croll (1972) and the BBCs Audience Research Department were both(prenominal) based around Gerbners analysis. Both s tudies found that violence was a common feature of programming, although it was non as prevalent on British as on American television. Cumberbatch (1987), commissioned by the BBC, analysed all syllabuss broadcast on the (then) four terrestrial channels in four separate weeks between may and September 1986.The main findings from Cumberbatchs (1987) study Cumberbatch found that 30% of programmes contained some violence, the overall frequency being 1. 14 violent acts per programme and 1. 68 violent acts per hour. Each act lasted around 25 seconds, so violence occupied just over 1% of total television time. These figures were lower if boxing and grapnel were excluded, but higher (at 1. 96 violent acts per hour) if verbal threats were included. Death resulted from violent acts in 26% of cases, but in 61% of acts no injuries were shown, and the victim was portrayed as being in pain or stunned.In 83% of cases, no blood was shown as a result of a violent act, and grand blood and gore o ccurred in only 0. 2% of cases. Perpetrators of violent acts were much more likely to be portrayed as baddies than goodies, and violence occurred twice as frequently in law-breaking than in law-upholding contexts. Cumberbatch argued that whilst violence, and concerns about it, had increased in society in the decade up to 1987, this was not reflected by a proportionate increase on television, even in news broadcasts. He concluded thatWhile broadcasters may invade some comfort from our data on trends in television violence, they must expect to be continually reminded of their responsibilities in this area and be obliged to acknowledge that a significant minority of people will remain concerned about whats on the box. More recently, the BBC and ITV commissioned Gunter & Harrison (1998) to look at the frequency of violence on terrestrial and satellite channels. Some findings from Gunter & Harrisons (1998) analysis of violence on British televisionThe researchers monitored 2084 program mes on eight channels over four weeks in October 1994 and January/February 1995. The findings include On BBC 1 and 2, ITV and Channel 4, 28% of programmes contained violent acts, compared with 52% on Sky One, UK Gold, SKY impressions and the Movie Channel. craze occupied 0. 61% of time on the terrestrial channels and 1. 53% on the satellite stations. The great proportions of violent acts (70%) occurred in dramas and films 19% occurred in childrens programmes.Most violent acts occurred in contemporary conniptions in inner-city locations. The majority of perpetrators were young, white males. One per cent of programmes contained 19% of all violent acts. Double Impact, shown on the Movie Channel, for example, contained 105 violent acts, as against on average 9. 7. The United States was the most common location for violence (47%), followed by the United Kingdom (12%). The third most likely location was a cartoon setting (7%), and then science fiction locations (4%).On the basis of th e finding that violent acts account for 1% of programme content on terrestrial channels and less than 2% on some satellite stations, and the incident that 1% of programmes contained 19% of all violent acts, Gunter and Harrison concluded that The picture that emerges is not one of a television system permeated by violence, but rather one in which violence represents only a fine part of the output and where it tends to be concentrated principally in a relatively small number of programmes (cited in Frean, 1995).An almost identical conclusion was reached by the American Academy of Paediatrics (Murray & Whitworth, 1999). As tumesce as television, violent behaviour can also be seen at the cinema or on video (and what is shown may or may not be subsequently screened on television). Evidence indicates that a large percentage of 9-11 year olds have watched 18-rated videos, including particularly violent Nightmare on Elm Street, The lock in of the lambs, and Pulp Fiction (Ball & Nuki, 19 96 Wark & Ball, 1996).The effects of television on Childrens behaviour Research into the effects of television on Childrens behaviour began in America in the 1960s, following the publication of the results of Bandura et als Bobo doll experiments. These first generation (or Phase one Baron, 1977) studies involved filmed or symbolic) models. Essentially, Bandura et al. showed that children can charter new aggressive responses not previously in their behavioural repertoire merely through icon to a filmed or televised model.If children could learn new ways of harming others through such experiences, then the importation was that media portrayals of violence might be contributing to increased levels of violence in society (Baron, 1977). However, Bandura (1965) warned against such an reading material in the light of his new findings that the learning of aggressive responses does not necessarily mean that they will be displayed in a childs behaviour. Nevertheless, the possibility that such effects could occur was sufficient to charge considerable public attention on Bandura et al. s research.