One word that is a huge influence on the murder rate in the US:
Media[/b]
Could you explain how the media directly affects the murder rate?
I have to go, but I didn't want to leave you in the dark on my views of the subject--this pretty much explains it, though.
Youth violence has been a very serious concern for many Americans over the past few decades. This concern comes as a consequence of recent events such as the Columbine High School shooting spree and youth violence in general, which pervades itself throughout the country. For example, although juvenile arrests have decreased from 1995-2000, there were 7,327 juvenile arrests (ages 10-17) for every 100,000 kids nationwide in 2000 (Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention). This is a 7.3% incidence rate, which does not include criminal activity that does not lead to an arrest. Although the etiology of youth violence is an extremely complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon, which goes way beyond the scope of this document, one particular correlate of youth violence is believed to be many current media outlets.
This report is intended to illustrate that (1) media has a strong affect on youth and (2) irresponsible media outlets may contribute to poor developmental outcomes of children and encourage illegal behavior in both children and adults. Specifically, this report will (1) provide information that will support the argument that media has a strong influence on youth (and adults) and (2) indicate why supporting or promoting artists who encourage illegal and immoral acts (i.e. dog fighting) through the media may increase ones propensity to commit illegal acts in general.
The Influence of Media on American Youth
Although one cannot ascertain a causal relationship between media and subsequent behavior, several studies have indicated that a strong and true relationship does exist. For example, a field study conducted by Tannis MacBeth Williams (1973) examined children in a Canadian town before and after the town had television. The researcher found that within two years, not only did creativity drop, but also rates of hitting, shoving and biting among first and second graders increased by 160%. Furthermore, in a cross-sectional study, Centerwall examined murder rates in the Unites States, Canada and South Africa after the introduction of television. After 10-15 years, in all three countries, murder rates doubled. Centerwall explained that the 10-15 year lag was due to the fact that it took the first generation of kids watching television to become of age.
Leland, John & Murr, Andrew (1995). Violence, reel to real. Newsweek, 126 (24), p. 46.
In another Newsweek article, mention was made of a Newsweek Poll in which 78% of the respondents said that violence in the media deserved some or a lot of the blame for the recent mass shootings.
Leland, John; Brown, Corie; Gordon, Devin; Samuels, Allison; Miller, Mark (1999). A Lower Body Count. Newsweek, 134 (
, p. 46.
Furthermore, according to U.S. News & World Report (5/9/94) in their article A kinder, gentler Hollywood, a survey administered indicated that many top-level Hollywood figures feel a sense of responsibility about the influence violence in entertainment is having on American society.
Guttman, Monika (1994). A kinder, gentler Hollywood. U.S. News & World Report, 116 (18), p. 38.
An example of the way in which media incites violence is the case of the Jenny Jones program. A $25 million civil judgment was filed against the program for provoking a guest into murdering another guest on the show. In this particular case, the judge and jury awarded the money to the plaintiff, therefore indicating that the jury believed beyond reasonable doubt that the Jenny Jones show was the cause of the man being shot.
Leo, John (1999). The devil with Ms. Jones. U.S. News & World Report, 126 (20), p. 17.
Another example is a case in which a Supreme Court allowed a suit to proceed against Oliver Stone by a family of a convenience-store clerk who was shot and seriously wounded in a spree that was intended to mimic the movie Natural Born Killers.
Leo, John (1999). The devil with Ms. Jones. U.S. News & World Report, 126 (20), p. 17.
My final argument rests with a joint initiative between the American Psychological Association and MTV titled the Warning Signs initiative. This initiative was created to help prevent youth violence. Both parties therefore acknowledge that youth violence is a serious concern in todays society. In the article, it is stated that MTV certainly had the attention of an audience-adolescents-that APA could not access on its own. Furthermore, this effort was deemed to have been highly successful. In fact, MTV reported that the Warning Signs documentary was the highest rated prosocial special in its history. Approximately 3.9 million youth had viewed the film. Therefore, if MTV can reach and affect millions of youth with an educational and prosocial message, than why cant we conclude that they can also reach and affect millions of youth with their irresponsible and immoral messages?
Peterson, Jan & Newman, Russ (2000). Helping to Curb Youth Violence: The APA-MTV Warning Signs Initiative. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31 (5), 509-514.
Current Media Content: A look at MTV
I have recently learned, which is to my dismay, that MTV has been glamorizing the illegal act of dog fighting by showing videos and programs that feature artists who blatantly, as well as discretely, encourage the significantly cruel phenomenon of dog fighting. Not only are these artists promoting dog fighting, but many of them also have rap sheets (and I am not talking about rap music) indicating that they have been previously arrested and convicted for misdemeanors and or felonies. These are not the type of people that we should be portraying as role models for our youth. Nor are the behaviors that they endorse acceptable for any one of any age to practice.
The Relationship between Media Content and Subsequent Behavior of Children & Adults
I have provided arguments and examples above to support my hypothesis that the media has an affect (influence) on youth. I have also indicated that the media (i.e. MTV) has a propensity to show videos and programs that feature artists who promote illegal behavior; specifically, dog fighting. So what?! Why is this practice a problem? This is a very serious problem because there is a strong relationship between animal cruelty and criminal behavior in general. Therefore not only are our children witnessing these acts of animal cruelty, but they are also encouraged to conduct themselves in a similar fashion. So, not only will many of these children go on to hurt animals, but those who are conditioned to be cruel to animals, tend to be a problem to society in general.
There is an abundance of research that overwhelmingly links animal abuse to other types of criminal behavior. For example Arluke, Levin, Luke & Ascione (1999) published an article titled The Relationship of Animal Abuse to Violence and Other Forms of Antisocial Behavior in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, which indicates that there is an association between animal abuse and a variety of antisocial behaviors. I mention this article in particular because its methodology was very robust and the findings, I believe, are based on highly reliable and valid sources of data.
Arluke, Arnold; Levin, Jack; Luke, Carter; Ascione, Frank (1999). The Relationship of Animal Abuse to Violence and Other Forms of Antisocial Behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14 (9), 963-975.
In the interest of time and to keep this report brief, I will not mention every article that I have discovered. I will however, direct you to a highly comprehensive and scholarly document that reflects the recent work of Frank Ascione. This document can be viewed in its entirety by clicking on the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul20 ... tents.html In my own work, I have looked at the differences between children (2 year-old children) who are cruel to animals, sometimes cruel to animals and never cruel to animals with regard to their Child Behavior Checklist ratings, which were provided by their mothers and fathers. The Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 2-3 (CBCL) developed by Achenbach (1988) specifically asks if the persons child is cruel to animals in which the person is requested to indicate how true the statement is for his or her child (0 = not true; 1 = somewhat or sometimes true; and 2 = very true or often true). In this case the childs behavior towards animals is considered to be a valid indicator of behavioral problems which later tend to turn into conduct disorder in the teen years and antisocial disorder in the adult years.
Conclusions
Based on the empirical findings of previous research, expressed public opinion, and my own personal research, I am very confident in my conclusion that (1) the American media has a strong and direct influence on American youth; (2) negative behavioral displays in the media will encourage youth to copy cat or emulate such behavior; (3) much of this negative behavior includes illegal dog fighting and cruelty to animals in general and (4) cruelty to animals is highly and directly related to other types of criminal activity. Based on my conclusions, I urge you to please reconsider the types of artists that you feature via your videos and programs. I applaud your efforts with regard to your initiative with the American Psychological Association, and I hope that you do not undue all of the hard work that has been done by promoting and or featuring artists that glamorize illegal, immoral and criminal acts to youth who are so eager to emulate these disgusting role models.
http://www.ncaresonline.org/Reporttoacc ... letter.htm
