1. The Mass Media and Violence

2. 1960’s Laboratory Experiments (early research) Bandura did research on nursery school children. He put children into four groups, some of which watched a short film showing an adult punching a large inflated plastic doll and hitting it with a mallet.

3. 1960’s Laboratory Experiments (early research) Many of the children who had seen the film copied the violent behaviour shown in it. In the 1990’s, concern was raised about the effects of films such as Child’s Play 3 and Natural Born Killers. It was claimed that Child’s Play 3 influenced the murderers of Jamie Bulger. And that Natural Born Killers led to a number of copycat murders in the USA.

4. Which theory does this support?

5. 2000 onwards (later research) Research shows children are able to distinguish between fictional (made up) and factual (true) material. They do not passively accept television messages. Instead, they actively interpret or make sense of these messages.

6. 2000 onwards (later research) Gauntlett found problems with much research on media violence. He found that young offenders, when compared to non-offending young people, actually: a)watched less TV and video than other teenagers b)had less access to technology c)had no particular interest in violent programmes d)either enjoyed the same material as non-offending teenagers or were not interested in watching television.

7. 2000 onwards (later research) Overall, Gauntlett says that studies which actually interview young offenders DO NOT show a strong connection between screen violence and real-life violence. Peak and Fisher (1996) say that television is NOT to blame for violence and crime. Television has been used as a scapegoat for social problems. Causes of violence and crime are more likely to be found in poverty, unemployment, homelessness, abuse and personality traits.

8. Which theory does this support?

9. Key Terms Socialisation: The process of learning a culture Agents of socialisation: Parts of society (family, education system, religion, mass media, work place, peer group) which play a part in the processes of learning norms and values.

10. DEMOCRACY A form of government where the majority of the people in a country hold the power to decide who rules.