Primed for Violence

More than simply the power of suggestion as in the Sarah Palin example from my last post, blatantly violent material saturates the media today.

-By the time the average child in America is eighteen years old, they will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders through television and other media.

-Despite falling crime rates across North America, disturbing images of violent crime continue to dominate news broadcasting.

-Two-thirds of Hollywood films released in 2001 were rated “R”.

-Most of the top-selling video games in 2005 (89%) contained violent content, almost half of which was of a serious nature.

-The level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the level of violence during prime time. There are 3-5 violent acts per hour in prime time, versus 20-25 acts per hour on Saturday morning.

-Nearly 75 percent of violent scenes on television feature no immediate punishment for the violence.

(These statistics were retrieved from http://www.jacksonkatz.com/PDF/ChildrenMedia.pdf)

I don’t think that people can reasonably expect society not to be impacted by the violence that they see and experience (in virtual reality video games, for example) through the media on a daily basis. One theory used for the way in which violent content affects its viewers is called “priming.”

Priming theory states that media images stimulate related thoughts in the minds of audience members. (Pg 417 Media Now). The textbook explains that:

            Seeing the Roadrunner cartoon character bash the hapless coyote with a hammer makes us more likely to bash our little brother after the show, or so the theory goes. Incidental cues may unleash the aggression. The next time we see a hammer and little brother is standing near—look out! Children may store “scripts” about   how to respond with violence that they learn from the media in long-term memory and then act out those scripts when a real-world event triggers that memory… Previously learned violent behavior may be triggered by thoughts, emotions, or psychological states provoked by media exposure. (pg. 417 Media Now)

Could Jared Lee Loughner have been “primed” throughout his life by violent media which contributed to his ultimate disposition toward violence? It’s certainly not something we can prove, but it is an interesting thought and something that many researchers have thought about as well. Berkowitz, van Erva, Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman were all researchers that found evidence in support of priming theory. (pg. 417 Media Now).

If priming theory is true, and I think that evidence supports its validity at least to some degree, what is the media’s responsibility when it comes to censoring violent content?