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The influence of the media on the incidence of violence
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (1997) 4, 163 165 © APS/Harcourt Brace & Co. Ltd 1997
PERSONAL VIEW
The influence of the media on the incidence of violence R. A. A. R. Lawrence Senior Principal Forensic Physician to the Derbyshire Constabulary, UK SUMMARY. There has been much debate as to whether the media have a direct influence on the incidence of interpersonal violence and violent behaviour. The producers of cinema and television programmes and newspaper editors deny this influence and maintain that they merely reflect the current existence of violence in society. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (1997) 4, 163-165
There is no doubt in nay mind that the depiction of violence on the screen, in video recordings and in sensational reporting of violent events may in susceptible individuals, predispose to violent action or incite others to behave in a similar fashion, e.g. in a so-called 'copy cat' manner. Weller 1 quotes a number of studies which claim a positive association between real-life violence and watching violent films and television. Centerwall 2 also refers to the conclusions of three government investigations, and a Rand Corporation report says that there is a broad consensus in the scientific literature that exposure to television violence increases children's physical aggressiveness. However, it must be admitted that he also says that the question as to whether this further leads to increased rates of violence has generally been left open. My view is that children learn by example and that recurrent exposure to the depiction of violence in the media does link this in their minds to entertainment and therefore detracts from the moral principles of right and wrong. The homicide rates in the USA and Canada show the sharp rise in 1965, i.e. about 15 years after the increased television ownership in those countries.1 In a subsequent paper 3 he claims that in 1969 he predicted that white South African homicide rates would double within 10 to 15 years after the introduction of television in 1975, the rate having already increased to 56% by 1983. As of 1987, the rate had reached 5.8 homicides per 100 000 white population - a 130% increase in the homicide rate from 2.5 per 100 000 in 1974, the last year before television was introduced into South
Africa. Weller also says that in the USA the introduction of television in the 1950s caused a doubling of the homicide rate i,e. long-term childhood exposure to television violence is a causal factor behind approximately half of the homicides. 3However, he does admit that one should not discount the importance of other factors e.g. poverty, crime, alcohol and stress in assessing the effect of childhood exposure to television and television violence. I stress again that one must give serious consideration to the fact that in seeing violence depicted on the cinema screen as well as on the television, children become accustomed to associating violence with entertainment and therefore do not consider it to be inappropriate behaviour in their own action, unless there is strong parental guidance and a stable family unit. Some of the outstanding examples of recent childhood violence illustrate the lack of this important factor in the family. Two other factors must also be considered. The first is the influence of so-called 'video nasties' - the name given to video tapes of violence and horror scenes, often associated with sexual activity. In the past such recordings were available to adults by mail order and from specific shops but now they can be obtained from the numerous outlets specializing in the sale of video tapes of films etc. to which young people have access. There is, in many cases little or no parental control on what children watch as so many of them can view programmes in the privacy of their bedrooms or when This paper was first presented at the Fifth Cross Channel Conference on Forensic Medicine in Paris, France in April 1995 and subsequently at the Academic Session at the University of Cape Town in December 1995 and at the Fourth International Conference of World Police Medical Officers in Clinical Forensic Medicine in Kumamoto, Japan in August 1996.
R.A.A.R. Lawrence Senior Principal Forensic Physician to the Derbyshire Constabulary, U K 163
164 Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine their parents are out of the house. In 1994 there were a series of events in which these 'video nasties' were thought to have a significant influence on violent fatalities. One was the much publicized brutal murder of 2-year-old James Bulger by two boys age 10 years who escorted the frightened child over a distance of two and a half miles before subjecting him to a sadistic attack in which 42 individual injuries were inflicted. It is known that the two boys frequented the local video shop where violent films were available and the judge at the trial drew attention to the possible link between violent film 'Child's Play 3' which the boys had watched and the subsequent horrendous events in which they took part. The next event was the murder of a teenage girl after torturing her over a period of days using quotations from the same film 'Child's Play 3' as part of the torture, before finally setting fire to her. Another case was that of four youths who kicked to death a father of three children who had remonstrated with them for vandalizing a traffic bollard. In this instance the police believed that the attack was inspired by a scene from the film 'Juice' in which a family man is killed for attempting to enforce law and order. A member of the gang is alleged to have used slang from the film. In Paris, also in 1994, children of an age similar to those in the Bulger case were reported to have attacked a tramp, kicked him to death and thrown him down a well. A further case was reported in the UK of a teenage girl who was tortured by a group of youngsters who were supposed to be her 'friends', During the torture they were said to have used quotations from the horror video 'Child's Play 3'. In a final act of the incident they set fire to her and killed her. These cases are a few of the many reported instances of children or teenagers who appear to have been quite willing to perpetrate violent and fatal attacks. Naturally, explanations have been sought for this behaviour and social deprivation, poverty, previous abuse of the perpetrators themselves, unemployment, and despair about their future prospects, are amongst the suggested causes. However, we know that similar conditions have existed previously in the UK and in many other parts of the world and therefore there is no doubt in my mind, and in the opinion of many authoritative sources, that the depiction of horror and violence by the media and the availability and easy access to violent images by children must be a present day and new influencing factor. Although parents are able, in theory, to control what their children watch, in actual practice the control is virtually non-existent. Parents often leave their children alone in the house where they can watch violent films or video recordings, they may see these in the homes of friends, or they may even be shown such material by
unscrupulous adults especially in relation to pornography. Another aspect of violence to which large numbers of children are currently exposed is the video game of which large numbers are based on violence with which the player participates. I am not implying that every child who is exposed to this type of violence will then go out and commit violent acts, but the continual correlation between violence and so-called entertainment must have a desensitizing effect on the child's mind. At the right time and in the right circumstances certain susceptible children will fail to distinguish between what they have seen associated with so-called entertainment and the violence in which they are engaged on such an occasion. I contend that the examples which they have witnessed in the past are replicated without conscious thought at the material time. Similar concern must also be expressed in relation to the availability of violence and pornography associated with the rapid advance in information technology. Today's generation of children are growing up in the world of computer technology, Internet and the so-called 'super highway' with bulletin boards providing access to worldwide pornography and the depiction of violence. This aspect of the Internet has caused so much concern that Scotland Yard has advocated the transmission of such material to be illegal. How much control can parents have over a child who has a computer in his bedroom and is infinitely more computer literate than his parents? Even more alarming is the advent of 'virtual reality' which will enable the individual to be a participant in sexual and violent activity. The dividing line between fantasy and reality will be blurred if not eliminated. Attention to a case of suspected ritual abuse in which the children's familiarity with horror images in videos such as 'Nightmare on Elm Street' misled social workers into assuming that the children must have experienced such things in reality? In their own defence, the media 'moguls' contend that their productions merely reflect that we live in a violent world and that it has yet to be proved that the depiction of violence is related to subsequent violent behaviour. In this field it would not be possible to conduct 'double-blind' trials to prove the fact but no one can deny the powerful effect of the visual image on influencing behaviour. If this were not true, commercial interests would not be prepared to invest vast amounts of money in advertising. The denial of the effect of the violent image on behaviour is almost similar to the attitude of many professionals towards non-accidental injury prior to Kempe and Caffey demonstrating the existence of this as a clinical entity. Professor Newson4 of Nottingham University says that it now seems that professionals in child health and
The influence of the media on the incidence of violence psychology under-estimated the degree of brutality and sustained sadism that film makers were capable of inventing and willing to portray, let alone the 'special effects' technologies which would support such images. I have referred previously to the association in the minds of children of violence with entertainment and although we have a special responsibility towards the influence on young people, our concern should be no less when it comes to the effect on adults. No one can deny that a specific stimulus applied repeatedly to the mind eventually produces desensitization and in order to retain the viewers' interest, the media industry will increase and vary the manner in which violence is portrayed. This principle is used extensively in the advertising industry who repeatedly vary the manner in which an individual product is presented. If this were not so, manufacturers would soon cease spending vast sums of money on modern methods of advertising.
165
Obviously, one does not maintain that viewing violence results in all viewers becoming violent but there is no doubt in my mind that this adverse effect will be produced in certain susceptible individuals. If this should be in only one person, it would still be one too many. Our concern must be maintained no matter how few or how many lives are blighted or lost because of the influence of the media on the level of violence in our society.
REFERENCES
1. Weller MPI. Aspects of violence. Lancet 1987; ii: 615 2. Centerwall BS. Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 129:643 653 3. Centerwall BS. Television violence: the scale of the problem and where to go from here. J Am Med Assoc 1992 (267 22): 3059-3063 4. Newson E. Video violence and the protection of children. Report presented to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. 1994; 1 8
PERSONAL VIEW
The influence of the media on the incidence of violence R. A. A. R. Lawrence Senior Principal Forensic Physician to the Derbyshire Constabulary, UK SUMMARY. There has been much debate as to whether the media have a direct influence on the incidence of interpersonal violence and violent behaviour. The producers of cinema and television programmes and newspaper editors deny this influence and maintain that they merely reflect the current existence of violence in society. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (1997) 4, 163-165
There is no doubt in nay mind that the depiction of violence on the screen, in video recordings and in sensational reporting of violent events may in susceptible individuals, predispose to violent action or incite others to behave in a similar fashion, e.g. in a so-called 'copy cat' manner. Weller 1 quotes a number of studies which claim a positive association between real-life violence and watching violent films and television. Centerwall 2 also refers to the conclusions of three government investigations, and a Rand Corporation report says that there is a broad consensus in the scientific literature that exposure to television violence increases children's physical aggressiveness. However, it must be admitted that he also says that the question as to whether this further leads to increased rates of violence has generally been left open. My view is that children learn by example and that recurrent exposure to the depiction of violence in the media does link this in their minds to entertainment and therefore detracts from the moral principles of right and wrong. The homicide rates in the USA and Canada show the sharp rise in 1965, i.e. about 15 years after the increased television ownership in those countries.1 In a subsequent paper 3 he claims that in 1969 he predicted that white South African homicide rates would double within 10 to 15 years after the introduction of television in 1975, the rate having already increased to 56% by 1983. As of 1987, the rate had reached 5.8 homicides per 100 000 white population - a 130% increase in the homicide rate from 2.5 per 100 000 in 1974, the last year before television was introduced into South
Africa. Weller also says that in the USA the introduction of television in the 1950s caused a doubling of the homicide rate i,e. long-term childhood exposure to television violence is a causal factor behind approximately half of the homicides. 3However, he does admit that one should not discount the importance of other factors e.g. poverty, crime, alcohol and stress in assessing the effect of childhood exposure to television and television violence. I stress again that one must give serious consideration to the fact that in seeing violence depicted on the cinema screen as well as on the television, children become accustomed to associating violence with entertainment and therefore do not consider it to be inappropriate behaviour in their own action, unless there is strong parental guidance and a stable family unit. Some of the outstanding examples of recent childhood violence illustrate the lack of this important factor in the family. Two other factors must also be considered. The first is the influence of so-called 'video nasties' - the name given to video tapes of violence and horror scenes, often associated with sexual activity. In the past such recordings were available to adults by mail order and from specific shops but now they can be obtained from the numerous outlets specializing in the sale of video tapes of films etc. to which young people have access. There is, in many cases little or no parental control on what children watch as so many of them can view programmes in the privacy of their bedrooms or when This paper was first presented at the Fifth Cross Channel Conference on Forensic Medicine in Paris, France in April 1995 and subsequently at the Academic Session at the University of Cape Town in December 1995 and at the Fourth International Conference of World Police Medical Officers in Clinical Forensic Medicine in Kumamoto, Japan in August 1996.
R.A.A.R. Lawrence Senior Principal Forensic Physician to the Derbyshire Constabulary, U K 163
164 Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine their parents are out of the house. In 1994 there were a series of events in which these 'video nasties' were thought to have a significant influence on violent fatalities. One was the much publicized brutal murder of 2-year-old James Bulger by two boys age 10 years who escorted the frightened child over a distance of two and a half miles before subjecting him to a sadistic attack in which 42 individual injuries were inflicted. It is known that the two boys frequented the local video shop where violent films were available and the judge at the trial drew attention to the possible link between violent film 'Child's Play 3' which the boys had watched and the subsequent horrendous events in which they took part. The next event was the murder of a teenage girl after torturing her over a period of days using quotations from the same film 'Child's Play 3' as part of the torture, before finally setting fire to her. Another case was that of four youths who kicked to death a father of three children who had remonstrated with them for vandalizing a traffic bollard. In this instance the police believed that the attack was inspired by a scene from the film 'Juice' in which a family man is killed for attempting to enforce law and order. A member of the gang is alleged to have used slang from the film. In Paris, also in 1994, children of an age similar to those in the Bulger case were reported to have attacked a tramp, kicked him to death and thrown him down a well. A further case was reported in the UK of a teenage girl who was tortured by a group of youngsters who were supposed to be her 'friends', During the torture they were said to have used quotations from the horror video 'Child's Play 3'. In a final act of the incident they set fire to her and killed her. These cases are a few of the many reported instances of children or teenagers who appear to have been quite willing to perpetrate violent and fatal attacks. Naturally, explanations have been sought for this behaviour and social deprivation, poverty, previous abuse of the perpetrators themselves, unemployment, and despair about their future prospects, are amongst the suggested causes. However, we know that similar conditions have existed previously in the UK and in many other parts of the world and therefore there is no doubt in my mind, and in the opinion of many authoritative sources, that the depiction of horror and violence by the media and the availability and easy access to violent images by children must be a present day and new influencing factor. Although parents are able, in theory, to control what their children watch, in actual practice the control is virtually non-existent. Parents often leave their children alone in the house where they can watch violent films or video recordings, they may see these in the homes of friends, or they may even be shown such material by
unscrupulous adults especially in relation to pornography. Another aspect of violence to which large numbers of children are currently exposed is the video game of which large numbers are based on violence with which the player participates. I am not implying that every child who is exposed to this type of violence will then go out and commit violent acts, but the continual correlation between violence and so-called entertainment must have a desensitizing effect on the child's mind. At the right time and in the right circumstances certain susceptible children will fail to distinguish between what they have seen associated with so-called entertainment and the violence in which they are engaged on such an occasion. I contend that the examples which they have witnessed in the past are replicated without conscious thought at the material time. Similar concern must also be expressed in relation to the availability of violence and pornography associated with the rapid advance in information technology. Today's generation of children are growing up in the world of computer technology, Internet and the so-called 'super highway' with bulletin boards providing access to worldwide pornography and the depiction of violence. This aspect of the Internet has caused so much concern that Scotland Yard has advocated the transmission of such material to be illegal. How much control can parents have over a child who has a computer in his bedroom and is infinitely more computer literate than his parents? Even more alarming is the advent of 'virtual reality' which will enable the individual to be a participant in sexual and violent activity. The dividing line between fantasy and reality will be blurred if not eliminated. Attention to a case of suspected ritual abuse in which the children's familiarity with horror images in videos such as 'Nightmare on Elm Street' misled social workers into assuming that the children must have experienced such things in reality? In their own defence, the media 'moguls' contend that their productions merely reflect that we live in a violent world and that it has yet to be proved that the depiction of violence is related to subsequent violent behaviour. In this field it would not be possible to conduct 'double-blind' trials to prove the fact but no one can deny the powerful effect of the visual image on influencing behaviour. If this were not true, commercial interests would not be prepared to invest vast amounts of money in advertising. The denial of the effect of the violent image on behaviour is almost similar to the attitude of many professionals towards non-accidental injury prior to Kempe and Caffey demonstrating the existence of this as a clinical entity. Professor Newson4 of Nottingham University says that it now seems that professionals in child health and
The influence of the media on the incidence of violence psychology under-estimated the degree of brutality and sustained sadism that film makers were capable of inventing and willing to portray, let alone the 'special effects' technologies which would support such images. I have referred previously to the association in the minds of children of violence with entertainment and although we have a special responsibility towards the influence on young people, our concern should be no less when it comes to the effect on adults. No one can deny that a specific stimulus applied repeatedly to the mind eventually produces desensitization and in order to retain the viewers' interest, the media industry will increase and vary the manner in which violence is portrayed. This principle is used extensively in the advertising industry who repeatedly vary the manner in which an individual product is presented. If this were not so, manufacturers would soon cease spending vast sums of money on modern methods of advertising.
165
Obviously, one does not maintain that viewing violence results in all viewers becoming violent but there is no doubt in my mind that this adverse effect will be produced in certain susceptible individuals. If this should be in only one person, it would still be one too many. Our concern must be maintained no matter how few or how many lives are blighted or lost because of the influence of the media on the level of violence in our society.
REFERENCES
1. Weller MPI. Aspects of violence. Lancet 1987; ii: 615 2. Centerwall BS. Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 129:643 653 3. Centerwall BS. Television violence: the scale of the problem and where to go from here. J Am Med Assoc 1992 (267 22): 3059-3063 4. Newson E. Video violence and the protection of children. Report presented to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. 1994; 1 8