Movies and Violent Behaviors - Literature review Example

Movies and Violent Behaviours in Individuals Movies and Violent Behaviours in Individuals Introduction Human aggression is as old as the origin of mankind and can be traced to the Biblical times of Cain and Abel. However increased violence, especially among the youth across the world has prompted the interest of researchers and scholars from different fields to investigate the impact of media, including movies on human behaviour. There is growing concern among parents, scholars and organizations that movies or violent media prime violent behaviours in individuals, who usually try to emulate the moves the watched in the movies. While others tend to disown the idea that violent media perpetuate aggressive behaviour in people, many have unanimously held the opinion that violent media, including movies, fuel violent and aggressiveness in individuals. This paper explores media violence, particularly supporting the idea that movies fuel violent behaviour in individuals and assessing the ways in which movies prime people to behave violently after watching them. How Violent Movies Influence Human Behaviour Escobar-Chaves & Anderson (2008) point out that “aggression is usually defined by behavioural scientists as behaviour that is intended to harm another person” (p.165). On the other hand, violence is more extreme physical assault that can lead to injury or death. As such aggression can be perceived as a more subtle form of violence. The degree to which media violence fuels violent behaviours among individuals has been a contentious issue for a very long period of time. Even though many research reports have shown strong correlation between violent media exposure and development of violent behaviour, the United States as well as other nations of the world has turned a blind eye amidst soaring violent behaviours among youths. Exposure of children to violent scenes in movies encourages aggressive behaviour in children as they try to emulate their movie stars in real life scenario (Huesmann, 2007). Deaths and injuries that are associated with youth violence bear direct and indirect expenses of more than $158 billion annually (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008). The youths are not only exposed to suffering, but also commit high levels of violence. There are many theories that have been posited to explain how violent media promote violent behaviour of individuals. Lev Vygotsky’s cognitive development theory is one of the most common theories that have been postulated to explain how media, including video games, movies and television among others, influence the behaviour of the audience (Sayre & King, 2010; Signorielli, 2005). According to this theory, people are most likely to copy or imitate the behaviours that they see in movie characters. It is one of the most preferred theories because its postulation that people may imitate what various characters do in movies in very close to reality (Sayre & King, 2010). In most cases, children usually grow trying to emulate the behaviour of the people whom they interact with most frequently (Osofsky, 1999). Constant exposure to violent movies will most likely make children to adopt the tactics used by violent characters in the movies that they watch (Osofsky, 1999). For example, in Aledo, Texas, a 17-year-old, Jake Evans, confessed to have killed his mother and sister in October 3, 2013 after watching a horror movie. Evans was inspired to kill after watching the horror movie Halloween. After watching the movie, Jake was “amazed at how at ease the boy was during the murders and how little remorse he had” (Stebner & Quigley, 2013, Para 1). Evans was not suffering from any mental problem and confessed that the movie inspired him to shoot his mother and sister. It is very common to see children demonstrating Ninja Turtles’ karate kicks as they play or attempting to assume the image of Harry Porter. Moreover, movies have made children more accustomed to gun killings that it becomes practically impossible to pass a group of children playing without noticing some imitations of gun shooting, thanks to the toy manufacturing companies that have worked so hard to make different toy gun models available to children. According to priming theory, the images presented on the media strongly provoke similar ideas in the minds of the people watching the images. As puts it, “the activation of one thought triggers related thoughts” (Straubhaar, LaRose & Davenport, 2012, p.419).The priming theory hugely derives from cognitive psychology and is deeply rooted in human memory network (Fink, 2010). Usually, an idea is stored in the form of a node within the human memory network. The stored idea usually links with other ideas through semantic channels. Priming relates to node stimulation that triggers further processing of information within the human mind. As such, when young people watch movies with violent pictures usually become accustomed to violent conducts as they regularly see in movies. For instance, a scene where a movie character inflicts pain or kills another without facing any legal consequence, the audience may become motivated to replicate what they watch in the movies in real life situation. Therefore, individuals who watch movies may find themselves in situations that are akin to the ones that they witnessed in characters in the movies who resolved to violence as the ultimate means of solving their problems. Movie audience is most likely to kill or maim as they frequently see movie stars do. High exposure to violent images in the movies often makes violence appear as a normal way of life (Garbarino, Bradshaw & Vorrasi, 2002). In 1965, Leonard Berkovitz hypothesized that violent television programs are likely to trigger aggressive behaviour in angry people. Berkovitz in conjunction with Joseph Alioto conducted an experiment, in which participants who had watched violent documentaries exhibited aggressive conducts (Signorielli, 2005). Social learning theory, postulated in 1963 by Albert Bandura and Richard Walters explores the role of modelling in learning (Signorielli, 2005). According to this theory, cognitive and social skills are learnt by people through imitation of the people who are around them. In the dimension of media, social learning theory postulates that individuals, particularly children, copy the behaviour of television or film characters (Signorielli, 2005). According to Signorielli, observational learning involves four sub-processes that occur on cognitive and behavioural levels: (1) paying attention to the behaviour, (2) retention of the behaviour by rehearsing and integrating it into existing behavioural patterns, (3) replicating or reproducing the behaviour, and (4) having the motivation to remember the behaviour as well as its subsequent reinforcements (positive or negative) that contribute to maintaining the behaviour (p. 17). As such, children who are exposed to movies are bound to model what movie stars do. They are likely to digest aggressive and violent conducts that makes up most movies. For instance, on august 2013, CNN’s Russell (2013) reported that after playing violent video game, an 8-year-old Louisiana boy deliberately shot his elderly caregiver killing her on the spot. According to Russell (2013), the boy was trying to practice what he had learnt in the video game, which led to the actual killing. To this extent, it becomes insensitive to deny that violent media, including movies and video games prime their audience to behave in violent manner. Huesmann (2007) argues that reliable studies have indicated that in the United States, children spend 3-4 hours every day watching television and that more than 60% of television programs that they watch exhibit some violence, while 40% are made up of heavy violence. This demonstrates how much children are exposed to violent actions that shape their behaviour as they grow. They are modelled by their perceived movie stars, who are more often the most violent characters in the movie. Movies corrupt the minds of their viewers, especially children. Individuals who spend most of their time watching movies filled with violent scenes are most likely to lose touch with reality. They are most likely to develop illusive perceptions of the world around them. Cultivation theory provides a crucial opportunity for understanding how people develop understanding of the world around them. Cultivation theory explores the process through which people construct social reality. The theory attempts to establish if people who spend a lot of time watching movies and other television programs are significantly influenced by the messages and images that they see (Signorielli, 2005). According to the theory, individuals who spend most of their time watching television are most likely to develop a feeling of mistrust and perceive the world as “cruel”. Cultivation theorists have argued that individuals who watch television or movies frequently are more likely to develop violent behaviours as they perceive the world to be a very dangerous place (Signorielli, 2005). Movies influence the way in which their audience perceive the world (Brook, Brook, & Whiteman, 2007). Because most movies are made up of heavy violence, their viewers usually connect what they see in the films with reality and tend to believe that what happens in the movies reflect the real world. Consequently, people who watch movies would most likely try to emulate defensive behaviour, usually violent, that they see in the movies. The Frankfurt School of thought, especially Adorno and Horkheimer significantly influenced the mass society theory. The theory postulates that individuals who have the feeling of isolation from the broader society are most likely to develop violent behaviours (Todd, 2011). According to Marxist theorists, mass media jeopardize the ability of the proletariats to form political consciousness of socialists. When individuals who feel isolated from the general society become addicted to watching violet movies, they are likely to use the lessons they learn in movies to fight for their course. Hypodermic Needle Theory is one of the earliest theories that offer great insight into the influence of media on the behaviour of individuals. The premise of the theory is that the information that flow from the media to the audience significantly influence their way of thinking. As such, the impact of violent movies on the behaviour of individuals can best be understood via this theory. The theory postulates that children’s behaviour is profoundly influenced by the information they get from the media (Fourie, 2002; Berger, 2002). Play influences how children perceive their world and significantly influences their cognitive learning process (Frost, 2014). According to Jean Piaget’s Cognitive play Theory, play provides children with suitable learning environment. Lev Vygotsky’s cognitive development theory postulates that children learn about the external world through language (Frost, 2014). Intensive engagement of children with violent movies significantly determines how they will behave in the future. Conclusion The exposure of children to violent media such as movies and video games contribute to violent behaviours in children. There have been numerous incidents in which teenagers have shot dead their peers, parents or caregivers and all the shootings have been absolutely inspired by violent movies or video games. Clearly, the extent to which violent movies will perpetuate violence among teenagers in the future remains a big worry. With increased availability of guns and technology that has seen increased production of movies and video games, violence among the youths is likely to increase in the future if no urgent measures are taken. There will be more teen shootings and increased crime rates as children and young adults try to translate the lessons they learn in movies into reality. The society will be turned into a field of death when every young mind gets corrupted with movie ideas because children readily eternalize what they see in the movies without considering the fact that they are mere fictions. Therefore, it is imperative to censure the kind of movies shown by televisions to the public and also advice parents to keep close watch on their children by advising them on the dangers of exposing children to violent movies. References Berger, A. A. (2002). The mass comm murders: Five media theorists self-destruct. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. Brook, J. S., Brook, D. W., & Whiteman, M. (2007). Growing up in a violent society: longitudinal predictors of violence in Colombian adolescents. American journal of community psychology, 40(1-2), 82-95. Escobar-Chaves, S.L. & Anderson, C.A. (2008). Media and Risky Behaviours. The Future of Children, 18(1): 147-180. Fink, G. (2010). Stress of war, conflict and disaster. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. Fourie, P. 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