NCJ Number
160242
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Television has become the scapegoat for those looking for a cause of America's high rate of violent crime; although there is violence on television, there is also high-quality programming that educates and inspires.
Abstract
Television does influence behavior and attitudes; otherwise, companies would not buy more than $21 billion worth of commercial time each year. What happens through being exposed to visual images on television is far from clear, however. There is no unequivocal cause-and-effect relationship between what a person views on television and the way that person behaves after watching certain types of programs. American culture was violent long before TV programs, from Wounded Knee to the lynching party. Before TV, the public schools were blamed for problem behaviors in children. Our society cannot control guns or drugs, and each year 2 million American women are assaulted by their male partners, who are usually under the influence of alcohol. All of this cannot be blamed on television. Children who are loved and protected long enough to grow up to have homes and respect and lucky enough to have jobs usually do not behave violently because of what they see on television. There are too many factors in our culture and in individual lives that influence behavior to single out television program content as the primary culprit in how Americans behave.