Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Discussion of the harmful effects of media violence is as old as the media themselves. There is no medium that has not been suspected of stimulating real-world aggression. Spectacular violent acts such as those in Littleton, Colorado (where in 1999 two teenagers murdered 13 people before committing suicide), or Erfurt, Germany (where in 2002 a 19 year old killed 16 people and himself), regularly instigate public interest on this topic. Although there is a huge body of research on the effects of media violence, public discussion rarely reflects scientific knowledge (→  Entertainment, Effects of ). This may be due to the fact that the results are complex, sometimes contradictory, and do not allow for simple conclusions. However, on the basis of this research some widely accepted assertions about the effects of violence in the media are possible. Research has mainly focused on the effects of fictional television violence. Recently, however, there has been much interest in violent content in music and music videos (e.g., Smith & Boyson 2002 ; Anderson et al. 2003 ), the Internet (e.g., Slater 2003 ), and especially in computer games (e.g., Carnagey & Anderson 2004 ; Sherry 2007 ). Typically, research examines the media depictions of personal violence (i.e., intended physical and/or psychic damaging of a person, living beings, and inanimate objects by another person). Research ... log in or subscribe to read full text