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Relationships of Media and Violence: How They Affect Criminal Justice

 

Although many argue the fact that the media has no adverse effects on society, there have been numerous amounts of documentation, experiments and studies that prove otherwise. It is made clear that the media of today is full of violence and explicit materials. The effect of media violence is commonly seen amongst our youth and within the criminal justice system. Although the relationships between media and violence are not the sole causes of violence and corruption, it is proven through our criminal justice system to initiate a staggering amount.

 

Research interest in the relationship of the mass media to social violence has been elevated for most of this century. Over the twentieth century, the issue of the media as a source of violence has moved into and out of the public. If an agreement has come into view from the research and public interest, it is that the sources of violence are complex and tied to our most basic nature as well as the social world we have created, and that the media's particular relationship to social violence is extremely complicated. Therefore, when discussing the nature of the relationship between the media and violence, it is important not to be narrow-minded. Social violence is embedded in historical social forces and phenomena, while the media are components of a larger information system that creates and distributes knowledge about the world. The media and social violence must both be approached as parts of phenomena that have numerous interconnections and paths of influence between them.

 

By definition, media is described as a mass means of communication. In the early 20th century, media was limited to published works, radio and a small amount of television. As technology advanced, so did the media. Cable television, movies, Internet, personal audio and magazines are just a few of the media advances. Television is one of the major types of media that contributes to the violence in America. Television in the early 1950s only had three major stations, which could broadcast nationwide: CBS, ABC and NBC. These stations were very restricted to what could be shown and what could be said. Back then not every American had a television set, and the viewings of television programs were limited. Now almost every household in America has at least one television set. In 1975 Cable television was introduced, and by 1998 there were over 10,700 cable companies serving more than 65 million subscribers (Howitt, 116). With the mass amount of television programs, the government's strict regulations became lenient.

 

A study conducted by four universities found that 2,700 television programs from twenty-three different channels showed that 57% of those programs contained violence. There are now hundreds of television channels and millions of television programs shown daily. The study also found that 44% of network stations (basic cable) and 85% of premium stations (paid cable) contain violence. Quotes from top Hollywood Elite say that 63% of the industry glorifies violence and 45% of the Elite agree that television quality has worsened over the past decade. Showing violence on television may not be as bad if it was demoting violence rather than promoting it. Comstocks, review of American television illustrates that, violence scenes, reward or lack punishment for the perpetrator, ... violence as justified, ... consequences of violence does not stir distaste and ... violence without critical commentary (Larsen, 37). With little restrictions and abundant amounts of violence, television in the 2000 century has now become more violent than ever.

 

Television is merely one of the media sources that promote violence. The music industry, video game companies and the Internet also promote a large amount of violence. Here are some examples of the different types of media. In the music industry, you might come across lyrics like: Fuck the police, Cut that bitch's throat, Shoot that hoe, etc. Video games such as "Grand Theft Auto" have players stealing cars, running from the police and doing miscellaneous jobs for criminals. The Internet gives you the opportunity to find almost anything you want that has to do with violence. For instance, if you go to the web site, HomemadeWeapons.com, it gives detailed instruction on how to build anything from a bomb to a gun with the materials around the house. With media promoting violence they are also encouraging violent behavior.

 

If we look back at the violent crimes in the 1960s and compare them to the violent crimes of the year 1996, we see a substantial difference. According to the United States Crime Index, violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants went from 1,887.2 in 1960 to 5,897.8 in 1996. This is a 313% rise in violent crimes. Remember that in the 1960s the media was not nearly as violent as it is today. The media’s main focus is targeted on the youth for economical reasons. What the media is neglecting to acknowledge is that all the violence from the media is corrupting our youth. As infants mock what they see, so do children. When children see things like shooting, stealing and fighting they tend to mock it. This type of behavior is seen by the way children play with each other. Whether, its cops and robbers, army boy, water gun fights or other aggressive games, the children get it from media images. To prove this point, "more than fifty field studies over the last twenty years have shown that children who habitually watch media violence behave more aggressively and accept aggression more readily as a way to solve problems" (Felson, 103). Too much media violence can also cause a "numbing effect" on children. The numbing effect is the state where after constantly seeing violent images, children begin to think that violence is acceptable.

 

Some may argue the fact that the media has no effects on youth behavior and violence but the Teen Relationship Project and many other studies show differently. A team of researchers from the LaMarsh Center for Research initiated the Teen Relationship Project. They sent undergraduate volunteers to interview students from various schools, to get student opinions on how media affects them. They found that, "Ninety-seven percent of students feel that teens have attitudes, beliefs, and values that are similar to the music they listen to, the TV shows and movies they watch, the magazines they read, the video games they play, and the websites they visit. Seventy-one percent of the students agree that they identified with the image, style, and behavior of their favorite musicians, main characters in their favorite television show, and main characters in their favorite movie" (Knox, 25). With these facts, we can see that media violence does affect the behavior of the youth.

 

Another effect media has on violence is the mass coverage of violent crimes. How often does the media cover minor crimes like shoplifting, purse theft or curfew violators: almost never. What the media does cover are violent events like sniper-shootings, serial killers, and murders. These crimes do not occur nearly as often as other crimes, but for some reason they get all the attention. The public does have the right to know what is going on, but by constantly showing these stories they can lead to potential disasters. Take the Columbine massacre; this event was broadcasted over the media for weeks. The media exploited this tragic event and numerous negative incidents followed. In Canada a high school banned students for wearing trench coats. In New Jersey, school officials were on alert after an 18-year-old threatened to blow up his high school on the same day as the Colorado school shooting. In the Los Angeles suburb of Mission Hills, a 17-year-old boy was reported to have committed suicide and left a note referring to his sadness over the deaths of the 15 people in Littleton (Sacco, 141). There are many other stories similar to these events, but these should have proved a point. Mass media coverage of violent events can lead to ill side effects such as revenge crimes or copycat crimes.

 

Media violence affects criminal justice in the same manner water affects metal. We all know that when water is constantly applied to metal for long periods of time, it finally take its toll and starts to corrode the metal, forming rust. This is also seen with media violence and criminal justice. With the constant distribution of media violence across America, it starts to corrode our society. Instead of creating rust, media violence creates higher criminal rates, bad images of criminal justice and affects criminal justice policies. The corrosion starts with our youth and works its way through society. Today, youth violence and criminal rates are at extreme highs. Youth violence studies show, "about 5 of every 20 robbery arrests and 3 of every 20 murder rape, and aggravated assault arrests are of juveniles. In raw numbers, this translates into 3,000 murder, 6,000 forcible rape, 41,000 robbery, and 65,000 aggravated assault arrests of youths annually" (Fox, 636).

 

Another corrosion of media violence on criminal justice is the negative images generated by the media. Noted earlier in this paper, it was said that the media often shows more violent crimes rather than normal everyday crimes; the same thing goes when the media portrays criminal justice. Criminal justice gets most of their media coverage when something goes wrong. When the Rodney King incident occurred, the media widely televised and repetitively broadcasted it across the country. A lot of controversy and judgment was caused from this and it eventually evoked riots and hatred towards police. Why does the media not televise the good qualities of police? One of the reasons why the media does not show things like a police officer helping an elderly woman or police officers involvement with the community is because it does not sell. The media's main goal is to produce high ratings no matter whom they have to criticize or disgrace.

 

Furthermore, media violence's most significant corrosion is the impact it has on our criminal justice policies. The fears we have towards criminals are caused from media-generated images of criminality. The media portrays criminals as typical ruthless, vicious predators; this media image influences the way we react to crime, and criminal justice policies are also adjusted because of it. Looking at the imprisonment rates, America has the highest among any other country. We even make re-entry into society more difficult than any other advanced nation. With the media portraying criminals as ruthless, vicious predators, criminal justice policies are based on the actions of the worse case criminals.

 

Violence is a cultural product. The media are reflections of the culture and engines in the production process. Although they are not the only or even the most powerful causes, they are tied into the other violence-generating engines, and youth pay particular attention to them. The aggregate result of all of these forces in the United States is a national character that is distinctive and violence prone. If we wish to change our national character regarding violence, we cannot take on only some aspects of its beginning. We must address everything we can, such as economic injustice, the gun culture, and the glamorization of violence. And, by a slow, painful, generational process of moral leadership and example, we must work to modify the individual, family, and neighborhood factors that violently influence youth and society.

 

With all that said, if we want to aid in the cleansing of our society we need to control our media. The violent world shown on television may contribute to an impression of an evil world. Studies indicate that people who watch a great deal of television are more likely to hold fearful or pessimistic views of the world. The media needs to find alternate methods of broadcasting violence. Media and violence must not compliment each other the way they do today. If the media continues to promote violence, we will see a nation that is already filled with violence, to worsen. The media may not be the sole cause of the nation's high violence rates, but it does contribute in a large way. We need to promote the positive effects of the criminal justice system and see that policies are made fair. In the end we will remain violent as long as our culture is violent. Until we break these habits the media will encourage violence, and violence will affect both our criminal justice systems and the human race.

 

Works Cited

 

Felson, Richard B. "Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior." Annual Review of Sociology Oct. 1996: 103.

 

Fox, Richard L. "Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy." The American Political Science Review Sep. 2002: 636.

 

Howitt, Dennis. "Living in Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media." Mass Media, Violence and Society Jan. 1997: 116.

 

Knox, Sara L. "A World Made of Glass: Crime, Culture and Community in an Age of Hyper-media." Theory & Event May 2001: 25.

 

Larsen, Otto N. "Controversies about the Mass Communication of Violence." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Mar. 1996: 37.

 

Sacco, Vincent F. "Media Constructions of Crime." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science May 1995: 141.

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