Twenty Years of TV (Television) Violence Research (From Early Window: Effects of Television on Children and Youth, Third Edition, P 135-161, 1988, Robert M Liebert and Joyce Sprafkin -- See NCJ-119408)

• NCJ Number: 119410
• Author(s): R M Liebert; J Sprafkin
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 27 pages
• Sale Source: Pergamon Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This review of the research conducted in the last 20 years on the connection between aggression and the viewing of television violence concludes that laboratory experiments, nonexperimental field studies, and some field experiments indicate a causal relationship between violence viewing and aggression.

Abstract

Although a few studies have produced ambiguous or negative results, the majority of new studies suggest that viewing violent entertainment can increase aggression and can promote the perception that the world is a mean and scary place. Several other extensive literature reviews have also concluded that a causal link exists between television violence and aggression or other antisocial behavior, although it is equally clear that television violence always works in conjunction with other factors. Thus, television violence can provide instruction in antisocial and aggressive behavior, which will sometimes lead to direct copying or disinhibition of such behaviors. However, these effects do not invariably occur, and they depend on the characteristics of the viewer and the situation. Nevertheless, the value-shaping and cultivation effects of television violence appear to be extremely widespread, suggesting that television violence can work in subtle and insidious ways to adversely influence youth and society. Figures. (Author summary modified)