George Comstock

A Sociological Perspective on Television Violence and Aggression

A sociological interpretation of the empirical outcomes of studies on violent media draws the debate out beyond the realm of individual psychological effects and identifies pertinent social groupings that go beyond socioeconomic status. Five attributes identify special vulnerability to negative influence: predisposition for aggressive or antisocial behavior, rigid or indifferent parenting, unsatisfactory social relationships, low psychological well-being, or having been diagnosed as suffering from DBDs—disruptive behavior disorders. Interpretation of effect sizes derived from seven meta-analyses encompassing different forms of media violence and resultant different varieties of aggressive and antisocial behavior supports a robust hypothesis of media influence. Causation, implied by outcomes of pooled experimental and survey designs, is consistent across these aggregations. The media take up a role as oppressors of an underclass with limited access to opportunities for improvement.

Influences of Mass Media on Child Health Behavior

When we turn to the question of the influence of mass media on the health of childrec, we very quickly come to focus on television. Television, of course, is only one among the many media-magazines, newspapers, comic books, radio, recordings, and movies-that touch on the lives of children. Nevertheless, television stands first in so many respects that, if it would be inaccurate to say that it stands alone it is absolutely correct to say that it is preeminent. Television is the first mass medium to reach children. It will, throughout their childhood and adolescence, consume more time than the classrooms of our schools and universities. Long before they will be able to attach the proper label to what they have seen, television will have introduced them to comedy, drama, news, and advertising. Its successful men and women will become their heroes and heroines, and its slogans and catchwords will enter their language. As they get older, they will turn more and more frequently to magazines and newspapers, and they will devote more and more hours to radio, to recordings, and going to the movies. Yet even then television will remain central, and when we look over the sweep of childhood and adolescence there is no question that it is television that principally commands our attention. Now the past decade has seen a remarkable change in public attitudes toward children and television. Since television joined the furniture in the American home in the 1950s, it has been a source of alarm and the target of criticism in regard to its possible influ-

The world as portrayed by media

This chapter examines scientific and systematic content analyses to depict two major aspects of media content—the people that occupy the media and the behavior in which they engage. The chapter focuses on the usual suspects—violence, sex, and even profane language and also presents a net over less frequently studied elements of content, including portrayals of people with disabilities, the presence of “prosocial” messages (positive, helpful behavior, and interactions), and nutritional content in foods advertised to young people. The television content created especially for children is favored, by far, by young children (aged 2 to 7), only occasionally retains some of its appeal during middle childhood (aged 8 to 13), then drops off decisively in its attraction in the teenage years. The chapter puts particular emphasis on childrens media in order to highlight the unique experiences of the child audience—cartoons, educational shows, video games, and Saturday morning television. Recognizing that childrens television programming is watched regularly only by young children, the chapter reviews the general audience programming that constitutes the bulk of the media exposure of older children and teens.

Effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect

This chapter examines effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect among the children and teenagers. Media can shape childrens imaginative play and daydreams. Ideas and impressions derived from television are often incorporated into play or the mental musings of young persons. Mixed evidence also has emerged for televisions influence on language acquisition in early childhood. Educational television plays a facilitative role in the learning of words and their meanings, and can be effectively designed to do so. Overall, television and other media contribute substantially to the cognitive and social development of children. There are four explanations for how and why television might impact academic performance. Three stem from the assumption of a negative role of television, whereas the fourth envisions a positive role. The chapter presents a case for a negative association between television use and performance in school or on academic-related exams and tasks.

The extraordinary appeal of screen media

This chapter discusses purposes and motives; modes of response; developmental factors; competing activities; and social circumstances of television viewing. The chapter begins with the distinction between ritualistic and instrumental viewing. Three principal gratifications of attending to the screen—escape, social comparison, and awareness—are discussed in the chapter. The labels ritualistic and instrumental neatly capture both much of television viewing at any given moment and the behavior typical of individuals among teenagers and adults. They also apply to much of childrens viewing, although it is certainly the case that children progress through a number of changes in their disposition toward the medium before their viewing completely matches that of those older. Ritualistic viewing is defined by three modes of response that come to typify viewing as children mature. They are characteristic of teenage and adult viewing, and frequent throughout childhood. They are content indifference where the medium is primary, low involvement, and monitoring. The chapter also introduces the concept of equilibrium describing the relationship between programming and audience attention at both individual and aggregate or societal levels.

Chapter VII – Learning rules and norms—further evidence of media effects

This chapter discusses how children and teenagers learn norms, rules, and values of the society from media. The people appearing on television and in other media demonstrate the ways of the world to children and teenagers. They do so by the ways they dress, speak, behave, express attitudes and emotions, and interact with others. These impressions, costumed as entertainment, sports, information, and news, guide the performance and affect the success of viewers and readers. However, media is not the sole socializing influence experienced by children and adolescents. Parents and caregivers, teachers and other prominent adults, siblings and peers, and clubs and organizations including the religious, social service, and leisure-oriented also provide young people with cues they may use to navigate the social world. Consumer, scholastic, and aggressive behaviors are learned in large part through media consumption. The chapter examines medias role in socializing children and teens in the topics of citizenship and politics, gender roles, career expectations and desires, fashion brands, and physical presence. The chapter also provides theoretical explanations for how and why media contribute to socialization.

Demographics and preferences in media use, with special attention to the very young

This chapter discusses demographics and preferences in media use with special attention to very young population. Young peoples use of the media raises significant questions. Spending time with media is one of the pleasures afforded by modern life, and analysis of media use patterns constitutes a window into the ways that young people are entertained, informed, persuaded, and educated. There is ample evidence that either the amount of time spent with particular media or the content viewed, read, or heard can have adverse effects. The chapter assesses preferences within major media categories—genres, programs, and types favored. The chapter also focuses on aggregates defined by demographics—age, gender, race or ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (usually operationalized by parental education or income)—and orientations toward the media. The chapter also reviews the content preferences among young people. Media use of children of seven years of age or younger is isolated because of (recent) increased interest and the concern over media use among very young children by parents, caregivers, and academics is discussed in the chapter.

Young customers—creating the modern consumer through advertising and marketing

There are several factors that need to be considered when marketing to children and teenagers. These include—(1) the evolution of advertising to children as an issue, and particularly television advertising, (2) the empirical record of evidence that has been compiled, largely as a result of the suddenly enhanced prominence of that issue, and (3) the stages of cognitive development that govern both whether children may be said to be exploited by television advertising and their preferences and interests as consumers, and use of those stages in developing products for and promoting them to young people. The role of cognitive development in consumer behavior and present-day marketing strategies are presented. The chapter focuses on endorsements, threats to self-esteem, use of proprietary and illegal substances and use of alcohol, food choices and nutrition, and the role of amount and frequency of exposure to commercials.

Chapter VIII – Knowledge for what?

There are primarily three parties that influence the role of media in the lives of young people in addition to the choices that young consumers themselves make. These are the federal regulatory apparatus, the media industries, and parents. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Congress have important but in practice quite limited roles in regard to television and no role at all for other media. Those in the business of making and disseminating media products are primarily motivated by economic interests, although in many cases a large role is played by creative concerns. The major responsibility in regard to media and young persons inevitably falls to parents and other caregivers. They determine the opportunities for very early use of television and the age at which other media become readily accessible, the household environment that figures so importantly in the use of all media, and the media stockpiling in bedrooms that makes isolated media use so frequent for so many young people.

Television violence, aggression, and other behavioral effects

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with violence, aggression, and other behavioral effects of television and media. The most persistent and one of the most controversial of all questions regarding screen media and young viewers is aggressive and antisocial behavior and their link, if any, with violent entertainment. The chapter discusses pioneering laboratory-type experiments that have served as a paradigm for the subsequent research on behavioral effects of television. The chapter discusses the meta-analyses that record quantitatively a positive association between violence viewing and aggression and antisocial behavior. The chapter also focuses on the role of cognitive dispositions—attitudes, beliefs, and values—in any link between violence viewing and behavior. The role of such mediating factors as predispositions, age, gender, and severity of behavior are also elaborated. The strength of the so-called “reverse” hypothesis and three other hypothesized effects of violent screen entertainment—fear, desensitization, and cultivation—are discussed in the chapter.