Effects Of Television And Domestic Violence example essay topic

Running Head: TELEVISION VIOLENCE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Television Violence and Domestic Violence Have Similar Effects on Children Brian Williams Kent State UniversityAbstractWe examined the various forms of television violence and domestic violence in America. We provided statistics showing the amounts of violence facts about adolescent exposure. We compared and contrasted the differing effects of both and implemented a study to analyze the similarities. We observed children and gathered data regarding there response to specific kinds of violence and the psychological effects of each. We expected that the effects of television violence and domestic would be strikingly similar to one another and the results of our study prove the similarities and provoke awareness to the differences.

Television Violence and Domestic Violence have Similar Effects on Children staggering amount of research has been done over the past several years regarding what is shown on television and how it affects American society. Much of this research has focused on television violence and its effect on a child's aggression. According to the research that has been done, there seems to be an overwhelming indication that television violence does in fact affect a child's personality. There has also been a significant amount of research that has been completed, analyzing actual violence, particularly domestic violence. The research has targeted physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the home and its affect on adults and children.

Much of this research has been directed to the effects of domestic violence on children between the ages of 2 and 18. Even though much research has been done describing these two studies individually, very little research has been done to compare and contrast the effects of both with one another. The purpose of this paper is to outline the effects of television and domestic violence and to try to discover if there are any similarities between the two. Even though there are other forms of multimedia such as video games and the internet we choose to exclude these, not because we think they are irrelevant, but for the sake of narrowing the topic down to a reasonable size.

Much of the research that I have done contains facts about the contents of television and domestic violence. According to the American Psychiatric Association, American children spend an average of 28 hours in front of a television per week. A recent article states, "By the time they reach age 18, they will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. These numbers exclude time spent watching movies, playing video / computer games or online interactive media, and listening to music... ".

(Muscari, 2003, p. 585). Statistics such as this one display the facts about what is shown on television. The National Television Violence Study evaluated nearly 1000 hours of programming over a two year period and found that 61% of that programming contained interpersonal violence (Sclozman, 2002-2003, p 87). Something very provocative about the study was that most of the violence was displayed on children's shows. An article in Pediatrics Magazine states, ".

Of all animated feature films produced in the United States between 1937 and 1999,100% portrayed violence... ". ("Pediatrics", 2001). The evidence if irrefutable, Television does display high levels of violence. Not only has it been proven that a large amount of violence is displayed on television, but there has been research that suggests that some children have displayed higher levels of aggression as a result of their exposure to violent programming. A recent Current Events article states, "More than 1000 studies validate the connection between media violence and aggression in some children" ("Current Events", 2001).

Although opinions tend to vary about how much a child is affected, studies show that some children are affected so much that they reenact what they saw on television on their peers, and sometimes even their pets. Professional Wrestling is viewed by 35 million in the United States each week. These wrestling shows include fighting, sexually explicit gestures and vulgar language. Dana Le mish, an Israeli Researcher examined more 900 hundred children between the ages of 7 and 12 and found that those who watched WWF Wrestling tended to be more violent in school as they would imitate the behavior that they saw on television (Land, 2002). An article in Discover Magazine stated that, "Children who watched segments of the 1970's drama The Untouchables before hand showed more willingness to hinder their peers' efforts than did those who watched a track race" (Wright, 2003, p 2). It is clear that much childhood violence can be traced back to television programming.

In fact it has been proven that the correlation between virtual and actual aggression is stronger than those linking passive smoke and lung cancer, calcium intake and bone density, and exposure to lead and IQ. The evidence seems to be clear, .".. children who watched the most violent shows... [are] most likely to use violent behavior as model" (Mclellan, 2002, p. 9). The number one public health problem in America is considered to be domestic Violence. It is a problem that crosses all ethnic, racial, religious, and educational lines. It happens to the poor as well as the aristocratic. Both men and women are subject to it, although women are more likely to become the victims.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "a woman is battered by her husband or boyfriend every 18 seconds in America... ". (Douglas, 1993, p. 21) and at least 1.13 million women are victims of domestic violence annually. There are similar studies that show that one in four American women report that they have experienced some kind of domestic violence at some time in there lives. Even though women are potential victims, society's most vulnerable members are children.

Some studies show that 60% to 70% of families where women are abused, children are abused also and usually it is not a one-time occurrence. 3 million children every year witness domestic violence that ranges from extreme verbal insults to fatal assault with the use of weapons. According to Dr. Suzanne G. Martin, a licensed Psychologist children's exposure to violence can happen in a number of ways such as, .".. (1) witnessing Violence, (2) hearing the fighting but not directly observing the violence, (3) observing the outcomes of the violence (seeing bruises on the mother, broken furniture, etc), (4) before becoming aware of the violence (someone else tells them about it), or (5) living in a household in which violence occurs but not being aware of it". (Martin, 2002, p. 9). Many times the aggressor wants the child to witness the encounter for intimidation and authority purposes.

School age children who are exposed to domestic violence usually have a number of behavioral, emotional, cognitive and physical functioning problems. They are likely to have sleep disturbances, anxiety low self esteem, avoidance of peers, and aggressiveness. Research suggests that the affects of television and domestic violence are very different in many ways and similar in some. The most relevant and obvious similarity seems to be aggressiveness. It seems that some children that are exposed to television violence are affected with a similar amount of aggressiveness as some children who witness domestic violence encounters. If it can be proven that aggressiveness that has stemmed from television violence and domestic violence are similar, then a reasonable question arises: When domestic violence surfaces in a family, could it be just as bad as sitting your child in front of a television?

Our study will attempt to find the answer to this question and attempt to offer preventive methods for aggressive ness in children. MethodsParticipantsIn order to ensure reliability we studied 1000 children ranging from the ages of 5 to 8 years old who were in a home were both parents presided in the same residence. 20 children from every state in America were selected. They were selected with respect to their social status. 5 children were selected from low income families, 10 were chosen from middle class families, and 5 were chosen from upper class families. These children were divided into 2 categories (Category A and Category B) equally so that there were 500 in each category and an equal number of males and females were in each category.

Participants from both categories were required to have their mother and father present with them during the study. Materials A living room style cubicle was set up with a television with remote control, VCR, couch, and a recliner in the middle of the room. The room was made to look like an average living room complete with pictures, light fixtures, and wallpaper. The children were only allowed in the room one at a time (with their parents) and were encouraged to act as though they were at home. Soft drinks, potato chips, and candy were provided and participants were encouraged to eat and drink what they wanted.

A tape was placed in the VCR that contained a series of television scenes. The scenes were chosen selectively and were short twenty-five second video clips. The tape contained characters in each video clip which were shown stealing an object off another person, throwing it on the ground, and stomping on it. The clips ranged from cartoons to actual human beings committing the act. The total length of the tape was 20 minutes long. The reason for the video is to measure the amount aggression later in the study, if there is any.

One month before the test, the parents of the children from Category B were given a script of a "staged argument" in which they were to fight over the remote control. They were to learn the script and act it out with much emotion and intensity. At the climax of the "argument" the father was to snatch the remote control out of the mother's hands very forcefully and she would begin to cry. A separate large play area with observing glass was used to determine the effects of the scenarios. The play area contained 10 to 15 children who where not part of the test. Many of the children in the room were purposely playing with intricate easily-breakable objects.

Procedure The children from category A would only observe violence that was on television. They were to observe the video and were not allowed to leave until they had watched the entire film. The parents were not allowed to suggest that the scenes in the video were not polite. They were only there to help keep the child's attention on the TV screen. The child was to view the video one day a week for 9 weeks. On the tenth week the child was placed in the play area with other children for 2 hours and his / her actions were observed.

The children from Category B were placed in a relatively similar scenario as children from Category A. They were to sit down with their parents and watch a video, however, the video contained no violence and the child's concentration was interrupted by the fighting parents. At the climax of the argument the father was to steal the remote control very forcefully and continue viewing the film as if nothing strange happened while the mother imitated crying. Each child in the room had their own intricate toy except for the child that had been exposed to violent video or acted scenario. Results Each child / parent combination was analyzed to make sure that the parents did their jobs correctly.

Of the participants 12% had to be thrown out because of poor administration. Some of the parent's who were supposed to argue with each other, could not remain sincere and the child picked up on its invalidity. Some of children could not remain at attention long enough to view the entire film and so their results were not included in the study. To make the amount an each category the same an additional 8% had to be randomly selected to not be included in the results leaving 400 children in each category. After observing their respective scenarios, and completing the 2 hour play time, 57% of the remaining children acted in an aggressive manner to varying degrees. Of the 57% only 22% were female.

Thirty percent of the children who had acted aggressively were from Category B and 27% were from Category A. The main form of aggression was; stealing another child's toy. The results seemed to conclude that whether aggressive behavior was learned from a television or from domestic violence, the effects were very much the same. A significant area in which aggression levels differed between the two seemed to be with the reaction of the child whose toy was stolen. The children who were exposed to domestic violence were alarmingly more sympathetic to the person if they began to cry. 94% of those who learned aggressive behavior through domestic violence gave the toy back when the child began to cry. The children who were exposed to media violence were not so sympathetic to hose who cried with only 34% giving the toy back to the person they stole it from.

Discussion Our study leads us to believe that aggression stemming from domestic violence tends to be very similar to television violence. Our study seems to conclude that children are imitators of what they see whether it be on a television or right before there very eyes. It seems that sitting a child in front of certain kinds of programming will harm him in similar ways that domestic violence might. Children who witnessed the parental arguments seemed to emulate the actions of their father.

It seems that since the child has an actual relationship with the person exhibiting the aggressive behavior, that there is more of a tendency to imitate the aggressive behavior. It seems that the most advantageous aspect of the children exposed to domestic violence was their overwhelming sympathy for others who are hurting. This could be because they remembered their mother crying when the remote was stolen off of her. Because of their relationship with their mother they were hurt to see her cry and therefore were sympathetic to the other children when they started crying. Parents and other influences play a very large role in the molding and shaping of a child's personality. A parent has got to be able to recognize that children are affected by what they hear and see.

For a child to develop into a fully-functioning human being they have got to have proper influences in their life and preventative measures must be implemented a psychologically healthy individual. If they can be taught how to be aggressive then surely they can be taught how to be sympathetic.

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